From template mode to thinking mode

Does preparing your next SLT or board presentation feel overwhelming?

Carving out thinking time during the workday is hard.

Yet, thinking through your messaging requires thinking.

This tension can lead you to shoot for a minimum viable presentation so not to overload your nights and weekends.

What if there were another choice?

A senior team from a retailer aired this frustration this week.

And yet, at the end of our session, they felt quite differently.

Today I’ll share with you how to shift from overloaded to ‘Oh wow, that is better and easier than I expected.’

One quick thought before I dive in to that.

If you missed out on the Board Paper Bootcamp but are keen to learn, I’ll have some discounts for you over Thanksgiving.

Sit tight, and I’ll share them in the coming weeks.

Gaining clarity first unearths the insights that really matter in half the time that ‘writing’ usually takes

So, how do you take the overload out of preparing important presentations?

The simple answer is to shift your focus from ‘writing’ to ‘thinking.’

That’s a cliché until you work out exactly how to think differently.

Let me explain first by sharing two scenarios and then outlining a strategy that will shift the dynamic for you.

Picture these two ways of working, and see how you could graft more of the thinking strategy into your own approach.

Scenario 1. The write-to-think strategy. You prepare a presentation that is likely no worse than others going to your SLT or board. You …

1. Receive a pretty scant brief. This might be to update the board on the status of your project.

2. Gather information. This might be decks from your project, consultants’ reports, and some data your team provided that addresses key questions.

3. Sketch out topics to cover and dive into writing, wanting this to be over as fast as possible so you can get to bed or enjoy your weekend. This is what I call template mode. In the absence of being given a template, you create your own and then fill in the sections.

4. Draft a presentation that sums up the material you have at hand and touches on the key themes.

5. Iterate further when you receive stakeholder input via Track Changes, stickies, or comments, that you then need to work in.

So, you have gone through the motions and delivered something that moves you forward without shooting the lights out.

Scenario 2. The clarity-first strategy. You spend less time presenting insights that set up a productive discussion and a powerful result. You …

1. Use your likely scant brief as a starting point before thinking deeply about how to take full advantage of your decision-makers’ time. How could you use this very expensive meeting to help you meet, or even exceed, your KPIs?

2. Hold off writing. Structure your messaging instead. It’s twee to suggest you ‘think first.’ Everyone thinks they do that. But think harder. Push yourself to align your messaging on a single PowerPoint page (download my version here and feel free to share it).

3. Stay true to the structure. Although each page looks different, it includes the same elements. A short introduction (no history lesson!), one main message or ‘so what,’ and a small number of highly structured supporting points. Sticking to the structure is what shifts you from template mode to thinking mode.

4. Iterate that one-pager until the synthesis and messaging click. Only then, and after you have socialised it, prepare your presentation to align precisely with that messaging.

The end result is a terrific discussion that gets you closer to meeting or potentially exceeding your KPIs.

As several senior folk said at the closing of coaching sessions this week:

I hope that helps. More soon.
Davina

PS – Follow me on LinkedIn for more regular tiny tips too.

Elevate, the book – helps leaders set their teams up to set up a new dynamic across their team that will elevate everyone’s skills, helping the team get better, faster decisions.

Engage, the book – helps individual contributors prepare papers and presentations that leaders can approve without reworking.

Engage, the self-paced course  – supports both individuals and leaders prepare more insightful papers and presentations for senior leaders and boards.

Extreme Clarity, the 2-hour workshop – introduces techniques for structuring your messaging.

Board Paper Bootcamp, the 2-week program – helps you clarify and convey complex ideas to senior leaders and boards.

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