CFO Program Online Course
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Module 1: Embed finance across the company5 Lessons
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Module 2: Identify profit and cash initiatives7 Lessons
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Module 3: Oversee and drive business change13 Lessons
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The CFO’s role in driving change
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Driving change across your business: Top tips from a finance leader
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How to encourage innovation across your workforce
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The emotional reaction to a change initiative
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Obtaining people’s buy-in
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Change management: Create a sense of urgency
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Change management: Build a guiding coalition
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Change management: Form a strategic vision
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Change management: Enlist a volunteer army
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Change management: Enable action by removing barriers
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Change management: Generate short term wins
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Change management: Sustain progress
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Change management: Embed the changes
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The CFO’s role in driving change
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Module 4: Deliver data-driven strategic insights6 Lessons
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Module 5: Challenge your Board and influence strategy9 Lessons
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Challenging your CEO and Board
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Challenging the board – A CFO’s perspective
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The CFO’s role in influencing strategy
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The five levers of influential CFOs
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Providing your unique perspective
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Demonstrating you are more than a numbers person
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Ensure that you are always consulted
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How to avoid being seen as the blocker
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Adding value: A CFO’s perspective
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Challenging your CEO and Board
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Module 6: Drive key decision-making11 Lessons
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The modern-day decision-making process
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Gathering the facts
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How Data Savvy is your Board?
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Using data to help business activities
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Support decision-making with data
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Express your opinion
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Communicating financial information to non-finance people
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Reading a situation
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Knowing when to compromise
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Managing conflict at Board level and beyond
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Driving a group consensus
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The modern-day decision-making process
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Module 7: Represent your business externally6 Lessons
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Module 8: Become a critical and influential voice5 Lessons
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Module 9: Deliver the business plan7 Lessons
Communicating financial information to non-finance people
Dan Wells October 11, 2023
Many finance leaders struggle to communicate financial information to non-finance people. Communicating is universal and it is really important to recognise your audience.
During this video extract, experienced CFO and professional mentor Catherine Clark shares insights on how you can communicate financial information to non-finance people within key presentations, such as during board meetings:
It can be very tempting to assume that your audience wants to hear the exact things that you really want to tell them. However, your perspective is not always the same as others – in particular, given that they are likely to be doing very different roles and come from other career backgrounds.
Heavy use of numbers can confuse people and others may prefer a mixture of numbers, visuals, words and body language.
Communicating financial information to non-finance people is about telling a story and determine the best way to get your message across to them.
Think about what you are really trying to tell people and what outcomes you are looking for. This includes the key messages that they need to remember and the actions that you want them to take away. Are you trying to share a fact or are you asking somebody to change something?
It often helps to focus on three key points within your presentation and to provide any further detail within an Appendix.
Never assume that people already know things, especially those who are outside of the day-to-day running of the business. To make something happen, you need everybody to be on board with the same level of information and knowledge.
Avoid over-complicating your board papers in an attempt to demonstrate your worth. Focus more upon how you can get your message across in the simplest way that brings the most important points to people’s attention. You cannot risk something really important being lost in the level of detail.
Assess your skills
How good are you at presenting financial information to non-finance people?
Do you use a good mix of numbers, visuals, words and body language to convey your messages?
Are you consistently able to deliver the outcomes required from your presentations?