Getting Promoted to CEO, the C-Suite, Board or Senior Management

Do You Have Executive Presence?

Think You Are Ready To Join The C-Suite, Board or Senior Management?

What is Executive Presence? Its what CEOs and senior executives look for when they are succession planning…which they do all the time. From interviews with these people, the characteristics they all identified are:

• Impact and Influence
• Digital Profile
• Personal Presentation

Let’s have a quick look at each of these.

Impact and Influence

Do You Feel You Are Being Overlooked for Promotion to the Senior Executive Ranks?

The most frequent voiced advice from existing CEOs – if you want to get promoted to CEO, say so.

How would a CEO know what your career plan is if you don’t articulate it? You might think it would be obvious that you want a promotion. Don’t all successful managers and leaders want to advance?

Not necessarily.

Some might be content to operate at their current level and do outstanding work because they don’t want what they see as the pressures of the executive level. Others might not want to relocate (since sometimes that’s necessary). Yet others might want to move up but not until they’re more certain of their skills and the business landscape.

Senior executives don’t know where you stand if you don’t tell them.

Ideally, they’d like the perfect “executives- in-waiting” so the organization thrives over the long term. Knowing you are someone who produces results and has the ambition to move forward is the powerful combination they’re looking for, and it will make them more willing to invest in you.

Digital Profile

Having an online presence is pretty much a pre-requisite to getting a foot in the door for senior management and executive positions. A sophisticated LinkedIn profile instills confidence in your abilities. It’s the cover of the book that is your professional life. Everything on your LinkedIn profile should be reinforcing your personal brand.

Other digital places to keep up to date –

• check your Google presence and see what links are in the standard search for your name;
• create a YouTube channel of you with short informative videos on appropriate topics (most can be done with your smart phone these days);
• create a “Visual CV”;
• Amazon comments on books and videos will reinforce your continual learning.

Look at this comment from an existing CEO – “We tend to believe that anyone with a strong online brand could be the one to lead our business forward. It gives the impression they understand the wider world of business and technology.”

Personal Presentation

Dress for success has always been a catch cry – don’t forget it.

Aside from the physical presentation, concise, simple, clear communication across the spectrum of speaking activities can enhance your path to executive level.

This is an area where I can help you.

Fill in the gap in your business leadership skill set by making your presentations better.

Across the internet there are any number of products to help people in business promote their organisations and businesses by speaking well in public – whether that means a team meeting, a boardroom presentation or a conference for thousands.

What I offer is very specific. This is not about “selling from the platform”. My approach is only for those who want to be able to personally present information as professionally as possible.

Where Do You Start?

There is a saying that “the first step is always the hardest”. To make it easier for you, I have a summary of my 7 step approach available for free download. In the summary you will find:

How to Plan and Prepare For A Presentation

You need to think about the amount of time you have for your presentation and the amount of information you will present so that you can have your audience enjoying every moment of your presentation.

Writing the Talk for Your Planned Presentation

Hand in hand with preparing your presentation should be writing down what you are going to say. You don’t want to face the nightmare of forgetting names/places/products, or trying to think of something relevant to say when you are “lost for words”.

How to Know if Anyone is Really Listening

Its pretty easy if your audience are asking questions during your presentation, but what if there is complete silence? And often we would rather have questions at the end of a presentation. So how can you tell if your words are hitting the mark? I will show you different methods to incorporate into your presentation so you can have immediate feedback and be able to adjust your presentation when it is needed.

What You Can Learn From Other Business Presenters

We have all been in the audience for both good and mediocre presentations. Often we are so focused on getting the information being presented that we fail to recognise what we like about how a particular presenter performs. Perhaps we just feel that some presenters can do it better. Why is that? Because their presentation style provides us with all the information we need and this information is relayed to us in a way we can comprehend. I will help you develop your assessment skills so you can learn what works in a business presentation and then apply that to your own presentations.

Your Voice – How To Love It

By far the biggest area of concern I have encountered in all my years of public speaking coaching is what people think of the sound of their own voice. I have yet to meet anyone who loves it!! I will show you how to enjoy your voice and make the most of it whether you are new to business presentations or an old hand.

What Is Your Individual Presentation Style?

When I first started making business presentations, I wanted to be like all the experienced presenters I had seen. I wanted to be informative, interesting, talented, confident and entertaining. Could I be all those things and get my information across as well? We all need to develop our own presentation style. A style that is a reflection of us. I will show you how you can do this so you can be comfortable with every presentation and not feel that you need to “put on a show”.

Nerves

Naturally I cover the area most people find their biggest stumbling block to public speaking – nerves. I will show you how to recognise your individual symptoms and in genuinely assessing the causes, work out strategies to minimise your nerves for each and every presentation. After all, shouldn’t you be enjoying this activity as much as your audience?

I’m Ready For Help – What’s The Next Step?

You need to be committed to developing your presentation skills. You need to be ready for the challenges that this will bring. You need to be ready to embrace the opportunities that your new skills will provide.

As a first step, I recommend you download my free 7 step summary today.

What have you got to lose? You want to be better at communicating your business information? You want to share your expertise with your clients and business peers? You want the opportunity to have your business leadership skills recognised and rewarded?

Regardless of your particular reason, you can achieve the outcomes you desire. All it needs is the right approach and your commitment.

Kim Baillie