How To Get Your Message Across Busy Executives
If you’ve ever had to present to top management, you know the drill:
They’re swamped. They don’t read pre-reads. And you’ve got maybe two minutes to land your point.
Unfortunately, most people ramble. They take 4 minutes to warm up. They get lost in their own slides. They miss the moment.
Here’s how to make the most of it—and get them to care.
Let's start with the biggest problem. They don’t time-box their message.
Here are 3 more reasons they fall flat:
- They never write out their 45-second TL;DR.
- They don’t link their ask to business outcomes.
- They forget to state the goal of the conversation.
The good news? You can fix all of that.
Step 1: Write your 45-second TL;DR
If you only had 45 seconds to make your point, what would you say?
Write it out. Don’t script it word for word, but get clear on:
- What’s the context?
- What’s the opportunity or challenge?
- What do you want from them?
Example:
“I’ve put together a quick business case for exploring a partnership with X Company. They solve a piece of the workflow we don’t plan to support in-house and would accelerate time to value. I’d like to discuss how we approach them and whether we want to explore an exec-to-exec intro.”
Step 2: Link it to business levers
Frame your point in terms execs care about:
ā€‹Profits. Market. Exposure.
Within each, speak to what’s at stake:
- Profits → Revenue or Efficiency
- Market → Growth or Defensibility
- Exposure → Brand or Risk
Example tweaks:
“They could boost adoption by 40% in a segment we’re underpenetrating.”
“This closes a known gap in our onboarding experience and reduces churn risk.”
 |
Step 3: Set the right tone–Summary VS. Discovery
Before you even start, make it clear what this conversation is.
- Summary framing: “I want to share our proposed path forward to get your sign-off on the next steps.”
- Discovery framing: “I want to riff on a few ideas for how to approach this and hear your take.”
This helps execs know whether to listen, weigh in, or decide. Don’t leave that ambiguous.
No one teaches you how to speak to execs. But it’s one of the highest-leverage skills in your career.
The more you practice this, the more you’ll be seen as someone worth listening to.
– Preston