Although the book is out of print, the advice from the 3M Meeting Management Team, in How to Run Better Business Meetings, is still pertinent.

“The controller is the diagnostician who determines when and where the company is ill. The manager is the surgeon who operates on that ailment.

The surgeons need a diagnosis, and not a course in anatomy. The simpler and more focused the [financial] presentation, the better.

The most creative job the financial presenter can do is select the meaningful data and present them in sharp focus. This makes for shorter, more lively presentation, and does a better job of preparing the managers for their work as surgeons.”

Filed under: Finance, Meetings, Presentations