My Biggest Mistakes Presenting to the Board (And What I Do Now)
How I learned to stop overexplaining, simplify CX, and speak in outcomes that boards actually care about.
The first time I presented to an executive board, I made the classic mistake. I tried to show how much I knew.
Decks packed with metrics. Customer lifecycle charts that looked like spider webs. Every single initiative my team was driving, complete with timelines and dependencies. I thought I was being helpful. Comprehensive. The kind of thorough that screams "I've got this handled."
I was wrong.
What I learned fast was this: The board doesn't want to see everything you're doing. They want to see why it matters and how it's helping the business grow.
This is especially true when it comes to CX and CS. These functions can feel abstract to people who don't live in them every day. It's on us to speak a language they understand and respect.
Here's how I approach board presentations now.
Don't get lost in the details
It's tempting to fill your board deck with operational updates. But unless those updates link directly to revenue, growth, or risk, they're just noise.
Quick hits that make board members check their phones:
Number of QBRs completed
Onboarding playbook version updates
Raw NPS trends without context
Training hours logged
Support ticket counts
New templates rolled out
Time spent "aligning cross-functionally"
Not wrong. Just not helpful at board level.
Now, here's what gets their attention:
"CX contributed to a $2M expansion in Q2."
"We used risk indicators to save a $600K renewal."
"A customer cohort hit Time to Value 30% faster, and they're expanding."
"CX data influenced product roadmap changes."
"Here's our forecast on renewal risk and how we're intervening."
"What we learned from churned customers and how we're responding."
Also, board members want to feel tapped into your thinking. Especially on startup boards. They want to hear well-crafted questions like:
"We're seeing mid-market growth but enterprise is lagging. Here’s what we’re doing about it…. What other areas are we missing to double down?"
"You've seen companies at this stage. What blind spots should I prepare for?"
They'll appreciate it. Insightful questions turn board members into collaborators, not just spectators.
Make CX about revenue without overcomplicating it
When you say CX is just about engagement or satisfaction, every non-CX exec tunes out. Instead, anchor your narrative in three business-driving areas:
Retention: Are we keeping customers? Are we spotting renewals at risk?
Expansion: Are we growing revenue from existing customers?
Advocacy: Are customers referring new business or influencing pipeline?
Everything else should clearly feed into one of these three outcomes. NPS scores, product adoption data, onboarding speed. They all need to connect back to retention, expansion, or advocacy.
That's how CX becomes a revenue conversation, not a feel-good survey review.
Use data to build confidence, not complexity
Volume is not value. A few strong data points beat a dashboard full of noise.
For example: "Customers fully onboarded within 30 days show a 25% higher renewal rate. We're at 42% now, aiming for 60% by quarter-end."
This format hits three markers. It ties an outcome (renewals) to a performance indicator (onboarding speed), shares current state, and sets a clear goal.
It sends a signal: I'm not collecting metrics for the sake of it. I'm using them to drive decisions.
When you show you're tracking outcomes with data, the board sees that you're speaking their language.
Start before you get there
Here's the thing: nothing is stopping CX leaders from doing this now, before they ever get in front of the board.
You don't need a board invitation to start talking about CX in terms of retention, expansion, and advocacy. Start with your manager. Practice in team meetings. Share updates that tie your work to revenue outcomes.
This is how you prepare for those bigger moments. When I first got the opportunity to present briefly to a board, it wasn't because I asked for it. It was because I'd been consistently sharing how my team's work was impacting those key business areas. The invitation came naturally.
Think of it as training. Every conversation where you connect CX metrics to business outcomes is practice for the real thing. Every time you skip the operational details and focus on what matters to the business, you're building that muscle.
The bottom line
Whether you're presenting to your manager, the leadership team, or eventually the board, the principles are the same. Skip the operational details. Focus on retention, expansion, advocacy. Present crisp data with context and action. And don't shy away from asking tough, strategic questions.
The board isn't expecting perfection. They expect leadership.
When you deliver a clear, outcome-focused story backed by meaningful data, you stop being "the customer person." You become a business leader who happens to focus on customers.
Start practicing that story now. The board opportunity will follow.