This is rich. I was asked to provide a client with a presentation on how to give a presentation to C-Level executives, seriously. Talk about slippery slope. What to say that not only meets the literal structure of a good preso, and what literal structure to follow?
The always relevant, who, what, when, where, why and how?
The always riveting ACE presentation structure?
The marketing framework of; what we are (insert value prop/startling statement here)? Who needs this? Our product does “X” unlike the competition who obviously cannot do “X” as well as us. Which means to you…?
Nope, skip them all and go to the source. C-Level people who are pitched more than Larry Ellison’s yacht during a Pisco sour infused, Sydney to Hobart run. That is right I asked the big wigs, the top guns, the man (women) the HMFIC, the buck stops here (it does not by BTW), the subpoenaed, Sarbanes Oxley-ed to death, board managing, decision making, house remodeling, globe-trotting, nothing like you and me crowd. I figured they have heard it all and they all have a good yarn or two on being pitched and what works and what does not. Couple of important points; C-Level persuasion is as much a social exercise as a literal exercise. Two; really good C-Level execs are purposefully insulated from making a final call on any major decision as it is not only prudent, it gives them plausible deniability if the decision turns out to be a real stinker, for whatever reason. Okay how to do it.
Rule number one; “For fuck’s sake do your homework.” Yes that is a quote from a C-Level executive. Seems the best paid, most influential people actually like to talk about what is relevant in their world. Get this, one CEO told me about 90% of the people who contact him have no idea what is on his plate. But by (deity of choice here) they are going to pitch to the man (woman) anyway. That is fast track to the C-Level “Do Not Answer This Call” list. Almost all of them suggested vetting your pitch with their “people.” This is the reason they have people. If you cannot, say, get past the admin by winning him or her over, forget it. The obstacles are there for a reason. Too much access and the CEO will lose his most precious resource; time. So study, read, use one of the internets. Talk to people in the target organization and come prepared.
Rule Number Two; have something interesting to say. To a person these folks cannot express their disinterest on how a competitor used your crap to resolve an issue. In fact they hate that. Now, they do care that someone they know well, or have a business relationship with has used it successfully. In fact when I talked to one C-Level exec and mentioned I finished a call with another, I was instantly “in the club.” Remember C-Level folks spend a great deal of time avoiding irrelevant, uninteresting, half assed, half baked, “next best thing,” game changing, performance enhancing pitches to buy stuff every single waking hour of their life. And it is a 24X7 assault as one C-Level exec told me. So be interesting, it is a lot harder than you think, because C-Level people do not think like you and by the transitive property of who you think you are, don’t really fuggen’ care what you think. They do care a great deal about what their peers think.
Rule Number Three; tell a story. In fact the C-Level people I spoke with (live or email) said a story that falls in line with their goals and objectives is much easier to follow then a bunch of bullet points on some project that increased X by implementing Y through Z money. One C-Level exec even told me a story about why he does not talk to people like me about how to pitch to him, but that is for another post. A CTO told me story about a creative approach a person used to reach him, he liked the fact the person took the time to research, laid out a good story on why they should talk, and then told a solid story to him on how it may impact his initiatives. SO I guess Rule Number Three can be boiled down to make sure not pitch, and focus on informing and being engaging.
Rule Number Four; know your audience. This could be rule 1-3 but came up as a separate rule after I realized I needed more stratification in my blog post. What this means is the cardinal rule of C-Level communication is, now focus; DO NOT WASTE THEIR TIME. BTW you will know you are wasting their time if you get cut off in mid sentence, or hear a phrase like, “How did you get this number?” Several C-Level folks said that they are very much a one shot opportunity. By this they explained that if you catch them at the right time with the right story they will be “open for business” on the topic. If they are not they may be closed. So in that case on e C-Level exec said, “Be sure to be brief, be bright and be gone. If you respect my time I will respect you.”
Oh, and a bunch of stuff on how sales people do not “get it” and there remodel is dragging on, they have thing and cannot talk, I need to talk to this guy and “How did you get this number?”
Rule Five; do not ask for their opinion, or more fatally do not ask them to do something. Remember they have people. Ask for the person who does whatever you need done so they can do it for the C-Level exec.
