Speaking Up: Surviving Executive Presentations

by Frederick Gilbert

If you are in middle management, to get anything done you must present your ideas to decision makers, and those presentations can be brutal. The stakes are high—one presentation can make or break a career—but the rules are utterly unclear. Tactics and techniques that work well with peers, subordinates, and immediate supervisors can actually work against you when presenting up the chain. Speaking Up is an indispensable resource for anyone who needs to know how to present to those at the highest levels. Psychologist and coach Frederick Gilbert offers revelatory insights into the minds of the men and women at the top—information that is crucial to understanding what they're looking for from presenters. Based on ten years of research and hundreds of interviews, Speaking Up features extensive comments from executives explaining exactly what they want and don't want in a presentation and includes nine chapters containing QR codes for free videos on the chapter topics. This is a must-read book for surviving high-stakes meetings.

Genres: Leadership

217 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Stela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading the book with the hope it will help me become a more savvy presenter but got so much more out of it. It introduces a whole lot of the challenges and mindset of executives which brings value to every conversation with one of them.

Highly recommend to anyone with ambitions to grow fast without losing their values along the way.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Speaking Up by Frederick Gilbert - lots of great tips for presenting to management. I found it to be insightful especially for presenting to executive leadership. Prior to my new job, I’d mainly presented to peers. This gave me a lot of new strategies for higher ups that I have been able to successfully implement in my new role.

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit outdated now, but still very relevant.

[Jason Yan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may still have some concerns regarding presenting to senior management. However, the book actually present more angles from higher profile people and how tough the meeting can be.

The problem is that the practice can is not enough, so it makes me think a tougher boss might help.

[Shavonne Ekeledo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great use of primary research for publication, especially product refresh, and marketing.