CHAPTER

3

The Seven
Deadly Challenges

For we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us …

—Joseph Campbell
Mythologist

In this chapter you will learn about seven presentation challenges that, if ignored, can run your presentation, and even your career, right into the ditch. Not knowing what these challenges are and how to handle them is like going into the jungle without a map, a compass, or a guide.

The situations we present here have brought even the best mid-level managers to their knees. Why? Because they weren’t prepared. For example, one of our clients went on a disastrous sales call with two unprepared colleagues:

We went to IBM with our senior executive and a technical guy. We were visiting the number-one guy under the CEO. We were taken up to the penthouse meeting room. The IBM exec entered through a side door. He sat down and chatted with us for a few minutes. Then he looked at the three of us and said, ‘So, what do you want from me?’ We started tripping all over ourselves. Nobody had an answer. In fact, the technical guy started looking at his phone as if he had a call! The executive left. We lost the sale.

Evolution of the Seven Deadly Challenges

Over 300 eager mid-level managers crowded into a hotel ballroom to hear a panel of six C-level executives tell them bluntly—no holds barred—what they hate and what they love to hear from presenters. The date was November 18, 2002. It was our first “Speaking to the Big Dogs^®” client event. Responding to input from the audience, the panel answered questions like:

• What do speakers do that irritates them?

• How and where do presenters fall short or lose their attention?

• What can presenters do to be successful presenting to decision makers?

Normally, we would be happy to see 30+ people attend one of our special events. With ten times that number, we knew this topic was addressing a huge unmet need.

During the seminar, we asked participants to list what throws them off track in their presentations to top-level executives. Seven categories emerged:

• Time Cut

• Disengaged Executives

• Food Fight

• Decision Maker Leaves

• Topic Change

• Side Talk

• Energetic Discussion

The audience was transfixed as the executives explained what they could do to deal with these problems.

After that seminar, I conducted a series of videotaped interviews with C-levels to learn more about how presenters can avoid these problems. In January of 2004 we released an educational DVD of these interviews. Our DVD was recommended in the June, 2004 issue of Fortune magazine and won that year’s “Best Award” from Training + Development magazine. The success of the DVD helped draw people to our training programs, and participants continue to share success stories about how the advice from the executives has helped them.

Soon, though, it became clear that something important was missing from the DVD: examples of actual C-level meetings. So we rented a television studio and re-created top-level meetings with 15 C-level executives and six mid-level managers discussing real business issues.

All six managers came prepared to deliver presentations they had given to their own company C-levels. During their presentations, they were confronted with one of the “Seven Deadly Challenges.” They presented twice. They failed miserably the first time. Then they received corrective feedback from the executives. Applying this new knowledge and skills, they were successful the second time around. This is where the learning happened.

The mid-level managers:

In the following pages, we explore each challenge and each solution. You will learn the career-saving strategies recommended by the executives. Follow this advice and you will manage your next senior-level presentation like a pro.

Each of our six “heroes” has risen in the ranks of his or her organization and has achieved a high level of success. They are competent, adept professionals. Yet, they were still unprepared for the presentation challenges that lay ahead. In the following pages, you will take a seat at the table as they go on a career-wrecking or career-building adventure: presenting at a senior-level meeting.

Summary

Speaking Up^®: Surviving Executive Presentations has evolved over time. Because of the generous contributions of executives and managers at all levels from a wide variety of companies, plus the insights and stories of participants in our various programs, it has become clear what the problems are, and what the solutions are.

In Chapters 4 through 11, we get very specific about what can go wrong and how to fix it. Pay close attention to the behavioral checklist at the end of each chapter. This is the information our six heroes learned the hard way. Apply these strategies and you can avoid the pain they went through.