Executive leaders speak a different language. In these slides, I review how to structure your slides to maximize their impact. Plus, I give tips for overcoming resistance and how to structure your stories.

1. Speaking in
Small Rooms
with Confidence
Learning the Language
of Leadership
by Brian Sullivan

2. The difference between
MANAGEMENT
and
LEADERSHIP
is
COMMUNICATION!
Winston Churchill

21. My Boss Me

23. Leaders Speak a
Foreign Language

24. Brian Sullivan.
Hi, my name is
@BrianKSullivan
@bigdesign
#leadertalk

25. Research and Testing Expert
Director of UX Operations at Sabre, where I run three User Research labs.

26. International Speaker

27. Writer of Books and Articles

28. Keynote Author on SlideShare

29. Startup Mentor in Dallas

30. Founder & President of UX Dallas

31. Founder of the UX Program at SMU

32. Founder of the Big Design Conference

33. Big rooms require a certain talk strategy.

34. Small rooms require a different approach.

35. Leaders Speak a
Foreign Language
&
How Do I Learn It

36. Stakes High Opinions Vary Emotions Strong

37. Planning Presentation Delivery

38. My Boss Me

39. Planning Presentation Delivery

40. Planning for a Small Room of Executives

41. Preparation
Determines
Success

42. Stages Multiplier (by time) 50 Minute Talk
Researching Multiply by 2 100 minutes
Building Slides Multiply by 2 100 minutes
Practicing Multiply by 2 100 minutes
Updating Slides Multiply by 1 50 minutes
“Pre-Talk” Talks Multiply by 2 100 minutes
Follow-Up Multiply by 2-3 100-150 minutes
Planning Formula

44. Slides are
conversation
starters.

52. Elevate
your stories
&
your slides.

53. Use the Right Speed, Balance, and Altitude
Airspeed Indicator Attitude Gyro Altimeter

54. 10,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10
min
20
min
30
min
40
min
50
min

55. 10,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10
min
20
min
30
min
40
min
50
min

59. 10,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10
min
20
min
30
min
40
min
50
min
You are almost at
5,000 feet.
Climb hard, climb fast.

60. 8am 8am 8am
2pm
3pm

61. Plan for Interruptions and Questions

62. Practice
• Your stories
• Main points on each slide
• Transitions
• Answering questions
• Objections from people
• The flow of the slides
• Handoffs between people
• Your tone of voice

63. Planning Presentation Delivery

64. Tips for Building an Executive Presentation

65. Do less…better!!!
1 slide/10 minutes.

66. 18 Slides Took Over 90 Minutes

67. Basic Formula
• What? (3-4 slides)
Topic you want to discuss.
• So What? (2-3 slides)
The relevance of the topic.
• Now What? (3-4 slides)
The next steps to take.

75. Manage your
conversations
with leaders.

76. Conversation Types:
• Personal Connection
• Friendly Conversation
• Problem Investigation
• Possible Solutions
• Political Discussions
• Personal Motives

77. Your Relationship
• Person
• Employee
• Management
• Supplier
• Partner
• Trusted Advisor

78. Person
Trusted
Advisor
Partner
Supplier
Employee
Personal
Connection
Friendly
Conversation
Problem
Investigation
Possible
Solutions
Political
Discussions
Personal
Motives
Management
• Association and Recognition
• Internal Dialogue
• Nonverbal Communication
• Technical communications
• Intersecting Activity or Common Ground
• Business Operations Language
• Confidential C-level language

79. The goal of executive
meetings is to become
a trusted advisor.

80. Three Keys to Success
1. Communicate Business Goals (What?)
2. Talk Risk and Reward (So What?)
3. Envision a Future State (Now What?)

82. Focus your stories on
each leader’s role.
What’s their motivation?

83. Your Relationship
• Person
• Employee
• Management
• Supplier
• Partner
• Trusted Advisor

84. EXECUTIVES OR MANAGERS
Because They Value... You Should Focus On....
• Concise Information
• Growing the business
• Solving problems
• Getting to the point
• Accomplishing goals
• Describing the solution

85. DEVELOPERS OR ENGINEERS
Because They Value... You Should Focus On....
• Building it once & minimizing
rework
• Efficiency and maintainable
code
• Understanding the effort
involved
• Understanding all of the
use cases up front
• Managing scope, quality,
and reusing UI patterns
• Communicating the value
for the users or business

86. PRODUCT OWNERS
Because They Value... You Should Focus On....
• Innovation and creativity
• Meeting business goals
• The big picture, long term
roadmap
• Finding new approaches
to solving problems
• Connecting your designs to
the business objectives
• How your design moves
them forward

88. Planning Presentation Delivery

89. Delivery Tips for an Executive Presentation

90. This small room can be terrifying to people.

91. - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
?

92. How are we
going to do that?
Gulp!

93. - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
?

94. ?

95. Executive Sport?

96. Execuphobia:
It’s an unhealthy fear
of C-level executives.
It is a real fear.

98. Leaders Have Bosses, Too
CEO Board of Directors

99. Executives Fear Things, Too
CEO
• Fear of failure
• Loss of reputation
• Lawsuits
• Competitor moves
• Regulations
• Loss of customers
• Not hitting sales goals
• Wall Street

100. Body Language Matters with Executives
No Eye Contact Weak Handshake Slouching
Folded Arms Frowning Looking Down

101. Body Language Matters with Executives
No Eye Contact Weak Handshake Slouching
Folded Arms Frowning Looking Down

102. It’s about the
Situation,
not the
Presentation.

103. Work on Executive Presence
Executive presence is the ability
to project gravitas with others.
• Extreme confidence
• Poise under pressure
• Decisiveness
• Effective communication
• Ability to read situations
• Assertiveness
• Risk management

104. Make Executives Feel Special
• Maintain eye contact
• Listen to them
• Ask good questions
• Lean forward
• Use acknowledge tokens
• Don’t interrupt
• Use their first name
• Don’t speak over someone

105. Make Them Feel Like They are the Only Person in the Room

106. Know when to call an audible.

107. Know the Subtext of a Question

108. - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
? We build a screener
with your people to
recruit the right users.

109. How are we
going to recruit
these people?
I literally just
explained it!

110. How are we
going to recruit
these people?
Ah!!!
I get it now.
you

111. My team owns it. We
recruit in many ways. We
will work with your team
to find the right people.
I don’t know this.
Tell me it is not my
responsibility!

112. The Subtext Might Be …

113. Planning Presentation Delivery

118. Planning for a Small Room of Executives

119. Use the Right Speed, Balance, and Altitude
Airspeed Indicator Attitude Gyro Altimeter

120. Tips for Building an Executive Presentation

121. Basic Formula
• What? (3-4 slides)
Topic you want to discuss.
• So What? (2-3 slides)
The relevance of the topic.
• Now What? (3-4 slides)
The next steps to take.

122. Delivery Tips for an Executive Presentation

123. Make Executives Feel Special
• Maintain eye contact
• Listen to them
• Ask good questions
• Lean forward
• Use acknowledge tokens
• Don’t interrupt
• Use their first name
• Don’t speak over someone

125. Your Boss You

126. The difference between
MANAGEMENT
and
LEADERSHIP
is
COMMUNICATION!
Winston Churchill

127. Speaking in
Small Rooms
with Confidence
Learning the Language
of Leadership
by Brian Sullivan