One seldom mentioned yet critical skill is the ability to bring well-presented information to management. I almost typed “data,” but that would probably be incorrect. Chances are you are not holding a presentation to show top management data; you are presenting data that has already been distilled into information.

There should be some underlying, fact-based narrative to what you present to upper management. Conducting a presentation is more than just throwing bullet points onto a slide and reading them; you should be telling a story with a clear beginning and end. For example, you may be presenting the story of how the organization launched a product before it was ready to be brought to market. Here, you could explain what tests were performed and why the product was released before it was fully evaluated. This narrative would then move to the current situation, including describing a “failure rate of 4%” and relating that “Customer X is threatening to buy elsewhere.” This should then lead into current actions, followed by the solution or potential solutions, if available.

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