Mastering boardroom communication: five essentials for executives

Executive–board interactions impact leadership and business success
Whether you are an executive who has been meeting with the board regularly for years or are in a new role that’s landing you on the agenda, your interactions with directors play a huge role in establishing your professional credibility with the board. Your pre-read materials, presentation style, executive presence and management of key relationships will impact how directors view not only you but your entire business function. Board meetings are your opportunity to highlight issues core to the business and to demonstrate your value. The right preparation can help you make an impact.

Preparation requires precision and focus
Today’s environment is marked by continued disruption, from geopolitical instability and rapid tech evolution to regulatory shifts and rising stakeholder scrutiny. Business challenges are more interconnected than ever, placing pressure on boards to provide not just oversight but meaningful guidance. With limited time and more ground to cover, executives must deliver crisp, tailored reporting to help boards focus on what matters. Knowing the board’s priorities and presenting with clarity not only supports decision-making but sets you apart as a leader.

Board time is limited — make it count
As board oversight responsibilities expand to include areas such as AI, talent and geopolitics, time remains a limited resource. Directors want strategic, focused discussions, not lengthy operational updates. In fact, 74% of directors report wanting more time spent on strategy, reinforcing the need for executives to bring high-impact content to the table.¹ New AI tools can help executives more quickly analyze data, model scenarios and surface insights, enabling smarter preparation and more impactful conversations. While these tools require human oversight for accuracy, relevance and sound judgement, technology can help to optimize the board’s time. Transparent, consistent communication and anticipating what matters most to directors are key to strengthening relationships, establishing leadership credibility and building trust with the board.

_{¹PwC, 2024 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, September 2024.}

Be intentional about building connections

Executives often have just a handful of meetings with the board each year. But that doesn’t mean you can’t and shouldn’t have ongoing relationships with individual directors.

Relationships with directors can build trust and bolster the board’s confidence in an executive’s leadership. This trust is invaluable when delivering sensitive or unpopular news, since a well-established relationship can make tough messages easier to convey. Boards value honesty over spin; transparent messaging will enhance your professional credibility and nurture the trust that is essential for productive executive–board relationships.

Preparation is key. Investing time in a pre-meeting update with the board (or committee) chair could help you understand what is top of mind for the board so as to tailor your presentation. If you’re already regularly presenting to the board, periodically ask for coaching to assess your effectiveness. Setting aside time with the chair can strengthen your relationship and make you more effective.

Maintain management team unity. Nurture relationships not only with the board but with senior management colleagues. Demonstrating a united front and cross-functional cooperation gives directors confidence that the management team is aligned. In today’s complex environment, boards want to see leaders collaborate internally to drive initiatives and address issues holistically, as most issues — most notably crisis response — span multiple functions and require integrated and potentially rapid solutions.

Address issues openly. Use these relationships to discuss big-picture issues (e.g., economic uncertainty, geopolitical events, industry disruptions) outside of the boardroom. By providing directors with candid heads-up updates on emerging risks or successes, executives demonstrate transparency and help the board stay informed. This preparation pays off when sudden issues arise, as there’s already a foundation of trust and context.

Prepare with an understanding of board perspectives and priorities

Directors are a special audience: a group of individuals whose backgrounds are varied but generally have a common thread of experience as a senior executive. The messages you convey to them need to have the right level of detail, insight, and impact without being too granular. Understanding members’ backgrounds is key to effective board engagement.

Research board composition and viewpoints. Do your homework on who’s in the boardroom and each director’s background — e.g., which members are former CFOs, technology experts, industry veterans, or investor representatives as well as what other boards they serve on and the issues they care about most. This knowledge should help you frame your presentations in ways that resonate with directors.

Customize your messaging. Understand how the board prefers to receive information. Ask those with board exposure (for example, the corporate secretary or experienced presenters) for input, then adapt your delivery. If your audience is action-oriented, get to the recommendation quickly; if they are detail-oriented, be ready with backup data.

Bridge the perspective gap. While executives and boards are usually aligned on the goals for the company, their priorities may differ. Recent PwC surveys reveal striking differences — for instance, 43% of executives think AI/GenAI expertise should be added to their board, but only 16% of directors² say their boards are adding this expertise in the next 12 months. This makes it essential for executives to translate complex initiatives that resonate with board priorities such as risk and long-term value.

_{² PwC, 2025 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, Forthcoming.}

Consider the balance between pre-read and presentation materials

Craft a clear core message or storyline and use the pre-read materials to set the stage in a way that will shape the presentation and discussions in the board and committee meetings.

