Online Instructor-Led Presenting to Executives Course

Course Outcomes

This presentation skills course for people who present to executives will:

• Offer best practices for sharing information with people pressed for time.
• Suggest a tactic for designing a nimble presentation that can expand and contract as needed.
• Recommend a method for identifying common presentation plots and developing a narrative around those storylines.
• Explain when and how to incorporate stories, examples, analogies, and metaphors into their narratives.
• Share best practices for creating a strong slide deck.

Course Overview

A senior executive’s most precious resource is time. For presenters, that means every second with this audience counts. This two-part virtual training course covers tactics and tools for effectively communicating with people in charge. During the program, participants will learn how to create presentations that can expand and contract. This structure will allow them to accommodate a group’s desire to hear an overview as well as any requests to take a deeper dive into the details. We will also discuss methods for speaking with an audience and not at them, best practices for creating strong slides, and skills for reading a room and adapting. Many of the lessons from this course translate to email communication as well as general conversations. In the final segment of the program, we will identify how to apply key concepts of this course to other workplace communication.

Note: For a similar program offered in an in-person format, see our onsite course for presenting to executives.

Segment One Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

• Identify what’s important to a senior audience.
• Create an audience profile.
• Prioritize an audience.
• Determine what should and should not be part of a presentation to executives.
• Create a framing statement.
• Write a summary headline.
• Develop a narrative thread.
• Structure information in an answer-first format.
• Follow a one-story-per-slide design framework.
• Determine what data and charts versus stories and examples can communicate.
• Develop analogies and metaphors to connect the familiar with the unfamiliar.

Segment Modules

• Who Is in the Room and Why: Understanding a Senior Audience
• Need to Know Versus Nice to Know: Categorizing Content
• Framing Statement, Headlines, and Plots: Planning the Story
• Best Practices for Advancing Narratives: Moving from A to B
• From Complex to Comprehended: Using Stories, Examples, Metaphors, and Analogies

Segment Two Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

• Answer seven important questions executives ask.
• Develop a purpose-first and introduction.
• Create a strong ending.
• Follow best practices for speaking with an audience and not to it.
• Adapt to different communication styles.
• Anticipate and address a range of reactions to what’s presented.
• Troubleshoot a range of common challenges.
• Apply lessons from the course to other workplace communication.

Segment Modules

• Seven Questions to Answer: Thinking Like the C-Suite
• Solid Building Blocks: Strong Introductions, Conclusions, and Transitions
• Matters of English: Leveraging Words to Your Advantage
• Style Matching: Adapting to Different Preferences
• Troubleshooting: Solving Common Problems
• Translating Lessons: Applying Concepts to Email, Meetings, and Other Communication

By this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to create and deliver a succinct presentation to senior executives and other groups pressed for time.