I admit I was a bit surprised to see such a strong positive reaction to my last Forbes article, “How to Improve Your ‘Executive Presence’? Balance Advocacy and Inquiry.” It has quickly become one of the most-viewed articles I’ve ever written for Forbes, and several dozen people e-mailed me with feedback, questions, and requests for more. “Executive Presence” has always been a hot topic for rising leaders, and I suspect it’s ever more important and challenging these days as social media has, frankly, retarded the interpersonal effectiveness of many people “in real life.” Here’s another article on this topic—perhaps I’ll turn this into a series. Let me know if you’d like that.
Max DePree, CEO of Herman Miller in the 1980’s, is today most famous for his bestselling book Leadership is an Art. The book remains a timely read today, as it powerfully advocates for a leadership style focused on creating inclusive and caring organizations where every voice is heard.
But it’s the use of that word “art” that often echoes in my mind when I’m working with my clients. Clearly leadership requires both art and science (just as being an effective executive requires both leading and managing) but the “art” part of leadership often feels harder than the science part, because the art depends on creativity, intuition, self-awareness, and a subtle understanding of the (often shifting) situation and the needs and expectations of others.
Nowhere is the artistry of the executive more critical than in the boardroom. “Boardroom presence” has become a sort of shorthand for what today’s organizations and boards look for in their senior leaders, above and beyond the “table stakes” of strategic capability, business acumen, industry knowledge, and execution and management skills. Boardroom presence is that elusive set of capabilities and styles that makes people say, “She has what it takes: she’s confident but not cocky; clear but not simplistic; and inspiring without being phony. Our company is in good hands, and we’re interested in hearing where she plans to take us next.”
While volumes could be written on the topic of “boardroom presence”, the most immediate and pragmatic way to develop your own boardroom presence is to think about and prepare more deliberately for your next board presentation. (And if you’re not a regular visitor to the boardroom, the principles I propose apply just as well to presenting to your senior executive team or your boss. You should develop these skills well before your first board presentation if you can!)
Here are five tips you can use to practice and improve your boardroom presence.
Tip One: Know ahead of time exactly what you want to say
This tip seems obvious, but when preparing for board presentations many people get lost in the weeds. They over-prepare or try to bring in too much detail on tangentially related matters, and as a result their presentations get flabby and unfocused. Ask yourself: “What are the key points I want to make? (No more than five, and ideally three or fewer.) What do I want the board to take away from my presentation that would fit on an index card?”
If your topic is slotted for half an hour, you should prepare no more than ten minutes’ worth of content. Lay out your agenda at the beginning of your presentation (“What I want to cover today is A, B, and C, because Y and Z”). Then nail your points clearly and concisely. Make the most of the Q-and-A and conversation that follows: it’s in the give-and-take that you will really shine. The best board meetings are dialogues, not monologues.
Also, be careful not to oversell. It’s better to start with a recommendation, and then if there’s no push-back you can skip the justification for your recommendation—it’s sold. If you are questioned, you can then show the work you did to get to your insight or recommendation. Good directors don’t want or need a show-and-tell: they assume you’ve tested your hypotheses, and they’ll ask for more depth if they want it.
Tip Two: Know your audience
Just as important as WHAT you are saying is WHO you’re saying it to. Put yourself in the audience’s shoes: Why do they believe you’re here to present to them? What are they most interested in hearing about? What are their concerns, “hot buttons,” or likely points of resistance? What sorts of questions are they likely to ask?
If possible, speak individually with each board member prior to your presentation, and ask him or her, “What can I talk to that will make my presentation a good use of the board’s time?” If you can’t speak with at least some of the board members, make sure to engage the person who’s arranged for you to speak to get some coaching/inside information on the questions above. Finally, ask yourself: “If I was a seasoned senior executive sitting in a room listening to me speaking, what would I be most interested in hearing about?”
