𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲 | 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟮: 𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗠𝘂𝗰𝗵

Clarity beats quantity.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 We try to be thorough. We stack context, we overshare, add slides, and send long emails. The point gets lost

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀 Leaders miss your recommendation. Decisions slow. Your authority softens.

𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 I remember a senior leader who needed the punch line upfront to keep his attention in the meeting. Did not matter who was presenting or topic. If you took too long to get to the ask, his attention moved on to his phone or laptop. Rude? yes, but reality. As Chief of Staff I learned to walk in with a backup plan every time we were seeking a decision. I had a 15-minute version. Three to five slides max. Headline first. Three bullets. One clear ask. If someone said “hard stop in 20, what do you need,” we were ready. Decisions happened in the room.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘄

• Know your audience and decision maker. How do they make decisions? How much information they prefer to receive? This is key. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗮𝘀𝗸!
• Put the recommendation in the first sentence. “𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗫 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗬. 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗭.” 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.
• Use three bullets. 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘴.
• Make the ask explicit. “𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗫. 𝗜𝗳 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱, 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝗬 𝗯𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆.”
• One slide per decision. Background lives in the appendix.

𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘄𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲:

• “Here is all the background…” → “𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗫 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗬. 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗭.”
• “I prepared twenty slides…” → “𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘅 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.”
• “Let me walk you through the details…” → “𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.”

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Pick one meeting this week. Build the 15-minute cut. Lead with the line. Three bullets. Clear ask. Tell me how it goes.

Happy Wednesday! Ana