Stop Burying the Lead
Your board deck is not too detailed. It is structured in the wrong order.
Most executive communication fails because it starts where the work started, not where the decision-maker needs to start.
Teams usually present the data first, then the analysis, then the implications, and finally the recommendation. That may reflect how the thinking happened, but it is not how senior leaders consume information. Executives do not want to reconstruct the argument in real time. They want the answer first, then the evidence that supports it.
That is the discipline behind Barbara Minto’s Pyramid Principle, developed during her time at McKinsey. The core rule is simple:
Start with the answer, then group the supporting logic underneath it.
This matters because executive decision-making depends on compression. A CEO, board member or executive committee should be able to understand the recommendation, the decision required, the reason it matters, the evidence and the next step within the first minute.
If your presentation saves the “big reveal” for slide 19, you have already lost the room.
The mystery novel problem
Inexperienced leaders often treat presentations like mystery novels. They build context, reveal clues, walk the audience through the analysis, and hold the conclusion until the end.
That is fine for fiction. It is terrible for board communication.
The board does not want a journey. It wants the bottom line. The first slide should contain the full argument; the rest of the deck should defend it. The same principle applies to executive emails. The first sentence should tell the reader what you need from them: the ask, the decision, the recommendation, the risk or the answer.
This is not a style preference. It is an operating issue. Bottom-up communication forces senior leaders to do the writer’s work: extract the point, infer the recommendation and identify the decision. That slows the organisation down.
The executive rule
Before sending a board paper, strategy update or executive email, apply one test:
Can the reader understand the recommendation in 60 seconds?
If not, the communication is not ready.
Poor executive communication is rarely caused by weak thinking. More often, the answer exists but is buried under context, process, detail and corporate cushioning. The fix is to put the conclusion first, then organise the evidence.
Use this prompt to clean up a single draft.
Prompt: Minto Pyramid Rewrite
Act as a McKinsey Engagement Manager trained in the Minto Pyramid Principle.
Rewrite the following strategic update, board paper or executive email so it is suitable for a CEO, board member or executive committee.
Draft:
[Paste text]
Apply this structure:
1. Start with the answer:
- Put the recommendation, decision or core message first.
- Make the opening paragraph sufficient for an executive to understand the point.
2. Use SCQA:
- Situation: relevant context
- Complication: what has changed or become urgent
- Question: what decision or issue this creates
- Answer: what should be done
3. Build the pyramid:
- Group the supporting logic into three clear pillars.
- Remove duplication and overlapping arguments.
4. Support with evidence:
- Replace adjectives with facts.
- Flag unsupported claims.
5. Make it executive:
- Remove corporate fluff.
- Cut unnecessary context.
- End with the specific action, decision or next step required.
The point is not to make the writing sound like McKinsey. The point is to force the thinking into executive order: answer first, logic second, evidence third, detail last.
But fixing one draft is not enough. The bigger problem is that most leadership teams do not have a shared communication standard. Every team builds decks differently. Every update has a different structure. Some people lead with the answer; others lead with process. Some bury the ask; others hide weak logic under dense slides.
That creates executive drag.
For paid subscribers, below is the executive communication standard I would give to a CEO, Chief of Staff, COO or strategy leader who wants faster, clearer decisions from their team.
The Executive Communication Standard
Most leadership teams do not have a writing problem. They have a decision-throughput problem.
The CEO is forced to decode the ask. The board is forced to infer the recommendation. The executive committee is forced to sit through the analysis before seeing the conclusion. Over time, this becomes an operating tax on the organisation.
Use the following standard with your team.
