Deliver 1 message through 4 voices

Keys to presenting as a team

For the past ten days I’ve had the privilege of working with 28 MBA students at NYU Stern (my alma mater) in building their muscle at delivering in teams. This is not only a key skill for MBAs to master, but for all of us who spend time delivering information as a team to others.

Nota Bene: It’s been 20 years since I began my teaching career, right here at Stern, so the trip has been somewhat nostalgic for me. I can see where my toolbox for teaching has expanded and I can also see aspects of team presenting that remain largely unchanged over the years. In dedication to the students who will finish class with me tonight, I offer all of you this synthesis of the key lessons from the course.

Years ago a student shared with me the metaphor they had learned in the US Army when briefing a senior officer as a team. Colin had been told to act as if “one message was being delivered through four different voices.” That captures it all for me. When you deliver as a team you want to ensure that each team member understands, and aligns with, the “big idea” for the presentation. This might be a request for more resources, a pitch for a new product, or an update on a software implementation. At times the key message may be a tagline of sorts with some flair and alliteration like “Poor Planning Prevents Prosperity.” At other times it may simply be straightforward like “Investing in AI today will yield dividends tomorrow.”

Each of the speakers must know this single message well and ensure their own portion of the presentation aligns around that idea. Like the chorus of a song or a mantra the audience should hear this message several times through the presentation, perhaps not by each and every speaker but there should be a clear alignment of each person’s “little idea” for their piece around this larger Big Idea.

Each speaker must know this single message well and ensure their own portion of the presentation aligns around that idea.

I like to do an activity I call “building the bridge” with teams where they agree what each person’s smaller idea will be and how that fits within the main message. This image below, from page 67 of my book Communicate with Mastery, shows what that resembles on a white board. (CTA stands for Call to action.)

Once you achieve alignment, and create the content and slides, I offer several tips to make it easier to deliver effectively. These include:

1. Focus on pivotal moments — the opening, closing, and transitions between each speaker. These are the places where you can build (or lose) momentum with the audience. You demonstrate your coordination as a team in these pivotal moments.

2. Rehearse transitions — be sure you begin and end your portion in the same way each time, so that your teammates who lead or follow you know what to expect. I prefer transitions that are driven by content, not simply an introduction of the next speaker as in a newscast. “This is an investment, not just a cost, as my colleague Mia will now explain” is far stronger than “And now back to Bryan for the weather.”

3. View questions as opportunities — not obstacles. Whether a question comes as an interruption or within a designated Q/A time, view it as a chance to provide greater depth. It signals the audience is interested and engaged even if the tone is challenging. Brainstorm in advance what questions you can anticipate and who from the team should likely handle it.

4. Own the final impression — particularly if you provide a section dedicated to fielding questions near the end, do not let your answer to the final question be the end of your presentation. Bridge from that final question one last time to your main message.

So, the next time you’re invited to deliver as a team, I encourage you to return to this list and coach your peers to deliver one message through many voices.

All the best, jds

PS: While I treasured being back on the campus where I earned my own MBA and began my university teaching career, it took a sacrifice. I missed getting to see Joshua begin Kindergarten and Roma start third grade.

It was a hard time to be away from the family for such a stretch, but all of my family members slipped into my lecture in one way or another like these images of Roma I used while teaching the skill of Origin Stories. I’m blessed with an amazing spouse who together with me decided this adventure was one worth taking. Thanks Ken!

As you’ve come to expect from me…here’s what I’m reading, viewing, and hearing this final week of summer:

Reading: Prepping for this course I was able to revisit Joseph McCormack’s great book Brief: make a bigger impact by saying less. I’ve also discovered a treasure of free resources on his website.

Viewing: I finally had time to binge the first season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and loved it. The fictional “Arconia” building is only a block from our actual NYC home which made this riveting series all the more fascinating for me.

Hearing: my friend and colleague Sharon Richmond’s podcast, To Lead is Human, has become a staple for me. This episode on Leading Remote Teams, in particular, is rich with great strategies for making remote work effective.