How to Make a Board Presentation Successful
Arguably, board members of any company or organization are
the most important people. These people have responsibilities of a higher scale
and have a packed schedule. That’s why it’s your responsibility to not waste
your time with a long, irrelevant board meeting. Your meeting should be to the
point, with impactful content and data. People are often scared easily just by the
name of a board meeting, and their fears are heightened if they are the ones
giving the presentation. It doesn’t have to be this way. If you can work with a
different creative approach, you can easily leave a long-lasting impression on
your board members. The two things that can help you skim through the meeting
with a breeze are a uniquely curated PowerPoint presentation and a positive, confident
attitude. While your attitude depends on you, let’s talk about how you can make
board presentations successful.
Don’t just present
ideas, show them your goals.
You have to make sure you have assessed their individual priorities, and create a plan to address them all. If something doesn’t fit within the bounds of their current priorities, you can be sure to leave it out of the presentation. PowerPoint presentation services let you curate your ideas as you like them; start with something simple and eventually walk the presentation towards showing them the bigger picture. It doesn’t matter if you’re presenting ideas or briefing them about new potential opportunities, or just telling them about some new initiatives the company or its employees have been taking to increase their productivity, your goal should always be to show them the bigger picture at the end of it. You have the liberty to be as ambitious as you like as it will directly impact the potential of the presentation.
Brief them in advance.
Board members are busy people, and you should not call them for a meeting without knowing what they should expect from it. You can give them a little briefing on the contents of your board presentation in advance. It can be through the invitation email or just a briefing paper sent to them personally. While you prepare yourself to give your presentation, they should prepare themselves for it. Knowing what to expect from a meeting or presentation clears your head and helps achieve greater levels of clarity among the members.
Prepare yourself for questions.
Your job doesn’t just end after giving a decent presentation, that’s only half of it. You have to remember that no matter how busy your board is, they will have doubts and questions, and you should be willing to clear them all. Prepare yourself as thoroughly as possible, go through the content of your presentation multiple times and look for anything that can raise questions in their heads. Never try to deceive your way through their questions if you don’t have a clear answer. They are smart people and will figure it out in an instant. It is not just unprofessional, but will also create a negative impact on them your presentation too. If you don’t have an answer, tell them honestly, and assure them that you’ll get back to them with an answer as soon as possible.
Take help from a presentation design company.
PowerPoint presentations might seem easy, but to magnify
their potential, you should reach out to a professional presentation design
agency. They’ll polish your content and data into something more presentable
and easily understandable. They’ll make sure your presentation doesn’t feel too
cluttered, or even too content deprived. In a PowerPoint presentation, it’s a
very tricky balance to achieve, and that’s why you are better served with
professionals who know how to maintain it.
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