How can you present financial data to the CTO in a way that is engaging and understandable?

As a corporate finance professional, you may often need to present financial data to the CTO, who is responsible for the technical vision and strategy of the company. However, the CTO may not be familiar with the financial jargon, concepts, and metrics that you use in your analysis and reports. How can you present financial data to the CTO in a way that is engaging and understandable? Here are some tips to help you communicate effectively and persuasively with the CTO.

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1 Know your audience

Before you prepare your presentation, you should research the CTO's background, interests, and goals. What is their technical expertise and experience? What are their pain points and challenges? What are their expectations and objectives from your presentation? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your content, tone, and style to suit their needs and preferences. For example, you may want to use more visuals, analogies, and examples to explain complex financial concepts, or focus on the implications and benefits of your financial data for the technical aspects of the business.

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2 Define your purpose

Next, you should define the purpose of your presentation. What is the main message or takeaway that you want to convey to the CTO? What is the desired outcome or action that you want them to take after your presentation? Having a clear purpose will help you structure your presentation, prioritize your information, and highlight your key points. For example, you may want to present the financial performance of a new product launch, the financial feasibility of a technical innovation, or the financial impact of a strategic decision.

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3 Simplify your data

One of the biggest challenges of presenting financial data to the CTO is to simplify your data without losing its accuracy and relevance. You should avoid overwhelming the CTO with too many numbers, tables, charts, and formulas that may confuse or bore them. Instead, you should select and present only the most relevant and meaningful data that supports your purpose and message. You should also use simple and consistent formats, labels, and colors to display your data, and explain any acronyms, abbreviations, or terms that the CTO may not understand. For example, you may want to use a pie chart to show the revenue breakdown by product category, a line graph to show the trend of cash flow over time, or a bar chart to compare the profitability of different projects.

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Dinah Amwayi

Financial management | Grants Management|Project management|Reporting
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True, human beings are visual, therefore graphs speak volumes and simplify technical and boring financial data. Graphs and pictures communicate better and stick more than figures

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4 Tell a story

Another way to make your financial data more engaging and understandable to the CTO is to tell a story with your data. You should not just present your data as facts and figures, but as a narrative that connects your data to the context, problem, solution, and outcome of your presentation. You should also use emotional appeals, anecdotes, and humor to capture the CTO's attention and interest. For example, you may want to start your presentation with a hook that relates your data to a personal or professional experience of the CTO, use a case study or a testimonial to illustrate your data in action, or end your presentation with a call to action that motivates the CTO to act on your data.

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Guk Keong (GK) Low

”Roads were made for journeys, not destinations.”
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Suggest focusing on presenting actionable "insights" curated from analyzing the financial data. Avoid personal bias and making assumptions without facts and data to backup in case the CTO ask for it.

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5 Engage your audience

Finally, you should engage your audience throughout your presentation. You should not just talk at the CTO, but invite them to participate and interact with you and your data. You should also use verbal and non-verbal cues to show your enthusiasm, confidence, and credibility. For example, you may want to ask open-ended questions, solicit feedback, or conduct polls to involve the CTO in your presentation, use gestures, eye contact, and voice modulation to express your emotions and emphasize your points, or use props, demos, or handouts to enhance your data visualization and retention.

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