Help, my CEO can't present!

I heard this complaint a few times. “My CEO can’t present. She goes off on a tangent. Ignores the slides. Stutters. I create these beautiful slides for her, but somehow it is a waste of time.”

Usually, CEOs are good story tellers (that’s how she got the top job). How can you make sure that she gets the best out of the slides that you prepare for her?

(Really) listen to the story the CEO wants to tell, and adjust the slides to that. What sequence, what anecdotes, what examples
Have the courage to cut slides, CEOs have the confidence to stand up with a black screen and just talk.
Finish the preparation of your slides early and force her to PRACTICE. It is easy to “sell” to a CEO to invest an hour to practice a presentation: “we’ll just try for 10 minutes, and if that goes well, we’ll skip the rest of the rehearsal.” A first practice run never goes well, not even for Steve Jobs who practices a few full days to get his major product launch pitches right.

Most CEOs are good presenters.

4 comments

Jan Schultink2010-10-22 04:45:29

Anonymous. If you are really faced with a blanket of bullet points that you did not design but have to present, you almost have to assume you have a blank slide behind you and tell the story without a visual.

Anonymous2010-10-22 03:07:47

My boss presents well, but he creates these texty ugly powerpower points that distract. Then I get to co- present using these ugly slides. I can't figure out how to help him or myself.

Anonymous2010-10-22 03:09:49

My boss presents well, but he creates these texty ugly powerpower points that distract. Then I get to co- present using these ugly slides. I can't figure out how to help him or myself.

Philippe2010-10-21 16:00:20

This is so familiar!

What really helps: is not e-mailing the slides before you discussed them together.

I always try, to print a copy. Go over it together, show how these slides actually work combined with the story.