Danish Tax Agency (SKAT): Presentations that support the executive team

The challenge

SKAT Customer Service wanted to shift its focus from internal processes to customer needs. That put demands on how the directors communicated – and on the presentations they gave. The Customer Service executive team had completed a leadership training program with us and agreed that the staff who prepare the directors' presentations and input should speak the same rhetorical language.

Our approach

• A two-day course in meeting preparation and presentation skills: analysing the communication situation, effective structure, credibility and emotion, clear messages, targeted argumentation and slides that support the message.
• Openings and closings that capture the audience and lock in the key point.
• A real task: Between the course days participants worked on a presentation they had to prepare anyway.
• Feedback from the director: Afterwards, staff presented their work to their own director and received feedback from both the director and the trainer.

The result

The executive team and staff gained a shared rhetorical language, so presentations were built on the same principles the directors used themselves. The program was anchored 'top-down' – the executive team's own experience with the tools created recognition and support across the organisation. At the same time, middle managers at SKAT practised core narratives that created stability and direction in turbulent times.