Executive Presentation Skills Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Senior Managers, Programme Directors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CS-125

Before you join: Participants should have experience presenting to colleagues, clients or senior stakeholders and should be comfortable discussing their own work in English.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Senior audiences make decisions under time pressure, often with incomplete information and competing priorities. An executive presentation must therefore do more than explain a subject: it must establish the decision required, present credible evidence, address challenge points and make the recommended action easy to approve. Weak message structure, data-heavy slides, unclear ownership and unprepared responses to scrutiny can delay funding, policy, operational and risk decisions.

This advanced course develops the judgement and delivery discipline needed for high-stakes presentations to boards, executive committees, clients, regulators and senior stakeholders. Participants structure recommendations using the Pyramid Principle and SCQA, turn complex analysis into decision-oriented messages, design slides that support rather than duplicate spoken content, and use evidence without losing executive attention. The course also covers persuasive argument, audience analysis, executive presence, difficult questions, virtual delivery and concise follow-up communication.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings, analysed presentation examples, sector-based cases, structured peer review, presentation simulations and filmed delivery practice where appropriate. Participants prepare and refine a presentation relevant to their own work, such as an investment proposal, risk update, strategic recommendation, programme review or client pitch. They leave with an executive presentation blueprint, slide storyboard, stakeholder analysis, question-response plan and personal delivery improvement plan.

The course suits experienced managers, technical specialists and senior professionals whose work depends on gaining informed decisions from influential audiences. It is particularly relevant where the presenter must translate financial, operational, policy, technology, risk or programme information into a clear recommendation.

What you will be able to do

  • Structure executive recommendations using the Pyramid Principle and SCQA framework
  • Analyse senior stakeholder needs, decision criteria and likely objections
  • Convert complex evidence into concise, decision-focused presentation messages
  • Design executive slides using visual hierarchy, chart selection and annotation techniques
  • Deliver persuasive opening, transition and closing statements under time constraints
  • Handle challenging questions using bridging, acknowledgement and response structuring techniques
  • Apply executive presence techniques for voice, posture, pacing and authority
  • Produce a reusable executive presentation blueprint and delivery improvement plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater authority when presenting recommendations to senior decision makers
  • Faster preparation of concise, well-structured executive briefings
  • Clearer translation of technical or financial detail into decisions
  • More controlled responses during challenge, interruption and questioning
  • A repeatable method for improving high-stakes presentation performance

For your organisation

  • Clearer executive decisions supported by focused recommendations and evidence
  • Reduced meeting time spent clarifying purpose, ownership and required actions
  • More consistent quality across board papers, briefings and client presentations
  • Stronger representation of technical, risk and operational issues at senior forums
  • Improved confidence in presenters handling scrutiny from clients and stakeholders

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define the decision, audience needs and communication strategy for an executive presentation.

  • Decision-first presentation briefs defining required approval, action, owner and deadline
  • Stakeholder mapping by influence, interest, knowledge, attitude and decision authority
  • Audience diagnosis using needs, concerns, priorities and preferred evidence
  • Executive attention patterns: relevance, consequence, credibility and required action
  • Primary, secondary and hidden audiences identified before message development
  • Presentation objectives distinguished from content topics and speaker intentions

Participants can build a top-down recommendation that senior audiences can understand quickly.

  • Pyramid Principle structure: governing thought, key lines and supporting evidence
  • SCQA framing through situation, complication, question and answer
  • MECE grouping to remove overlap and expose missing argument elements
  • Bottom-line-up-front statements written as complete, decision-oriented sentences
  • Recommendation logic linking issue, analysis, options, choice and consequences
  • Message maps separating core proposition from supporting proof points

Participants can construct persuasive arguments supported by proportionate and credible evidence.

  • Toulmin argument model: claim, grounds, warrant, backing and rebuttal
  • Evidence selection matched to executive decision criteria and risk appetite
  • Fact, interpretation, assumption and recommendation clearly differentiated
  • Options appraisal using benefits, costs, risks, dependencies and trade-offs
  • Credibility established through source quality, recency, relevance and transparency
  • Counterarguments anticipated without weakening the recommended course of action

Participants can create a clear narrative that makes strategic issues and consequences understandable.

  • Strategic narratives connecting current state, tension, choice and future state
  • Change stories explaining why now, what changes and what remains
  • Risk narratives linking exposure, controls, residual risk and decision implications
  • Case evidence used to make abstract consequences concrete and memorable
  • Narrative sequencing from context to implication, recommendation and commitment
  • Metaphors tested for accuracy, cultural fit and executive relevance

Participants can design slide sequences that support rapid executive understanding and discussion.

  • Slide storyboards aligning each slide with one audience question
  • Assertion-evidence slide titles stating the point rather than the topic
  • Visual hierarchy using position, scale, contrast, grouping and whitespace
  • One-message-per-slide discipline applied to complex recommendation decks
  • Appendix architecture separating decision material from supporting technical detail
  • Slide sequencing that establishes context before evidence, options and action

Participants can explain quantitative evidence accurately while keeping attention on business implications.