In sum, this takes practice, I am fortunate as I was born without much self-awareness so I could blindly iterate to effectiveness without feeling shame. Trust me if you are well read, are brief, bright and gone, you will be fine.
The always relevant, who, what, when, where, why and how?
The always riveting ACE presentation structure?
The marketing framework of; what we are (insert value prop/startling statement here)? Who needs this? Our product does “X” unlike the competition who obviously cannot do “X” as well as us. Which means to you…?
Nope, skip them all and go to the source. C-Level people who are pitched more than Larry Ellison’s yacht during a Pisco sour infused, Sydney to Hobart run. That is right I asked the big wigs, the top guns, the man (women) the HMFIC, the buck stops here (it does not by BTW), the subpoenaed, Sarbanes Oxley-ed to death, board managing, decision making, house remodeling, globe-trotting, nothing like you and me crowd. I figured they have heard it all and they all have a good yarn or two on being pitched and what works and what does not. Couple of important points; C-Level persuasion is as much a social exercise as a literal exercise. Two; really good C-Level execs are purposefully insulated from making a final call on any major decision as it is not only prudent, it gives them plausible deniability if the decision turns out to be a real stinker, for whatever reason. Okay how to do it.
Rule number one; “For fuck’s sake do your homework.” Yes that is a quote from a C-Level executive. Seems the best paid, most influential people actually like to talk about what is relevant in their world. Get this, one CEO told me about 90% of the people who contact him have no idea what is on his plate. But by (deity of choice here) they are going to pitch to the man (woman) anyway. That is fast track to the C-Level “Do Not Answer This Call” list. Almost all of them suggested vetting your pitch with their “people.” This is the reason they have people. If you cannot, say, get past the admin by winning him or her over, forget it. The obstacles are there for a reason. Too much access and the CEO will lose his most precious resource; time. So study, read, use one of the internets. Talk to people in the target organization and come prepared.
Rule Number Two; have something interesting to say. To a person these folks cannot express their disinterest on how a competitor used your crap to resolve an issue. In fact they hate that. Now, they do care that someone they know well, or have a business relationship with has used it successfully. In fact when I talked to one C-Level exec and mentioned I finished a call with another, I was instantly “in the club.” Remember C-Level folks spend a great deal of time avoiding irrelevant, uninteresting, half assed, half baked, “next best thing,” game changing, performance enhancing pitches to buy stuff every single waking hour of their life. And it is a 24X7 assault as one C-Level exec told me. So be interesting, it is a lot harder than you think, because C-Level people do not think like you and by the transitive property of who you think you are, don’t really fuggen’ care what you think. They do care a great deal about what their peers think.
Rule Number Three; tell a story. In fact the C-Level people I spoke with (live or email) said a story that falls in line with their goals and objectives is much easier to follow then a bunch of bullet points on some project that increased X by implementing Y through Z money. One C-Level exec even told me a story about why he does not talk to people like me about how to pitch to him, but that is for another post. A CTO told me story about a creative approach a person used to reach him, he liked the fact the person took the time to research, laid out a good story on why they should talk, and then told a solid story to him on how it may impact his initiatives. SO I guess Rule Number Three can be boiled down to make sure not pitch, and focus on informing and being engaging.
Rule Number Four; know your audience. This could be rule 1-3 but came up as a separate rule after I realized I needed more stratification in my blog post. What this means is the cardinal rule of C-Level communication is, now focus; DO NOT WASTE THEIR TIME. BTW you will know you are wasting their time if you get cut off in mid sentence, or hear a phrase like, “How did you get this number?” Several C-Level folks said that they are very much a one shot opportunity. By this they explained that if you catch them at the right time with the right story they will be “open for business” on the topic. If they are not they may be closed. So in that case on e C-Level exec said, “Be sure to be brief, be bright and be gone. If you respect my time I will respect you.”
Oh, and a bunch of stuff on how sales people do not “get it” and there remodel is dragging on, they have thing and cannot talk, I need to talk to this guy and “How did you get this number?”
Rule Five; do not ask for their opinion, or more fatally do not ask them to do something. Remember they have people. Ask for the person who does whatever you need done so they can do it for the C-Level exec.
In sum, this takes practice, I am fortunate as I was born without much self-awareness so I could blindly iterate to effectiveness without feeling shame. Trust me if you are well read, are brief, bright and gone, you will be fine.
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