CEO Briefing

Ever wondered it felt like sitting through a CEO briefing?
Ever wondered why presentation skills are so important?
Here’s your answer from yours truly.

Today’s briefing started at 9am…of course the CEO himself didn’t get there till 9.15am. Venue: Board meeting room, large long table for 16 with the CEO sitting at the table head. There were a lot of other people around, like consultants and PR events companies. Style: presentation and discussion.
The PR events company went first. The CEO, being a very terse person, asked them to hurry up and get to the point. That was pretty scary because the CEO thought that the events company was slacking and threatened to sack them if they didn’t give him a detailed plan. He gave critical comments on EVERY aspect of their presentation and I guess its partly because they’re subcontracted and being PAID to work for us so we should get our money’s worth right?
The consultant went next. I have been using this company’s research for my own research material but honestly, they are quite lousy. I was half tempted to mention that during my presentation but nevermind.
These meetings are all about accountability. What targets do you set? What results do you have to show? Are your targets reasonable? There are discussion too..but very brief. The CEO seems to interrupt people and not give them a chance to speak, then I notice they will look quite embarrassed hehehe.
My presentation was at the end lah so it was more scary than usual. At the same time, it was already 12 noon when I presented so I had to make it snappy and retain the attention of my audience who were either hungry or falling asleep. I didn’t get a nervous attack though…I wasn’t even remotely worried when they told me I had to summarize my presentation. Last time, I used to rehearse my presentations in front of the mirror or at least say it out but I don’t think it is necessary when you are so well-versed with the whole subject matter. I think I must already have had my share of anxiety the whole of last semester when I had to do 6 presentations in all (plus added fake American accent and one in Chinese). Due to the limited time, I had to summarize the info on my slides instead of providing more info which I had prepared previously. The CEO was quite receptive during the presentation, asking a few questions to clarify my ideas. I glad that he commented that my presentation was very good and later after the meeting, various directors/deputy directors came to congratulate me. They think that I have done a lot of work within 3 weeks. Wait until they see the amount of work we do at Duke…5 papers in one week. HEHEHE.
Overall, good lah…I’m glad the presentation is over. 2 more days at work left and I gotta produce a report. Should be a piece of cake, so I’m not grumbling!
Meeting Ira and Shuhui after work today. Haven’t seen them for at least 1.5 years…=)