Syndication- Gathering support prior to making the presentation

Many people often shoot themselves in the foot unnecessarily before even showing the first PowerPoint slide by not syndicating the proposals prior to the presentation to a senior management committee or the board. What I mean by syndication is to test or bounce some of the key points in your proposal/presentation to some or all the members of the committee or board before the formal presentation. If the syndication is done properly, more than half the battle is won as you would have addressed most of their concerns during the syndication, so you will be able to better prepare yourself during the actual presentation.

Use the syndication session to gather what issues the committee regards as critical and possible deal breakers. This will allow you to pre-emptively address these issues during the formal presentation. The worst thing that can happen during critical presentations to senior level committees is having the committee caught off guard and surprised by your material. This would put them in a very defensive mode and the will lead to very critical and detailed analytical questions you may not have the time to address effectively or even worse, you may not be prepared to answer those questions.

One of the keys to getting an approval is providing the commitee with some level of comfort that what you are proposing has been throughly prepared and all risks have been mitigated. The 'yes' response is an emotional reaction, not a rational or analytical reaction. Studies have shown that people make decisions in the back of their minds before they consciously aware that they have made that decision. Eventhough conventional thinking assumes that our decision making processes are very linear and logical, the scientific evidence is showing the opposite.

The brain is an amazing organ and it makes thousands of subconcious decisions in a very short time. That is why many people can come to a conclusion whether or not they trust someone in a matter of minutes, hence the importance of the old saying, " You only get one chance to make a good impression".This is more so during a key presentation to senior management.

There are a few strategies you can utilise to maximise your chances of success by doing prior syndications. Firstly, have a clear strategy of the sequencing of people you will syndicate with. Try to start with people who are most likely to be on your side. Also start with the most senior person or influential person on the committee that will be sympathetic to your cause. The more people who are on your side, the easier it will be to convince the more 'difficult' members of the committee.

Secondly, always make sure you customise your syndication content for the person who you will be presenting to. Unlike the formal presentation where you need to cover as much material as you have time, the syndication session allows you to focus on areas that are most likely to be of concern to that individual. Each member will have their own personal areas of interest and expertise so prepare accordingly. If you cover these bases beforehand, they will not raise it during the formal presentation that could take you into directions that may not be favourable to your cause.

And finally, get a few easy 'agreements' before you get to more sensitive sections. Studies by psycologists have shown that people are more prone to say  'Yes' if they have said yes on previous points raised. This also saves you time getting the agreement on the non-critical issues and allows more time to go into more depth with the critical issues.

Remember: Syndicate prior to your formal presentation to get as much support as possible to improve you probability of success. Of course this will take a lot of effort and time but it will be worth it!