Preparing for Big Boss Meeting - Appreciate your help.

A lot of fine points above. I'm sure this meeting has already played out, but perhaps for others who may come across this thread, my quick 2 cents :

If you want to create a positive impression & maximize your influence, have a simple point of difference that the decision maker will care about. To do this, start by considering...

If there is only 1 thing to remember, no matter how long or short the presentation is, be prepared to at answer the following question in a clear, concise & convincing way:

"Why should I listen to you and not do something else?"

While this may seem obvious, most people at least I work with, whether management presenting to the "Big Boss", or the "Big Boss" presenting to the Board, Government, Investors or Media, their issues are frequently the same...

The first underlying issue to address is :

You have 30 seconds or less to make your first initial impression

Imagine you meet the CEO and he apologizes as he needs to postpone your important meeting, but requests that you give him a 30 second summary...what would you say ? If you were asked to summarize your key point in a simple short email, can you do it ?

If you can, test it, by asking yourself, the question from the Big Boss perspective, starting with, "So What, Why Should I Care?" If you think he would care what you are talking about, then you have a start of a good presentation.

Start with your key point so the decision maker spends more time on asking himself "Do I agree with you? rather than, What's your point ?


Some additional Tests :
1. Is it simple ? Keep it short & simple - 3 items is ideal

According to neuro-scientists, the average person's short term memory can only contain 3-7 themes. Most executives I work with use 3, as people's short term memory goes to 3, under a stressful situation. (eg. Steve Jobs presentations love to do this, '3 stories of my life' - speech at Stanford; i-pod, iphone, ipad presentation at the product/communication launch, or when I was interviewed by the media, I was myself trained to have 3 communications messages, etc.

The ironic thing, is that the more intelligent the person, it seems they want to have lots of details, but in fact this actually clutters understanding.

The idea here is to keep it as short and simple as possible by simplifying complexity and making it as visual as possible to tell your story


2. The mind suffers from Ambiguity Aversion : so have a clear & concise benefit (or at least try your best)

During lectures I introduce fun games/exercises to show how the brain likes to avoid the unknown. This isn't psychological, but a chemical response from the Amygdala when it perceives something as unclear. Neuromarketers love cognitive biases such as this, as it is used to influence decision makers, whether it's in a simple presentation, sales brochure or commercial.

The idea here is to ensure you have a clear benefit : if you really want to trigger a positive response, think about a simple but deep pain you are solving and what gain, they will get my listening to your idea / presentation


3. The mind is easily bored. Immediately grab and keep the audience attention by having a point of difference they would care about that is different to what they likely already know

If you are still reading this, then I am thankful I haven't bored you. Perhaps this reply/approach, while perhaps not new, is a good refresher and repackaged in a different way.

Can you think of highlighting your one key point of difference that the 'Big Boss' would care about ?

Can you support your key idea (not with just facts, but also examples of why your idea is good)?

Are you offering a feasible solution ?

What are you asking of (a call to action from) the 'Big Boss' ?


Putting everything together

Studies have shown that the logic mind and verbal communication by itself contributes to only a very small portion to decision making. To set a positive impression & get to 'yes', targeting the emotions (rather than just logical facts) is key. To do this, have a story to tell and use non-verbal communication (eg. body language, tone, etc.) to magnify results.


Thus, to repeat the answer to my own question : "Why should I listen to you and not do something else?"

If you want to create a positive impression & maximize your influence, have a simple point of difference that the decision maker will care about. To do this, start by answering the question above.


Hope this helps

Dear Sergio / Thomas / Rami / John / Bruce , Many thanks for your valuable inputs :) very helpful to me.

To Answer John, I'm a PMO and handling governance, I'm planning to talk on Current Scope and Future Roadmap on Governance. So Members Please let me know your kind inputs for the same.

My Agenda Plan : 5 Mins Intro 10 Mins Current Scope 10 Mins Roadmap 5 Mins Expectations from Big boss. Please help me if any changes i can make in this.

I'm very happy to get such valauble support from all of you :) This gives me a great feel that i'm in the right community and people are there to help me :)

Thanks from heart !
- Ganesh