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Tips on communicating Cover effectively with the board Preparing a presentation for boards of directors can be a daunting task: lengthy documents and complicated legal information must be pared down into snippets that will convey the main points in a very limited time. You could make this task a little easier by following some of these recommended steps: 1. Prepare the board: When making a presentation to the board, “you have a short window of time to pres- ent the information,” says Charles Alexander, direc- tor and general counsel for Citibank Canada. “They need to be aware of what’s going on; [you need to] put forward information that is relevant.” 2. Think ahead: You also want to give the board lots of time with the information — especially if it’s of a financial or regulatory nature. “Give the board as much lead time as possible,” Alexander adds. “It shows the board that you’re on the ball and it helps build confidence.” And the board has to know what’s happening today, and what’s com- ing down the pipeline, says John Jussup, gener- al counsel and corporate secretary with the Bank of Canada. 3. Be prepared: It is vital to be ahead of the board and “anticipate the needs of the directors and what they should know,” suggests Geoffrey Creighton, senior vice-president and general counsel for IGM Financial Inc. One way is by preparing for the board meetings along with senior management, says Alexander. Indeed, the CEO and the business side of the corporation usually drive the agenda for board meetings. Once you know the agenda and which responsibilities fall on you, go through the information you’re going to present sev- eral times ahead of time, Alexander says. “You’ve got the information out to the board and set the agenda “There is now greater weeks in advance, so you have to come prepared to awareness by boards of answer any and all questions.” their obligations as they 4. Don’t wing it! Unfortunately, you’re not going to know everything. Avoid at all costs answering a existed all along.” question to which you don’t know the answer, Creighton says. “When you’re wearing the general Geoffrey Creighton counsel hat, you have the presumptive confidence Senior vice-president, general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer of the board. You don’t want to prejudice that. There IGM Financial Inc. is no embarrassment in having to go out and find the Toronto answer to a question later on.” AUTOMNE 2011 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 23