Provide focused and timely pre-read materials. Pre-read packages should be concise, focused on key insights, tailored to board-level priorities and distributed in a timely manner at least a full week prior to a board meeting to give directors ample time to review. Materials should include: 1) a crisp one-to-two-page executive summary with prioritized information, distilling what the board needs to know; 2) a clear articulation of what is needed from the board (decision, endorsement, feedback or simply awareness); and if needed, 3) detailed reporting/dashboards with insightful commentary to support, provided as an appendix. Consider identifying someone outside your functional area to read through your materials, listen to your presentation, and offer feedback.

Focus on the discussion. Whether your objective is to secure approval for a strategy shift or to alert the board to a brewing risk, state the headline up front. Don’t restate the pre-read but, rather, build on it, tying your message to the strategy. Reinforce your message with supporting data as evidence, but don’t overwhelm; provide only targeted facts that amplify your message. Conclude by reinforcing the message and restating any “ask” of the board. A closing statement should reinforce your key message and required action to keep it front-of-mind as the discussion wraps up.

Use data and visuals to aid understanding. Replace dense text with charts, dashboards or infographics that allow directors to quickly grasp performance trends and risk indicators. For example, include a one-page dashboard of key metrics (financial results, risk KPIs, project status). If a complex topic such as cybersecurity or supply chain risk is on the agenda, provide a brief primer or visual overview in the pre-read to bring less-familiar directors up to speed.

Tailor materials to your audience. The full board may prefer a high-level summary, whereas a technical committee might appreciate more detailed data. For example, if few directors have IT backgrounds, the CIO’s report should include a non-technical explanation of tech issues and their business impact, avoiding jargon. Use knowledge of directors’ backgrounds to adjust materials to the appropriate depth.

Understand board priorities to make every minute count

Your presentation should put the pre-read materials into context and provide a unique forward-looking perspective that helps to connect the dots for directors, distilling complex data into meaningful connections to strategy and risk.

Communicate your main objectives up front, lay out points of discussion, and be ready to answer anticipated questions. Plan to manage the discussion within the agenda time allotted while remaining flexible should the board want to go in a different direction. If the meeting is running behind schedule, be prepared to communicate your key messages more succinctly.

Align with the board’s time expectations. Front-load the most important information so it’s addressed even if tangents arise or the discussion is cut short. Connect with the corporate secretary, who can provide perspective on the full agenda, priorities and allocation of time to help you frame your message among other discussion topics.

Manage the flow and format. Executives typically have limited time on the board agenda — often just 10–20 minutes — so every minute counts. Enter the meeting with a game plan, focusing on two or three key messages or decisions. Plan to speak for no more than half of the allotted time, reserving the rest for questions and discussion; this engages directors and allows time to surface concerns and get to a resolution if needed.

Keep control of the discussion. Be prepared to tactfully steer the conversation back to strategic matters if it drifts into operational weeds. Keep track of open questions if a director raises a point you can’t answer in the moment or requires follow-up. Note the point and commit to a post-meeting response; this followup discipline shows respect for the board’s time while helping to address their queries.

Cultivate transparent, productive relationships to instill confidence and build trust

Take intentional steps to foster ongoing engagement and aim for continuity on key issues that are critical to the business. Regular, transparent engagement with the board — especially outside formal meetings — can build the confidence necessary to navigate uncertainty together.

Leverage committee meetings and off-cycle touchpoints. Given the breadth of issues confronting companies in 2025, boards cannot cover all topics in regular board meetings. Executives should consider making strategic use of board committee meetings, workshops or interim updates to cover complex or highly technical subjects. For example, a chief risk officer might do a deep dive on cybersecurity with the audit committee ahead of the full board meeting, allowing detailed discussion in a smaller group, and then summarize key points to the full board. This approach supports the effective use of time with the full board without overloading the agenda.

Monitor evolving concerns. Board expectations aren’t static — they shift with the external environment. Directors are increasingly concerned with issues such as quickly evolving geopolitical risks, regulatory changes and activist investors. Knowing what’s keeping your board members up at night (via surveys, direct conversations, or news of similar companies) provides opportunities to share curated, relevant information that connects your agenda item to the board’s overarching concerns. For example, concise follow-up communication on AI initiatives or new employee pulse survey data relevant to a discussion during the last board meeting would demonstrate responsiveness and keep the board well informed.

Schedule regular one-on-one conversations with individual board members. Tailor your discussions to their areas of expertise and ask for input on strategic decisions to keep them engaged and informed on changing risks and opportunities.