Helping Presentation Teams Succeed

I always work hard to create an environment where teams building presentations collaborate seamlessly, do innovative work, and form lasting professional and personal friendships. 

But this is not always the reality. I have had Chief Strategy Officers who dismissively drop a strategy on the team without discussion; Chief Client Officers who don’t support their clients leads and make them feel exposed. And Specialist teams who resist participation and discreetly undermine the meeting strategy and strategic direction. 

So how do you keep the team at its top level of performance? It comes down to these 5 Foundational Principles for Managing Teams.

1. Always Do A Central Kickoff Meeting: A kickoff meeting should be held early in the process and establish both team membership, purpose, and responsibilities. It does not have to solve everything. But you employ group psychology to build a sense of inclusion from the start, which is critical to minimizing marginalization and encouraging participation.
   

2. Be Clear and Judicious with Meetings: Make meetings specific, relatively short, and clear about objectives within the context of the overall presentation. Reduce the cognitive load created by meetings that have a lot of content but no outputs. They will become instantly deprioritized.
   

3. Create a sense of Shared Respect AND Fun: Literally work to give everyone a voice, and create an environment where everyone listens, discusses, and contributions are valued. Also, leverage the fun/funny/amusing that happen along the way within the team dynamics, because they create strong social cohesion.
   

4. Recognize Achievement as a Shared Experience: When critical work gets completed, or an important milestone is achieved, ensure that the team views this as a win for the group, not just for individual contributors. Achievement inspires more achievement - so use that energy.
   

5. Constantly Demonstrate Support for Each Other: As the team nears the presenting stage, it is powerful to focus the team on helping each other do the best they can. Team members can help each other remember critical points, focus on each other's strengths, and foster improvement. The All For One mindset is so powerful. 

So next time you have a major project that needs a high-functioning team, use these five principles to make it happen. 

I do impactful presentation coaching for all levels of an organization, focusing on Charisma, Storytelling/Scripting, Deck Development/Design, and Presentation Delivery. Let's have a chat about how I can help you, your team, and your organization. Email mark@voyageurtraining.com