Justin O'Brien

“Great presentation,” they said. Then you lost the $75M bid. Because the real decision-maker never saw it…

After losing a massive project last year, a bid team did something different: They mapped the REAL decision chain.

Here’s what we discovered:

1. The Shadow Board: Junior staff members who brief senior executives
2. The Technical Validators: Engineers who never attend presentations
3. The Risk Committee: A separate team evaluating every major project
4. The Financial Gatekeepers: Treasury teams with specific concerns
5. The Project Champions: Mid-level managers who fight for you internally – who lost interest

The reality? Your one-hour presentation gets filtered through five different lenses before reaching the final decision-maker.

Each one can kill your bid.

Stop presenting to the room. Start creating content for the entire decision chain.

What’s the most surprising hidden decision-maker you’ve encountered? Share your story below.

#PresentationSkills #BId #Pitch