Bill Canady, a former CEO and current board member, explains that one well-crafted page answering the board's hardest questions wins their confidence. He cites a board member confused about a figure jumping from 8 to 14, showing how CEOs who prepare this single page avoid losing the room.
3 of them get on a call afterwards and one of them says, I still don't understand how you get from 8 to 14. That's it. You're being audited. I've been on both sides of that table, the CEO presenting, the board member listening, and the difference between the 2 versions of the meeting was never capability. Every CEO I've watched lose that room was good at his job. The difference is whether one page on the table that answers the question before anybody asks.
