Visually guide the attention to make it clear what to look at first, second and third. Security and risk leaders will be presenting to the board at least on an annual basis, with some on a more frequent rotation. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Were also better at remembering what we see versus what we hear by 55% its called pictorial superiority. But when youre tasked with putting together a presentation to a board of directors, the pressures on. People cant read and listen at the same time. They are often chaired by the CEO or another senior executive. A board of directors is a particularly demanding audience because time pressure, information quality and unanimity are more important than in any other management team. In college, I always made it a point to listen intently to presentations. But how can you provide details within the extreme time constraint? A robust onboarding processincluding essential information and briefing materials, quality discussions with key people, and a "road map" for getting up to speedcan greatly accelerate a new director's integration and contribution to the board's work. Here are some example topics for your presentation: Company performance Plans and strategies for the future Ways to address current company challenges New opportunities The answers to all other questions, the bulk of the information, goes into the attachments, possibly as Q&A. But how do you behave as a visitor, not being familiar with these dynamics? This financial dashboard example, and many other dashboards offered by Quickbooks, gives a high-level view of metrics that make sense to examine in context. It contains the answers to the key questions and a few selected details and numbers as explained earlier. Following pages describe the four steps in further detail. In this case, leave room after each section of your presentation to discuss what was covered. Your presentationfrom the topics you include to the slides to your speaking skillsneeds to be built with the goal of telling acohesive story. Effective board leadership including the processes, makeup and output of the board 2. If success for the board is making a decision based on return on investment, run the ROI and make a recommendation. Privacy Policy. Bring clients, products or employees to life with pictures. We use cookies on our website to offer you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By incorporating these tips into your strategy, you can remove the stress and focus instead on your delivery. Common concerns a board may have are: Costs: How much time and money will it require? These should be structured in such a way that the reader can easily retrieve specific details. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Every issue raises a question. Leave policies. Four types of reporting are needed by the board: 1. Dont beat around the bush. The answers to the most important questions become part of your narrative. Make sure everyone agrees with what'll be covered exclusively during the session. The stages in this process are Companies Board Of Directors Members. But present your methodology and data as a supporting argument for the conclusions, not as a long introduction to the conclusion. Information Gap. Board Rescue Report Details File Format Google Docs 1. Slide 1: Get started Slide 1 is designed to be the call to attention slide. Take a seat, check logistics such as the connectors for your computer. Nobody expects you to be infallible. Below is a sample Table of Contents from one of our recent board meetings: Thank you so much. Feb. 15, 2023. Ensure each point is high-level enough that the board will understand it, but detailed enough to give them a true picture. PowerPoint can undermine Corporate Strategy. The deck should include an executive update, financials, performance against agreed upon KPIs, key hires, highlights, and risks. Hiring and firing of senior executives (especially the CEO) Establishing compensation for executives. As a guideline, we recommend following the 5/5/5 rule: Remember: The slide deck is there to serve as notes for your presentationnot to encapsulate every single detail. So, stick with us so you can run board meetings like a pro in no time! But how can you provide details within the extreme time constraint? in addition the focus needs to be on providing more forward looking information apart from looking into historical costs. Pictures and keywords alone wont do the job. Additional slides to make the connection between information and compliance risk and Board-level business risks. That issue is the reason why they invited you, a problem that exists, or an opportunity that you have discovered. Within that context there is always an issue. Who's who. Non executive board members might be less familiar with some industry-specific technicalities and acronyms. In addition, they can offer suggestions and ideas to improve the company's performance.. Above all, minimize the effort necessary to read and understand documents and slides. When youre presenting on an entire quarter or even a year, you can cover an endless number of topics. If you present an item for decisoin, the Board will (should) require a pre-read. Prepare a concise, well-structured story that tells the message quickly and clearly. Online Resources. Find an opportunity for you or your sponsor to talk to the Board members, for example asking feedback on the pre-reading materials. A board meeting is an official gathering of the members of a company's Board of Directors (or equivalent) to discuss business matters. They found that the clothes we wear can shift our perspective. This aspect of presenting to the board is often a continuous process. Getting those answers will help you create a presentation that not only interests your audience but also aligns with their goals. Ask for questions and let the discussion unfold. Strategy of the organization 3. A week before the meeting is a good rule of thumb, leaving room for you to respond to initial comments or feedback. Clients receive 24/7 access to proven management and technology research, expert advice, benchmarks, diagnostics and more. Their purpose behind this request could be one of many: Depending on what their purpose is, your presentation can (should) be structured dif-ferently. Both checking facts and getting the right feeling, requires them to investigate details. formId: '0e298fd9-9688-4b49-a0f7-49df1b840f49', Download ten free PowerPoint templates for a better presentation. All documents should be easy to navigate and to read. Find out if there are specific worries. But like spices, when used too abundantly, details, numbers and emotion can ruin everything. Simply review the Board Deck Template as a Google Slides Presentation, or continue to read on. Make sure to carefully review the complete board report, then condense it to one page, typically around 400 words. This is very difficult for a complex subject, but it is essential. and If you dont do so, they will interrupt you from the very start. How effective you make these is at the center of how pleased a board is to get their job done in a productive environment. Marketing Dashboards Numbers and details reassure the Directors. You get insight into what the board members may bring up during the meeting and more context to prep. He or she oversees the process, not you. Studies show that humans remember best the beginning and end of what they read, hear, and see. Treat your board presentation as a three-act playmeaning it should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Special thanks to my colleagues at INSEAD IDP for their input. Secondly, it ensures everyone