The Genius Detective Game: How to Fail in Executive Staff Presentations
Imagine this scenario.
The way I describe this, it sounds completely idiotic, maybe even sneaky and underhanded, but I think that people make these presentations with the best of intentions. They believe that they have an airtight case, and they want to make sure that they present all of the evidence so that when they get to the conclusion, everyone will immediately see that the plan is perfect. Kind of like in detective shows where the hero reveals the evidence piece by piece and then stands up dramatically and identifies the killer. The genius detective game is great in movies, but in presentations it leaves the audience wanting to go back and re-examine the evidence.
The problem is lack of context. As a listener, it is very difficult to evaluate an argument if you don't know where the presenter is taking you. The presentation may be informative, and it may be interesting, but if you don't know what the conclusion is, it is almost impossible to tell whether the evidence supports it or not.
To return to my simple analogy, if you knew that the conversation was about buying and leasing a used car as an investment, there are all sorts of questions you might have asked. What is the blue book value of the car? Has it been inspected? How many miles does it have? You can't ask the right questions unless you know what the presenter is going to propose.
I think sometimes people defer their actual proposal to the end because they are afraid of getting shot down, and they want to postpone the pain. Better to get shot at right away, because then you have the rest of the meeting to try to recover. You can focus very specifically on the concerns that caused objections. Maybe you'll change people's minds. Or else, you may get input on alternate approaches that will work better. Either outcome is better than getting shot down at the very end when there's no time to recover or to prepare for the next attempt.
Here is my advice: Always start your presentation with the conclusion. Somewhere in your PowerPoint slides—it may not be the last slide but it often is—there is a conclusion slide that summarizes the proposal that you hope to get approved. Put that slide first. If you need some background information, so that people can understand your proposal, then maybe you can get away with one slide before the conclusion slide, but if you push the conclusion any further back than that, then you are probably playing the genius detective game. As I said, those presentations almost never go well.
An old friend rushes up to you and says, "I've been looking all over for you. You wouldn't believe the amazing car I saw yesterday. Twenty-five years old, but the paint is perfect, and it runs like a charm."I hate this feeling, and I've discovered that presenters sometimes trigger it in executive staff meetings. The meeting agenda has 45 minutes on a vague but interesting topic (e.g. Classic Cars). For 42 minutes the presenter shares lots of facts and figures, and then—with three minutes left—the presenter puts up a complex proposal (e.g. Automotive/Leasing Investment) and asks for approval. You should know that presentations like this almost never go well.
You ask him what his point is, but he just talks more about the car. "The current owner just replaced the tires. It's not expensive now, but a classic like this is sure to go up in value." All well and good, but you still wonder what this has to do with you.
You need to leave soon, so you stand up and look at your watch, but your friend suddenly says, "Wait! Here's the deal. This car is for sale on eBay, and I'd like you to buy it and lease it to me. Seriously, this is going to be a great investment for you."
There you are, two minutes from your next meeting. How do you react? When you say that you need time to think about it, he says, "The auction ends today. I just gave you all the data you need. My facts prove that this is a great deal. I need you to decide right now."
The way I describe this, it sounds completely idiotic, maybe even sneaky and underhanded, but I think that people make these presentations with the best of intentions. They believe that they have an airtight case, and they want to make sure that they present all of the evidence so that when they get to the conclusion, everyone will immediately see that the plan is perfect. Kind of like in detective shows where the hero reveals the evidence piece by piece and then stands up dramatically and identifies the killer. The genius detective game is great in movies, but in presentations it leaves the audience wanting to go back and re-examine the evidence.
The problem is lack of context. As a listener, it is very difficult to evaluate an argument if you don't know where the presenter is taking you. The presentation may be informative, and it may be interesting, but if you don't know what the conclusion is, it is almost impossible to tell whether the evidence supports it or not.
To return to my simple analogy, if you knew that the conversation was about buying and leasing a used car as an investment, there are all sorts of questions you might have asked. What is the blue book value of the car? Has it been inspected? How many miles does it have? You can't ask the right questions unless you know what the presenter is going to propose.
I think sometimes people defer their actual proposal to the end because they are afraid of getting shot down, and they want to postpone the pain. Better to get shot at right away, because then you have the rest of the meeting to try to recover. You can focus very specifically on the concerns that caused objections. Maybe you'll change people's minds. Or else, you may get input on alternate approaches that will work better. Either outcome is better than getting shot down at the very end when there's no time to recover or to prepare for the next attempt.
Here is my advice: Always start your presentation with the conclusion. Somewhere in your PowerPoint slides—it may not be the last slide but it often is—there is a conclusion slide that summarizes the proposal that you hope to get approved. Put that slide first. If you need some background information, so that people can understand your proposal, then maybe you can get away with one slide before the conclusion slide, but if you push the conclusion any further back than that, then you are probably playing the genius detective game. As I said, those presentations almost never go well.
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