  • Chart selection matched to comparison, trend, distribution, relationship and composition
  • Data-ink principles removing nonessential decoration from executive charts
  • Annotations directing attention to variance, inflection points and exceptions
  • Waterfall charts explaining bridges between plan, forecast and actual results
  • Scenario tables comparing assumptions, outcomes, sensitivities and decision thresholds
  • Numbers translated into operational, financial, risk and customer implications

Participants can deliver with authority, clarity and appropriate control under executive scrutiny.

  • Executive presence built through stillness, posture, eye contact and purposeful movement
  • Vocal variety controlled through pace, pause, emphasis, volume and tone
  • Opening statements establishing relevance, recommendation and meeting purpose quickly
  • Signposting language guiding listeners through arguments, evidence and choices
  • Transition techniques maintaining logical flow between slides and speakers
  • Timeboxing methods protecting discussion time while preserving essential content

Participants can respond to difficult questions without losing clarity, credibility or control.

  • Question classification: clarification, evidence, challenge, alternative and political questions
  • Bridging technique returning discussion from diversion to the central recommendation
  • Acknowledge-answer-expand structure for concise, respectful and credible responses
  • Objection handling using concern, evidence, response and confirmation
  • Unknown answers managed through honest boundaries, ownership and follow-up commitments
  • Hostile interruptions redirected while protecting meeting purpose and professional tone

Participants can adapt executive presentations for online and mixed-room decision meetings.

  • Virtual attention management through shorter sections, explicit cues and interaction points
  • Camera framing, eye line, lighting and audio checked before executive sessions
  • Screen-share discipline using readable layouts, controlled windows and backup materials
  • Hybrid meeting protocols ensuring remote participants receive equal access and visibility
  • Digital whiteboards and polls used only when they support decisions
  • Contingency plans covering connectivity loss, file failure and absent decision makers

Participants can refine a high-stakes presentation and plan targeted improvements for workplace use.

  • Presentation diagnostics assessing structure, evidence, slides, delivery and decision clarity
  • Peer feedback framed through observed behaviour, impact and actionable suggestion
  • Rehearsal plans sequencing content review, timing, challenge practice and refinement
  • Personal delivery goals based on recurring habits and stakeholder feedback
  • Meeting follow-up messages recording decisions, actions, owners and unresolved issues
  • Application plans scheduling preparation milestones for an upcoming executive presentation

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Executive presentation brief template
  2. Pyramid Principle message map
  3. Stakeholder and decision-criteria analysis
  4. Executive slide storyboard template
  5. Question and objection response plan
  6. Personal presentation improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Senior Managers — present recommendations requiring executive approval and resource commitment
  • Programme Directors — report progress, risks and decisions to steering committees
  • Finance Leaders — explain investment cases, forecasts and performance variance clearly
  • Technical Specialists — translate complex analysis for non-specialist decision makers
  • Client Relationship Directors — lead high-value pitches, reviews and renewal discussions
  • Public Sector Advisers — present policy options and evidence to senior officials

Skills and tools covered

Executive message designStakeholder analysisData storytellingSlide architectureExecutive presenceQuestion handling

Tools and standards

Pyramid Principle, SCQA Framework, MECE Principle, Toulmin Argument Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce message, evidence and delivery methods, followed by case analysis and group application. Participants assess executive audiences, reshape complex material into recommendations, and review slide sequences against clear decision criteria. Presentation simulations recreate board, client and steering-committee conditions, including interruption and challenge. Facilitated peer feedback and instructor coaching focus on observable behaviours: structure, clarity, visual support, voice, pacing and question handling. Each participant creates an application plan for an upcoming workplace presentation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience presenting to colleagues, clients or senior stakeholders and should be comfortable discussing their own work in English. They should bring a current or planned presentation topic, preferably one involving a recommendation, decision, update or proposal. Familiarity with PowerPoint, Google Slides or equivalent presentation software is useful because slide design is discussed in detail. No formal public-speaking qualification, design background, acting experience or prior knowledge of the Pyramid Principle is required. This is not a beginner course in basic meeting presentations.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should already present as part of their professional role and be ready to work on higher-stakes executive communication. Basic presentation experience is assumed; no formal speaking qualification is required.

Bring a current or upcoming presentation, briefing, proposal or decision paper that can be adapted during the course. A laptop is useful for reviewing and refining slides, though it is not essential for every activity.

It is designed for experienced managers, subject-matter specialists, advisers and client-facing leaders who present to senior audiences. It is less suitable for people seeking an introductory course in basic presentation confidence.

General public speaking courses usually focus on confidence, speech preparation and broad audience engagement. This course concentrates on executive decisions, recommendation structure, evidence, slide logic, challenge and senior-stakeholder expectations.

Participants leave with templates and an improvement plan that can be used for board updates, investment cases, client reviews and programme briefings. The methods are designed for repeated use when preparing decision-focused presentations.

The five days provide about 32.5 contact hours between 08:30 and 16:30. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, message and slide development, delivery simulations, feedback and workplace application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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