NFPA Executive Leaders Learn to Present with Impact and Presence at Kellogg Session

The NFPA Executive Leadership Program is an in-depth and interactive program that helps emerging leaders in the fluid power industry develop their network and advance their management and leadership skills through tailored content. Its sessions are presented in collaboration with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, with Kellogg faculty helping to curate interactions among program participations.

A third cohort of scholars are now engaging in this program, with their fifth in-person session just completed in April 2025 at Kellogg on the downtown campus of Northwestern University. The session’s focus was on Presenting for Impact, with the participants engaging in lecture, discussion, and case study explorations.

Presenting for Impact – Professor Steven Franconeri

Leaders are called on to make presentations daily. It is alarming and dismaying how poor the quality of graphic presentations, particularly technical or data presentations, can be. The crux of the issue is how the brain processes and absorbs information. Most of us violate the fundamental aspects of neural processing every time we approach the screen or podium. In this active session, program participants:

• Saw the fundamental errors of most graphic presentation.
• Understood how to organize visual data for impact.
• Gained concrete tools and practices for immediate implementation.
  
  

Presenting with Leadership Presence and Impact – Professor Kate Levan

Superior communication skills distinguish the most successful businesspeople. As an executive, reliably communicating with presence and persuasion to various audiences requires professional discipline in approaching your most crucial business interactions. This engaging and interactive two-part session will help develop and hone approaches and outcomes. In this experiential session, program participants:

• Grasped the fundamental principles and tips that differentiate the most successful business presenters.
• Identified the strategy, structure, and delivery behind influential small and large group in-person interactions.
• Worked with a colleague to use the tools that command respect and followership.
  
  

This is a high-impact leadership development program, where each participant is using a customized leadership competency assessment to guide their progress through each session, and paired up with a learning partner to help ensure accountability and action between each set of sessions. The remaining session for this cohort is:

Jun 2025 – Leading Under Pressure

Plans are already underway for a fourth cohort – scheduled to begin in February 2026. Now is the time to reserve a spot for your up-and-coming professional in this unique and impactful program. Contact Eric Lanke at elanke@nfpa.com for more information.