Five Behaviors Needed When Communicating with Executives

Ways to minimize confusing messaging

At the past few ISPI conferences, several practitioners expressed to me that they have difficulty communicating with executives. Some conveyed that executives seem to misunderstand their messaging or seem disengaged. What can you do to improve your executive partnership? Change your behavior. These five suggestions may help.

1. Instead of the academic structure, use the business/media structure to communicate

When presenting to executives, start with your recommendations and then explain the conclusions that led you to the recommendations. Here’s why: Executives are busy and do not have the time or the interest to listen to your step-by-step journey.

After presenting your recommendations and conclusions, let executives lead the discussion with their questions. You may find this more engaging than the traditional academic approach.

2. For email, begin with the message and then the action needed