TMAI #227: Die Executive Summaries, Die.

The Marketing < > Analytics Intersect, by Avinash Kaushik

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A presentation tip that'll dramatically change the impact you deliver.

I'll bet that your last presentation - to whomever - started with an Executive Summary slide.

I'll bet further that you ended up spending 5x the amount of time you intended to on that slide, you felt rushed in the remaining time you had, and you were not entirely happy in the end because you did not quite sell the idea / product / yourself.

Yes?

You still feel sad about the non-success.

Let's take a step back.

An Executive Summary slide is, usually, a single slide that contains the key points of the presentation.

The slide, usually, contains, but is not limited to, the crammed into small fonts findings of the analysis, any key related causal observations, specific important data points, any critical frameworks/pictures, and the recommendations you are going to make.

It might not be all of those things at the same time, but with the (aggressive) expectation from our executives to give me a one-page summary of everything, there is no question it is a whole bunch of the above stuff.

In an effort not to call anyone out, let me share this "helpful" template as an illustration:

At least a little bit cringey, right?

I often lead an all day ideation session to teach my storytelling frameworks. In those sessions here's how I communicate the problem with an executive summary:

You are telling the punchline before the joke.

You've not had the opportunity to explain the problem.

You've not had the opportunity to lay out a framework for how to think about the problem (remember: it's not the ink, it's the think!).

You've not had the opportunity to cover any valuable nuances that expose the complexity.

You've not shown any relevant graph or analytical anything (to buy credibility).

You've not... anything.

You've done nothing important to make yourself, your stories, persuasive.

You've not earned an ounce of credibility by sharing your brilliant analysis or the thoughtful identification of causal factors.

And, yet, you are opening with a slide that shares the recommendations / actions.

How can you possibly win?

Instead, this is what happens: You are on slide 2, Executive Summary, and...

the most senior person will start asking questions (for which you have answers in later slides)

they will start jumping to conclusions (as they don't know how you approached the problem, which you have later in the slides)

they will start objecting to the recommendations (because they've not seen any supporting data, but you have that later)

And, your meeting is derailed.

You'd planned to spend 20 seconds on the executive summary, and you end up spending 15 or 20 minutes on it.

The audience has a fragmented understanding of what is going on. As you move to the slide after the executive summary, everyone has to mentally reset as you wide everything back emotionally to the start of the joke. At this moment, you tell them to forget the punchline so that they can go on a clean journey with you... And be delighted when you arrive at the punchline - for the second time.

: (

Executive summaries suck, and they make you a bad presenter.

Not because you are a bad presenter.

You are a good, even great, presenter making a poor choice.

But, there is a reason that it is the rare comedian that does their entire set by telling you the punchlines before they tell you the joke.

As if that was not bad enough, you've now lost 30% of your total time on one slide, audience is apprehensive, some don't agree with your recommendations already. This is not going to make you a great storyteller. At the back of your mind you are trying to figure out what to cut, what to keep and how to possibly do an effective job in a lot less time!

Did you ever imagine something so small has so many sub-optimal implications?

The Solution.

Don't do an executive summary.

Just don't.

Instead...

Stand up.

Smile. Express warmth.

Say, as an example, you are going to talk about:

Why the new competitor provides a unique challenge.
The analysis and insights from our loyal customers.
Three recommendations to fight back.

Then, take a short breath... dramatic small pause...

Launch into your first story.

Start talking about the new competitor.

And, please be interesting.

Tell the joke. Tell the punchline. Have a bridge to the next joke. Tell that one. Tell the punchline. Win.

I'm sure you are wondering at this point...

Why do Senior Leaders insist on an Executive Summary?

Two reasons:

1. They know that most presentations are low quality and the Exec feels waste their time. Hence their solution is to assess how much to listen to you by looking at the executive summary (or to shut you up entirely).

2. The demand for an executive summary is a sign that you've not earned enough trust/credibility.

We can't really fault the Senior Leader. These are important concerns.

Because problems with executive summaries don't go away, my recommendation remains as outlined above.

(Bonus Read: TMAI #164: Why do so many presentations stink?)

Help! What if I have to include an executive summary slide?

If you have to have an executive summary slide - because of the massive power asymmetry or you've not earned trust/credibility - I recommend the following:

A. Give as little detail as you can on the slide - preserve the opportunity to tell the stories the way you worked hard to create.

B. Put so much detail in there that people will be unable to read it or be bored - and you can move on to telling your stories.

C. Only list the recommendations for action, and nothing else - betting that they'll be so intrigued that they'll let you tell your stories.

D. Try to have the slide only say the words "Executive Summary," but then speak the words you would have written.

These recommendations are not fool-proof. But, with some experimentation, until you earn trust/credibility, you'll avoid the worst effects of having an executive summary.

TMAI #227: Die Executive Summaries, Die.

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TMAI #223: Data Viz Quality Assessment Algorithm

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TMAI #217: Stop Collecting Data and Do This.

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