Delivering to Executives

The delivery determines whether the data lands. Three rules. First: state the conclusion before the evidence. "We are going to miss the Q3 target by 12% unless we intervene in the enterprise segment. Here is the data." The executive is now listening for the evidence with the conclusion in mind. The evidence confirms rather than builds. Second: speak in ranges, not points. "Revenue will land between $2.1M and $2.4M with 80% confidence" is more honest and more useful than "$2.25M." Third: pause after the key insight. Let it land. The temptation is to rush to the next slide. The pause lets the executive process, question, and integrate. Ten seconds of silence after the key finding is more powerful than ten seconds of additional commentary.