Framing your message to senior executives

- Just like a captivating movie trailer, the opening lines of your presentation are the key to getting attention from your executive audience. How you organize your message should set up expectations of what you will be sharing. Are you giving an update? Are you sharing your high level research, unveiling a problem, or proposing a solution? If your message is informative, you need to include a brief preview of your main points. If your message is persuasive, you need to share the conclusion first and then shift into gaining traction for your idea. When your task is to give an informative message, the framing should be a brief executive summary. It should include a high level overview of your main points and the "so what" for your audience. Take for example, a protagonous Molina, who was charged with collecting data on the usage behaviors of generation Z and retail store apps. Watch her frame her message as this virtual meeting kicks off. - Hi Stephanie, hi Jason. Hi Molina, thanks for joining us. Why don't you give us an update? - Sure, thank you so much for inviting me today. Our team's research is a game changer for our client. We have learned that generation Z thrives on customization and they prefer to follow influencers over famous celebrities. - Is that right? - Yeah, it's been really interesting to learn about. They'll also support a brand if it shares their values. That's what over 800 of them have told us. And we're still crunching. - 800? - I know, isn't that crazy? It's been a lot of people's responses to work through, but as a result, we're looking at ways that generation Z likes to shop. - Well done, Molina. If you share nothing else after the succinct sentences, you've captured the content of your top three research results and have grabbed the attention of your executives in your marketing firm. Of course, we want the data that's game changing for the client, tell us more. Now, what happens when you're there to pitch your executives on a new idea or way of doing business differently, a persuasive message frame is constructed differently from an informative one. Your introduction should have a story flow that sets up a problem or an opportunity. That should be followed by the solution and some information such as data or summary statistics or testimonials that strengthen and build on your proposition. Now, let's imagine that Molina was not informing her executives about the team's research, but persuading them on changing their brand's marketing campaign from celebrity spokespersons to less known influencers. - So that was really interesting Molina. Will you tell us a little bit more about that? - Sure, let me give you an example from our target demographic. When Shauna, a 17 year old key customer shops for a new line of eyeshadow, she won't do what her mom did back in high school. Generation Z is not impressed, connected or moved by the high paying celebrities their parents followed. We need to pivot our marketing strategy to reflect these new types of influencers. That's the finding from over 85% of the respondents in our survey research, which I'd love to tell you more about. - The tone of this message is very different from Molina, but she's pitching her idea for a new marketing strategy and so she needs this different emphasis. Note how she sets up the story of Shauna buying makeup and the problem of her not thinking like her mother did. She follows up with a proposed solution supported by statistics that will be the basis for the rest of her argument. The message set up for the executive audience has to bank on emotion first with a strong tone of facts and logic to follow. An assured delivery tone resulting from detailed practice will help you sound prepared and get your audience's attention.