Executive Leadership Communication Skills
a program for
McAlinden programs build executive-level communication skills.
During this program you will strengthen your ability to:
Create compelling storylines that persuade people to think and act differently
Tailor messages to specific stakeholders and overcome resistance
Deliver Board presentations that are clear, concise, and engaging
Demonstrate executive presence that projects confidence and credibility
Listen and respond effectively to questions, suggestions and challenges
Write Board papers and decks that are well-structured and convincing
These skills are essential to being seen as an inspiring leadership team, to building long-term productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and to motivating an organization to act.
The program is in two parts — Part 1 is in July-August and Part 2 is in October-November. You will receive calendar invites for your sessions.
You will build your skills in highly interactive and practice-intensive sessions.
Small working groups will ensure you have a very personalized experience. You will practice with two colleagues and an experienced coach from McAlinden
We don’t think there is one right way for everyone to communicate to all listeners. Instead, we will help you strengthen your skills while remaining true to your own personality
You will have a series of one-to-one coaching sessions, during which you will watch recordings of your practice, so you get a clear picture of your strengths and areas for work, as well as concrete suggestions for how to improve.
The rest of this page explains how to prepare for Part 1 and provides an overview of those sessions.
Choose material
You will practice your own real communication situations. Pick three meetings or presentations that will happen after Part 1 and bring any slides or notes you may have. All should be important to you because you will improve the content as well as your skills.
Do not script yourself or over-prepare. You can bring work-in-progress. You will use your laptop to prepare content during the program and adjust it based on feedback.
The first situation you practice should be a presentation or meeting.
Ideally it should get across a point of view or a recommendation, rather than simply inform
You will present up to ten-minutes of content. If the actual material is longer, you can condense it before the program or during the preparation period
You have the option to use four or five slides. You can bring draft slides / work-in-progress
You will be asked to try different approaches to the messages and structure of the content
At first, you will not practice taking questions or challenges, even if the real meeting will be interactive. Later in the program, you will practice responding to questions / challenges about your presentation.
The second situation should be a Board-level recommendation you need to make. The focus for this one will laying out a clear and persuasive recommendation, even if the content is complex or controversial.
The third situation should be a meeting with a group or individual who sees the world differently. This could be a meeting about the same issue as the second situation, but here the focus will be on managing a discussion about the issue. Here are two criteria to pick a meeting that will work well for the session:
A meeting where you are likely to face skepticism, active resistance, or passive resistance
A meeting where the other participants do not understand the issue being discussed, they have decided there are different reasons for a problem or solutions to it, or there is not consensus about the importance, urgency or risks involved
Tell us who you are and what your goals are
If you would like to use a self-evaluation to think about your skills before answering these questions, click here. Many people also seek input from a few colleagues whose opinions they value.
Overview of Part One
Session 1
Opening
Discuss the challenging communication situations you face and link the agenda to them.
Set goals
You set personal goals within our intellectual, emotional, and physical communication skills framework.
Increase executive presence
You practice telling a brief story — expanding your use of eye contact, voice and body language — to increase your presence, confidence and impact. We make a video of you.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your story privately with a coach.
Create a compelling message
You use our preparation tools to work on the first meeting or presentation you plan to practice. You analyze your listeners and then create an outline with a compelling opening, clear messages and an action-oriented close.
Session 2
Discuss visuals
Discuss how visuals support messages, where they get in the way, and how to use them well.
Deliver an engaging presentation
You present a ten-minute version of the material you prepared earlier in the day. You practice and receive feedback on your ability to be persuasive and engaging. We make a second video of you.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your presentation privately with a coach.
Session 3
Deliver a concise executive summary
You practice delivering your material from the ten-minute presentation as a two-to-three-minute executive summary, without visuals, to strengthen your ability to be concise and get across a memorable message.
Answer questions confidently
You practice answering questions and responding to challenges on your executive summary — with credibility, confidence and empathy. We make a third video.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your executive summary and responses privately with a coach.
Session 4
Analyze stakeholders & then structure a persuasive storyline
You prepare a second situation — a Board-level recommendation. You get additional tools to think about different perspectives on the same topic and techniques to structure complex content into clear, persuasive storylines.
You practice delivering your Board-level recommendation. We make a fourth video.
Deliver a Board-level recommendation
You review the video of your Board-level recommendation privately with a coach.
One-to-one coaching
Session 5
Handle challenge & resistance
We provide ideas for engaging people and motivating them to think and act differently.
You role-play a third situation — a meeting where you expect people to resist because they do not understand the issue being discussed, they have decided there are different reasons for a problem or solutions to it, or there is not consensus about the importance, urgency or risks involved.
Lead a discussion to gain commitment to action
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your meeting privately with a coach.
Plan actions
You identify a few meetings over the next couple of weeks and plan the skills you will apply in each one to increase your chances of success.
Part Two
After several months of workplace application, Part Two will reinforce the skills you gain in Part One and add new skills to further enhance your executive-level leadership communication skills.
Questions?
Email us goals@mcalinden.com or call us +1 212 986 4950
About us
Visit our main website McAlinden Associates