Delivering Better Briefings: How to Conduct Executive Briefings Like a Pro

Briefing, noun briefing ˈbrēfiNG: an act or instance of giving precise instructions or essential information.

As usual, Webster’s definition is a useful starting point to help us focus on the goal here. A briefing should communicate only the gist of what your target audience needs to know. As a brief, you presumably know a bit more. To understand where your knowledge and your audience’s need to know intersect, start by asking yourself about your purpose. Why does your audience need this information? How will they use it? What do they already know or assume about what they are going to hear? Briefings are a simple form of communication that seems deceptively simple, but one that even top executives can struggle with. Follow a few basic rules for delivering the type of report your boss will appreciate:

EVEN INFORMATIVE REPORTS MUST BE PERSUASIVE

If your audience is to believe that you know what you’re talking about, regardless of your title or position, you’ll need to persuade them of that in your briefing. Your audience will have to listen and see through your presentation that you have selected the correct information for them to consider. In other words, reciting raw data, no matter how deep, complex, or insightful, is not going to make your case. Numbers don’t really speak for themselves (and neither do ideas). You are there to provide perspective on the information. Even when presenting raw numbers, you’ll need to help your audience understand what they mean (are they more than expected, less? What do they compare to?) Help your audience understand your information, not just listen to it.

BRIEFINGS SHOULD BE BRIEF

Remember that your audience, any audience, does not want to know everything you know and could say on the subject. That’s true of any executive presentation. Briefings, in particular, however, are a mode of communication that comes with the assumption of being short and succinct. Let your audience guide you on the q and part, if any, on any additional details you require. (Even there, answers should be to the point and brief, with an option for further explanation in a different place if necessary.)

TEAM BRIEFINGS ARE ABOUT TEAM

If you are preparing for a team briefing, first decide the specific role of each member in delivering the information. You want the information to highlight both individual contributions and knowledge, as well as show your team’s strategy and a sense of cohesion. You can achieve this by looking for venues to support each other with references to what has gone before and what the audience is about to hear presented by others, while also avoiding repetition. Make sure your information team participates in oral essays and not just share written information. You want to experience the briefing the way your audience will, orally, so that you can make adjustments to benefit them.

REMEMBER THIS IS ORAL COMMUNICATION

If you are presenting your report using PowerPoint or handouts, remember that these are visual aids, not the entire report itself. Make sure any material you have is visually powerful and not mere words for your audience to read. Whatever AIDS you use, you should not take center stage or dominate it – the informant’s job is very important here. Also remember that oral communication requires that you be understood the first time. As FDR rightly said, “Be honest, be brief, sit down.”