is on the same page ahead of the meeting. Compliance and information. Knowing your listeners is as important as the content of your presentation. Too many sides with only a picture and few numbers make your presentation feel puffery. Feel the presence of the Board members in the room. There are a few ways to do that. The Board might be particularly worried about the companys long-term exposure to exchange risks, because of the recent evolu-tions on financial markets. Very practical, Ed. The narrative is your core story. A Board of Directors is a particularly demanding audience because time pressure, information quality and unanimity are more important to them than to any other management team. Important decisions are preferably adopted unanimously. Its easier for your audience to remember and prevents information overload. Now, let's move on to our set of tips on how to run a board meeting everyone will enjoy. When it comes to effectively working with the board and other executives across your organization, a CISO should focus on four primary functions: manage risk, oversee technical architecture, implement operational efficiency, and most importantly, enable the business. and Depending on what youll be covering in your presentation, it may be helpful to send the board materials to review in advance. The graphic elements of board meeting PowerPoint make presentation engaging and well defined for the executive audience. This article is an abridged guideline for anyone who presents to a Board of Directors. Who asks what kind of question? Gartner Terms of Use One of our tips on how to run a board meeting as a board chair is for you to freely designate a particular job as a task to a set group of people when most appropriate. These are some very good inputs on how the CFO/controller presentation should look like. It needs to be sparse, and simply identify the topics youll cover in the following slides. This, in turn, will bring you much closer to accomplishing the plans laid out in your presentation. Free and premium plans, Sales CRM software. Even if things didnt go as you expected, consider it a priceless learning exercise. If you dont do so, they will interrupt you from the very start. Best of luck running your next board meeting! But dont exaggerate. Select those elements that radiate the enthusiasm, pride, or whatever emotion you want to convey. Dont beat around the bush. Imagine that you are in charge for a project that analysed an investment in a potential new manufacturing plant. Visualise this story on 1-7 slides. Privacy Policy. Muy bueno Sebastin, y tambin muy cierto. I. The first step in giving a brilliant board presentation is to cover the topics that board members actually care about. Above all, keep your presentation short (10 to 25% of the time, leaving 75 to 90% for discussion and decision). Step 2 Build a concise, solid narrative. That may be a little extreme, particularly when youre recapping an entire quarter or year, but in our experience, 30 minutes is a good time frame for a presentation. You are well prepared; you know your stuff. The team consists of people from finance, strategy, commercial, operations, purchasing, and consultant XYZ. Read more: 5 Security Questions Your Board Will Inevitably Ask, Boards are becoming increasingly interested in security and risk management; however, theres often a misalignment between what the board needs to know and what security and risk management leaders are able to convey, says Rob McMillan, Managing VP, Gartner. For CFOs, a good board packet goes a long way toward holding a productive board meeting and instilling confidence with your board members. Make sure to understand what they are looking for. They need to check the robustness of your methodology and the reliability of the data. Every now and then, a company's board of directors conducts a meeting to discuss the performance of the company. Board members want hard facts. A presentation to the Board should be to the point: short and complete, simple and substantiated, persuasive and factual, confident and honest. While these metrics will change as you grow in size or develop new products, it's important to consistently track the same metrics across board meetings to demonstrate trends. Slide 1 is designed to be the call to attention slide. So naturally, they will be looking out for anything that may impede that process. Copy it, share it, make it your own. Board meetings typically last between one hour and two hours. In order to give flavour to your narrative, add some data to prove your point. Know what information you want to share and how it will benefit the audience. That, and an endless supply of cat videos. Practice with family or friends who can give you feedback on how to improve. All directors have the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns about the company's progress. Managing Director of To The Point At Work. Then you can be prepared for more in-depth questions that may arise. It needs to be sparse, and simply identify the topics youll cover in the following slides. This button displays the currently selected search type. It is not uncommon that the discussion starts immediately without formal presentation. This means figuring out the focus of your presentation, what youll cover, and what youll leave out. hbspt.forms.create({ Before attending a board meeting, prepare thoroughly so that you will be able to answer questions and present your case effectively. A board of directors is a particularly demanding audience because time pressure, information quality and unanimity are more important than in any other management team. Heres a tool that helps, CIA for Context-Issue-Answer: List everything your audience knows about the subject; that is the context. Running a well structured board meeting can help you get much more from your shareholders than just financial backing. However, you should also be prepared to explain potential problem areas and their implications. Each of these graphics can easily be added to your board meeting presentation template with just one click. Any attempt to achieve a hidden purpose will only weaken your presentation and credibility. These graphics include high-quality corporate imagery, diagrams, charts, and infographic icons. Make it an inductive narrative: start with the conclusion. Sudbury is the favourite location With Ottawa in 2nd and Toronto in 3rd place. Tech reporter John Brandon argues in Inc. that no presentation requires more than seven minutes. Thanks for sharing! Use your sponsor as sounding board throughout your preparation and consider talking to some Board members. Answers to less important questions will become part of the attachments. What is the exact scope? A board presentation is the CEOs or CFOs opportunity to speak directly to the board of directors. Is it a well-grounded strategy that fits the mission and goals? Blog. Their background can help inform the kinds of information theyre likely to engage with and help you identify which areas of your presentation require more explanation than others. Be clear and keep it simple. This isnt a TED talk. Write down the answer to that question. But avoid highly surprising new information. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. The key is to close strongly, leaving the board confident in your plan and abilities. Palvi Mehta still remembers the first time she presented to a board of directors. Introduction. sfdcCampaignId: '7012J000001YHHGQA4', This is very difficult for a complex subject, but it is essential. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress. You might notice confused looks or a shift in body language.