Support your company’s ‘chief storyteller’

A crucial part of CFOs’ jobs is presenting data to others. CFO Brew spoke with Jim DeLoach, founding managing director of consulting firm Protiviti and a widely published writer of business books and articles, about how CFOs can become better data storytellers.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Why is it important for CFOs to support CEOs’ storytelling efforts?

Every C-level executive is a brand ambassador. I think the CEO really is the chief storyteller. As a CFO, how can I help the CEO operationalize his or her strategy and vision, and achieve his or her mission? I focus on getting on the same page and understanding what direction the CEO wants to go. It’s all about what story the CEO wants to tell.

Is there a method of structuring stories that you’d recommend?

The rule of three was taught to me by my dad. He was an advertising executive. He always told me about this rule: “Tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ’em, tell ’em, and then tell ’em what you told ’em,” and I’ve always followed that. It’s the way I write, the way I speak, the way I present. It’s a formula that I have found works.

How can CFOs get better at telling stories?

I feel like it’s practice, practice, practice. It’s trial and error. It’s recognizing if it doesn’t come to us naturally, like it did, apparently, with Steve Jobs. But we all can’t be Steve Jobs. So the best thing we can do is look at the techniques that those whom we admire as storytellers [use] and ask ourselves what makes them effective, what makes them so good at what they do? And draw in some of those practices that we are comfortable applying.

What’s something CFOs should know about using data in their stories?

You’ve got something very powerful that’s uniquely yours. Be sure and be ready to back it up. The best CFOs I have witnessed amaze me with their command of what’s going on. And how they’ve got their fingertips on the numbers when they’re talking to the analyst community on analyst calls. They amaze me. I mean, they’re really living it.