Tip Three: Embrace and manage the flow
The German Field Marshal Hellmuth von Moltke famously said, “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Of course, your audience is not your enemy, but they may well decide to engage you in a dance that you hadn’t practiced for, which can make you feel like they’re out to get you! Stay calm, and avoid the temptation to force your presentation down their throats. Saying things like, “Please, just hold your questions until I finish” can be off-putting and sends a message that you are not in command. Accept the apparent disruption, listen carefully to what’s being asked, and (ideally) find a way to answer that underscores your presentation’s objectives.
If you have prepared a short and compelling presentation, any “deep dive” requested by a board member is a chance for you to show your expertise and insight. As noted above, “less is more,” so resist going too deep unless it is warranted. Answer questions directly and concisely; gauge whether the questioner is satisfied or wants to dive deeper; and then bring the group back to your main points. If you’ve strayed far from the original thread, you can remind them of your overall agenda. “I wanted to brief you on three things today: we covered Topic A earlier, and now I’d like to continue taking you through Topic B.” You might also pivot with something like, “That was a great question, and having talked that through it’s a good transition to our next topic, Topic B.”
Tip Four: Choose your materials carefully
Nine times out of ten, the boardroom is no place for PowerPoint unless you have been explicitly instructed to use it. Technology will fail you when you least expect it, creating awkward moments; slides can become a crutch; and putting things up on a monitor takes the attention away from you and as often as not can disrupt meaningful dialogue.
If you absolutely require illustrations (e.g., financial models), bring them along as brief, clear handouts. Design the materials to illustrate your key points, not as unnecessary context or backstory that will steal your audience’s attention or give them unrelated things to ask or worry about.
Again, you want to make your presentation a conversation. If you feel the audience needs a comprehensive “take-away” deck, give it to them at the very end: never give a group something to read if you want them to listen to you! Once you have gotten comfortable speaking to a boardroom audience as a group and as individuals, you’ll never want to go back to PowerPoint again. And with no PowerPoint, your audience will experience you as a leader, not a reader.
Tip Five: Be a LEADER
Think like a business owner, bring the dialogue back to results and outcomes, and always take full accountability. At the end of the day, the board wants your insight, wisdom, and judgment – not just your technical analysis. What are the key issues, why should we care, and what should we do? At all costs avoid internal politics, melodrama, excuses for why “we can’t” do something, and any hint of self-congratulation. Give credit to your team for ideas, but never blame them for anything. As a leader, you are the one responsible for your team, and nothing says “weak leader” like an executive blaming the team.
Resist being defensive, even if you feel you are being attacked. Stay calm and curious. Demonstrate that you are constantly learning, as well as challenging your own assumptions. And never try to BS your way through anything: if you don’t know, say you don’t know, and that you’ll get back to the group with the answer. Far from perceiving you as incompetent or ill-informed, board members will appreciate you acknowledging that you do not know everything and won’t try to BS your way through. When you leave the boardroom make finding the answer and communicating it back to the board the first thing you do. That will show your responsiveness, and it’s also a great chance to trigger further conversation.
Bonus Tip: You can do this!
John Hillen, a former client who is also my close friend and my co-author of What Happens Now?, is a seasoned director and a multiple-time CEO with many hundreds of hours in boardrooms. Years ago, he offered me the following recommendation for presenting to a board: “First, stay calm. Second, get in and get out: make your key points as succinctly as possible. Third, don’t expect a standing ovation.”
For many executives, whether newly minted or an old hand at the tiller, presenting to a board can be intimidating. If you prepare for your next board meeting following the five tips above, and take John’s advice as your mantra, you’ll see much better results, and you’ll build confidence so that you do an even better job the next time.
Like any skill, your boardroom presence is honed over time with experience – embrace these opportunities as they present themselves. Don’t shy away from them and before long you’ll find that not only are you very comfortable in the boardroom, but much more productive in your meetings with your board.
Special thanks to Nomi Bergman, Julie Gerdeman, Jacqueline Gomez, Copie Harris, John Hillen, Jeremy Kaplan, Andy Nordin, Nicolle Pangis, Mustafa Siddiqui, and Tom Wilson for help and inspiration for this article.
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