Thursday morning, back home after a few days of board meetings and I have some thoughts to share on being effective in board presentations. Tech and security leaders still seem to struggle in these settings so here goes:
As always, it's a 🧵
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As always, it's a 🧵
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1. Research your board members. Find out in advance who you'll be presenting to and look up their background. Talk to your peers who've chatted with the board before, see what intel you can get from them on the dynamics of those discussions. Prep accordingly.
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2. Read the room. Important with any presentation but particularly so in the board room. If they're looking at their phones, you lost them. It maybe that you got to technical. Change things up, change your tone, elevate the message and grab their attention again.
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3. Focus less on the what and more on the why. Typically your board members don't care much about the specifics of what you're doing, but they want to know why you're doing it. Connect your discussion to business success that is meaningful for them.
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4. Be Thematic. I can't stress this enough. Focus on progressions of events over time that show improvements or progress toward a goal. Show them where you were and how your projects and such are driving toward your future state plans.
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5. Main ideas up front. Get your most important message in front of them in the first 3-5 minutes. You may get derailed by questions early on so expect that and make sure you've set the theme of your presentation first then fill in the details.
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6. Chill the F out. They are just business people at the end of the day. You can joke and laugh with them. Seems obvious but I've watched colleagues get so nervous that they turn into stiff robots. Remember they're just trying to do their job as a board member.
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I hope that is helpful. Beyond all this, typically public speaking tips apply. Be dynamic and engaging, know your material, DON'T READ THE SLIDES TO THEM.
Every board is different but at the end of the day, most can be your ally if you can land your message.
/FIN
Every board is different but at the end of the day, most can be your ally if you can land your message.
/FIN
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