🗜️Compressing Technical Content

“I need to get the leadership team to support a technical program I’ve been working on - the problem is, I’ve only got 20 minutes to present - how on earth am I going to get through the content?” The Engineer mused over a coffee.

“Are they pre-meeting readers? Perhaps you could send the details to read over ahead of time,” I suggested.

“Good idea - I’m hoping I can talk through it all quickly anyway”

“I’d say it’s better to plan to speak for less time than you’ve been given - what if they ask you questions at the end or interrupt throughout?”

“They’ll definitely ask questions. Actually. What if they ONLY ask questions, and I have no time to present?”

...Queue panic 😬

“That’s why you need a plan B. Be ready to strip it back to the bare minimum at any moment. What’s the key message you want to leave them with?”
___

Getting leaders in the same room for 20 minutes is hard; capturing their attention and making it count can feel like performing on a ‘guess my picture’ game show.

1️⃣ Put the details in the reading material.

2️⃣Plan time for the unexpected.

3️⃣ Have a plan B.

And watch your presentations land every time.