Meetings before the meeting

As a marketer, you are often asked to make presentations to many executives on topics ranging from product strategy, state of the business, new pricing models etc. When I have been asked to make such presentations especially to a large number of people, what I have found very effective is what I call "Meetings before the meeting". This is a great concept that my present boss has taught me over the years.

The concept is very simple - before the "big meeting", you have many "small meetings" one-on-one with the stakeholders that will be at the "big meeting" to get their point of view and concerns on the topic you are to present. You ask them specifically what they expect to get out of the upcoming meeting - "is there anything you specifically want me to address in my presentation?" If you have created your slides, run it by them and see if they agree with you or raise some concerns or offer a different perspective that you had not considered.

The advantage of doing this is that you are building consensus among them before the actual meeting, instead of risking yourself getting ambushed in front of an important audience. The fact that you reached out before the meeting to hear each individual's concerns/perspectives/ideas goes a long way in making them believe that you value their input (Yes, they are executives and sometimes even their points of view are not heard) and also helps you build relationships.

If you do this right, the actual meeting where you present should represent a nodding of heads agreeing with your presentation - there should be no surprises. Even if you do get an odd ball question from someone who you had met with, it is likely going to be a soft landing for you, than being thrown a complete curve ball.

Credibility is important especially in front of an executive audience and if someone throws you an unexpected curve ball that takes you completely by surprise, everything else you have researched on would probably be called into question. The trick is to minimize the chances of such curve balls.

Meetings before the meeting is the way to go !!