It can be quite stressful for board members to give a presentation because their presentation needs to be not only informative but also interesting. In this article, we’ll highlight helpful tips on what’s best to put on board meeting slides, and how to use the presentation to achieve personal success, expand skills, and improve your reputation on the board.
Basic tips for preparing for a board presentation
The main goal of a presentation, regardless of its direction, is to successfully convey the right information to the audience and make a good impression. Below we provide a few tips on how to do this:
- Consciously understand your board’s goals
Being clear about your board’s goals and knowing exactly who you’re dealing with will help you craft a targeted presentation to encourage engagement and support. So if the board’s top priorities are business, and you’re presenting your project in hopes of getting it approved, you can emphasize the arguments for why your proposal is beneficial. But if the council is interested in engaging with the environment, you may focus more on how your project will affect the community and the environment in the area. The main point of the examples is that by knowing your company’s goals, you are likely to create a more appropriate presentation.
- Don’t waste time
An imperative rule of presentation: it must be clear and to the point. What annoys board members the most is wasting their time. If the presentation turns out to be boring and ineffective it will also ruin the participants’ impression of your future presentations.
- Focus on numbers and statistics
One of the tricks of a successful presentation is to use statistics and numbers. This is a great option to stay in the minds of your listeners for a long time, as numbers and statistics are good to remember. Also, these figures contribute to credibility, they’re great for confirming what you say and proving your true understanding of what you’re talking about.
- Prioritize correctly
You won’t have much time to rant, make sure you can lay out your main thoughts that align with your goals in about 30 minutes. You need to shed light on what needs to be done and what you would like to do. Also, you need to start with the most important topic, and even if you run out of time for a little while, you will still know that your main point has been heard.
- Highlight the actions and emphasize the results
Board members are unprecedented leaders and pay attention to actions and results, so if you highlight your successes, they will probably appreciate it.
What should be included in a board meeting presentation so that it is interactive
Your presentation should not be dry, so it is highly recommended that you spice it up with the following elements:
- Video clips -insert video clips into one or two slides so that the audience shifts their attention away from you for a while. Use visualization elements to make your thoughts even more memorable
- Use non-linear features -be creative, and work on transitions from one slide to the next. For example, you can move through different parts of the presentation to create a non-linear effect
- Practice a question-and-answer session – If you want to engage your audience, even more, there’s nothing better than to start asking them questions. It can work the other way, too, if the audience can also ask you questions, and that’s a very good indicator. After all, it means your presentation got them interested. However, for that to happen, you need to give them a little nudge