Bonus 3 — Executive Communication — Narrative, Memo, Stage

60-Second Summary

Bonus module 3 of the Manager-of-Managers program. Theme: How you write and speak to executives is the job.
Rewritten executive memo + QBR script — the real artefact you produce.
Same shape as core 12: 90-min pre-read, 4-hr monthly intensive, falsifiable artefact.
Reviewed by CHRO, VP/Director, sitting CEO, and OB faculty lenses.

At this layer, your output is increasingly the document and the meeting moment. A great memo gets a decision; a bad memo wastes 30 leaders' time. A great QBR earns trust; a bad one erodes it. This module installs the four canonical formats — narrative memo, board update, QBR, exec slide — and the rehearsal discipline to deliver them.

What the evidence says

Amazon (the 6-page memo, no slides for senior decisions): >25 years of evidence that written narrative produces better decisions than presentation theatre.
McKinsey communication studies: structured pyramid-principle writing (Minto) shortens decision cycles by 30–40%.
Carmine Gallo, Nancy Duarte: the strongest executive communicators rehearse 10–20× the live time; most directors rehearse 0–2×.

Pre-read (90 minutes)

Read: Barbara Minto — The Pyramid Principle, ch. 1–3 (45 min).
Read: the Amazon 6-page memo norm and a redacted example (15 min).
Read: BLUF, the one-page executive summary, the 'so what / now what' close (15 min).
Reflect (15 min): pull your last exec update. Did the recipient act? If not, why not?

Monthly intensive (4 hours)

Cohort flow with a senior practitioner coach

1
Memo critique (60 min)
Each leader brings one recent memo. Cohort and coach edit ruthlessly using pyramid principle. Most memos shrink 50% and improve.
2
QBR rehearsal (60 min)
Each leader rehearses their next QBR opener (5 min). Coach pressure-tests the narrative: what's the one decision you need? What's the one risk you're flagging?
3
Stage drill (45 min)
Each leader presents 3 slides on a real topic. Coach gives the same feedback senior comms coaches give: pace, pause, eye contact, the bury-the-ask problem.
4
Board-update format (30 min)
Coach walks through a real board update structure: highlights, lowlights, KPIs, asks. Cohort drafts one for their function.
5
Wrap (45 min)
Public commitment: which document gets rewritten this week using the new disciplines.

The artefact you produce

Rewritten executive memo + QBR script

One memo rewritten using pyramid principle, plus a one-page QBR script with the ask in the first paragraph. Reviewed by your manager and (ideally) the coach who edits at this layer.

Tools at this layer

Layer	Examples (2026)	Use
Writing	Notion docs, Google Docs, Hemingway editor, Grammarly Business, Claude/ChatGPT as an editor	Cut, clarify, restructure
Slide discipline	Pitch, Keynote, Figma slides, Beautiful.ai	Constrain the format; force the message
Async exec updates	Loom, Granola transcripts, Linear/Notion weekly memo	Push status without booking calendar
Rehearsal	Yoodli, Speeko, internal rehearsal with peer cohort	Practice 10–20× live time

Copy-paste AI prompt

Here's my draft [memo / QBR script / board update]. Help me: (1) restructure it using pyramid principle — answer first, then supporting arguments, then evidence, (2) cut at least 30% of the word count without losing meaning, (3) make the ask explicit in the first paragraph, (4) name the 3 most likely exec objections and how I should respond.

Between-session homework

One existing memo rewritten using pyramid principle.
Next QBR script drafted with ask in paragraph 1.
Rehearsal session completed with peer or coach — recorded if possible.
Personal exec-comms template library started (memo, QBR, board update, weekly summary).

Success signal

By end of this module, your memos lead with the answer, your QBRs ask for a decision in the first 60 seconds, and at least one executive has told you 'I knew what to do after reading that'.

Reviewer notes

CHRO (20+ yrs)

Promotion at this layer is a function of how comfortable the executive team is with your writing. They'll never tell you that explicitly — but it's true.

VP / Director (15+ yrs, 3+ scaled orgs)

I rewrite every important memo three times. The first draft is for me to think. The second is for the reader to understand. The third is to make sure they act.

Sitting CEO

If I have to read your memo twice to know what you want, I trust you less. Make the ask impossible to miss.

OB / HR Professor (25+ yrs)

Minto's pyramid principle is 50 years old and still the strongest framework for executive prose. The newer evidence (Brown, 2024 on narrative decision quality) reinforces it: writing is thinking, and bad writing is bad thinking made visible.

Written by Pawan Joshi.Sources cited inline.

First published 30 Jun 2026See site changelog →