The Secret to Presenting Creative to Executive Teams? Underdeliver

I love presenting creative work. Yep, I love standing in front of a group of leaned-back, stoic executives and turning them into a smiling, leaned-in super fans of a creative concept that drives their brand forward. I guess it's no wonder. I grew up performing. Whether I was playing the spoons for my grandfather at age 4 or marching across the David Letterman set in the high school marching band (go Red Raiders!), I never shy from the spotlight.

Even though my love for presenting endures, creative presentations have evolved in recent years. Sure, we've gone from sitting at conference tables and passing boards back and forth to staring at our screens and telling Tyler, "You're on mute" for the millionth time. (What is his deal, anyway?) But that's not the change I'm talking about. Somewhere in the mix, the focus of creative presentations has shifted from quality to quantity.  

Quick sidebar: I believe that great ideas come from anywhere. This isn't about battling to the death so that my ideas make it onto the deck. The accounting intern has an idea for a campaign? Let's hear it! A mentor early in my career once said, "I don’t care if the concept is presented by the custodial staff on a roll of toilet paper, a good idea is a good idea.” So true. But here’s the catch: while it takes know-how to recognize and develop great ideas, the real skill lies in shaving the list of ideas to those with teeth. Tossing the chaff to get to the tasty wheat, as it were.

Too often, however, the all-important winnowing stage of presentation building is either avoided or deliberately omitted, making a creative presentation as ineffective as it is tiresome. Creative pitches can quickly fly out of control by way of pure volume with the urge to include every idea. And if I can promise you nothing else, it’s this: as soon as the executive team receives the document, they’re immediately looking at the page count, then their watch. Anything over 20-25 pages, they’ve already mentally checked out.

How do I know this? I’m glad you asked. 

I have been on both sides of the table as both presenter and presentee (is that a word?) for the better part of my career. As someone being presented to, I fully sympathize with anyone who tunes out after page 21 of a seemingly endless deck. As a presenter—since I started tracking a few years ago—my record is 44W and 3L for successful new business, client, and internal presentations. I may not know how to tap dance, play the accordion, or waterski, but I’m very, very good at presenting.

So, if you’ve had issues with presenting creative ideas to executives, or even if you are looking improve your W/L stats, these tips may lend a hand.

1. Skip the preamble.

You know why you’re there. Your boss knows why they’re there. The client knows why they’re all there. So, there’s no reason to lay out the full ask, go through the brief line by line, wax philosophic on the state of the industry, etc. Get to the meat of this thing without further ado. They'll be distracted until you do. So, a brief section of competitive marketing is okay, but the audience likely already knows what’s out there. A little buildup is great to add to the excitement, while a lot of buildup eats the clock and risks that the creative you’re about to show won’t live up to the hype. 

2. Start with the end in mind.

Back in the stone ages when presentations were analog, clients and executives had visual cues to help them gauge how the presentation will go. And trust me, they gauged. Based on the stack of hardcopy reports and presentation boards we toted along with us, they got a sense of what to expect. But now that everything is hidden in an infinite slide deck, it's impossible to assess if you're closer to the start or the finish of the presentation. Don't leave them guessing. Give your audience a sense of the structure of the presentation and how much time you expect it to take. Otherwise, they'll get distracted trying to figure it out when they could be enjoying the story you've crafted.

3. Data tables kill the vibe. (Sorry.)

I’m a huuuge believer in data-driven marketing, and I personally place a ton of importance on market research guiding meaningful, impactful creative. I have massive respect for people in the organization who have the expertise and intuition to parse that complicated code. But let’s be honest… it’s boring as hell to look at on a screen. It’s just a bunch of numbers and columns and lines and stuff… yuck! Makes me think of math class. In my experience, a very quick summary of your data with a much deeper dive in the appendix of the deck is far more successful. Let the execs dig into them at their leisure. These people usually have pretty numbers-heavy jobs. They look at charts and columns all day. Here, they want to be wowed with visuals and big ideas. Keep that energy flowing.

4. Quality beats quantity EVERY time.

In every presentation, time is your mortal enemy. No meeting will ever start on time as you wait for people to trickle in, join the video call, and so on. Then add in the 5-10 minutes of “make nice” conversation and the next thing you know you have 38 minutes to present 6 full campaigns all while keeping the energy up as best you can. So don’t. Don’t present 6 campaigns. Quality will always beat quantity. Present 2, fully fleshed out campaigns that your team feel tick all the boxes and create an impact. This is not a test as to whether or not you know what good creative is, or how MANY ideas you can create. You and your team have already filtered the dreck. It’s a fashion show highlighting your very best-of-the-best. They may not immediately resonate, but at minimum there’s time in the mix for discussion and collaboration. Which leads me to my final tip…

5. Never have your appendix removed*.

If time is your biggest enemy, the appendix of your deck is your bestest, bestest friend. Take the other campaigns, tables and charts, or any other touch points you feel were not quite as strong and place them there. That way, if things go sideways and the creative doesn't hit, you can shift gears to “other ideas” or some “concept nuggets” as alternatives. If you don’t need to go there, all the better. But your audience will have a chance to see your other thinking on their own time, so it’s never a wasted effort.

The long and short of it: aim for short. Whether it’s for internal executives or external clients, minimalism in presentations demonstrates full confidence in your ideas, that you’ve already done the leg-work and crossed all the Ts. In my years of being part of presentations—on both sides—I’ve never once heard a participant complain that it went too fast. Keep it short. Keep the cherries. Keep it moving. Celebrate your win.

*JR Soldano, Inc is not a licensed medical professional and assumes no responsibility for an actual burst appendix.

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Hey there! I'm JR Soldano, an award-winning director, producer, and writer with a talent for crafting impactful, innovative ideas and presenting them in a way that captivates executive teams. My goal is to provide marketing assets that perform and make you look great in the process.

Let's collaborate on your next marketing campaign! Click here to text/call or email me at jrsoldano@mac.com. Ready to wow your execs? Let's get started!