Boardroom Presentations: Sweat like a Horse

Maybe you heard that horses sweat, men perspire and women glow. But in the boardroom everyone who presents sweats – some more than others. If you are in management or want to be, you will need to present in the boardroom. This is the worst place to present. First understand why it is that way. Then use these techniques to be more successful when you present in the boardroom.


Beware of Boardroom Landmines
Culture
The boardroom is a place of punishment. It is where management and executives go to thrash the last bad quarter results and beat up somebody. Whoever presents today in the boardroom is the target for today’s flogging. Hence just entering the boardroom stirs up a defensive and offensive attitude in most meeting attendees. They are ready to defend their own performance and at the same time attack someone else just to escape. A boardroom is not a place to birth new ideas – it is a place to crucify suspected sinners, torture under-performers and kill dreamers.

Physical
The physical step-up of the boardroom is adversarial. The meeting attendees face each other across the table. They are not facing the speaker. In fact, to face the speaker they must turn their head and expose themselves to the physical discomfort of a kinked neck.

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George Torok
Speech Coach for Executives


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