When you send an e-mail to a friend and ask a question such as, “Are you coming to get the bikes?” and then two days later you get his email in response saying, “Yes,” and your original email is not visible, then you probably have no idea what your friend is talking about. You’ve forgotten that you sent the email. You need to be reminded.
The simple old-fashioned way to do this is to write, “To answer your question: Yes, I am coming to get the bikes,” or something to that effect. You have to remind the sender of the previous exchange.
Same thing when you’re updating senior execs on how things are going. If you don’t remind them about what you said last time they will have no idea what you’re talking about – they’re busy, and have too much to think about. They need to know the backstory.
So presentation skill #43 is begin with the backstory. It’s old news to you, but the senior people have been busy since they last saw you. Take them back to the material they’ve heard before. They will appreciate the update, and your news of progress will make more sense: you’ll be putting the content into context!