Annual General Meetings (AGM’s) can be a brutal power shift, especially when you’re fronting a crowd who aren’t pleased with your performance. For one day a year, the dynamic flips and the CEO, COO, CFO or Chair are the ones taking the questions.
At their core, AGMs exist so shareholders can hear directly from leadership about the company’s performance, ask questions, and vote on key resolutions affecting the organisation. But in the shareholders’ minds AGMs are more than good governance and legal responsibility. This is their moment to be acknowledged by the people steering the ship, publicly and in front of their peers.
Shareholders don’t line up at the microphone because they couldn’t find page 47 in the financials. Shareholders turn up to be seen and heard.
That person three rows back clutching a printed annual report with fluorescent tabs has crafted their question over weeks. They’ve rehearsed it. They’ve asked friends for feedback. They might be nervous. But they have earned their few minutes, and they have the right to ask their question.
AGM Questions
AGM questions are almost always two things: emotional and predictable. You may not know the exact way a question will be worded, but you certainly know the issues. They’re usually the same ones as last year, and the year before. Your inbox might already be flooded with them.
But predictable for the leadership team, doesn’t mean unemotional for the shareholder. Shareholders aren’t asking where ‘the’ money has gone, they want to know where ‘their’ money has gone. That’s different. And it makes the question emotional. The data is easy, addressing the feeling is harder.
My Advice: Respond to the emotion first.
The information is in the report. The tone is in the moment.
Even when a question feels long and repetitive, the shareholder deserves your attention. They prepared, they turned up. Show the room, and the person asking, you appreciate their level of engagement. Signal that we’re all on the same team. Everyone wants rising share prices, stronger revenue, safer workplaces and better cost controls.
Walking into your AGM with an “I get it” mindset, rather than a defensive one, will change how you answer the question. When your initial responses are “I can see why you’d be frustrated by that…” or “I understand how it might look that way, but let me explain it differently…” you take the heat out of the combat without requiring you to agree. This is not a group therapy session, it’s leadership. Demonstrate to the shareholders, and to the entire room, that you have heard the concern, clearly and respectfully.
Answering at the AGM:
When I do media training and teach people how to answer journalist questions, most clients tell me they’re worried about being asked something they don’t know the answer to. Interestingly, I don’t hear that concern when I train AGM teams. Most AGM teams are completely across the detail and numbers, and comfortable with whatever question comes their way. I’ve always thought it was interesting that so many leaders are more concerned about journalist questions than shareholder questions. It’s very unlikely a journalist will know more about the issue than Trevor with the fluorescent tabs in his annual report.
But the common mistake I see isn’t looking defensive or not knowing the answer. It’s that leaders forget to stop talking. They turn their answer into a download of everything they know about the subject. Somewhere between all the waffle, they unintentionally overshare information, speculate, and make a commitment by guessing or having a bit of ‘banter’.
I teach a structured model for answering tough questions and for dealing with the emotion. I won’t unpack the full model here (those who have trained with me can likely picture the circle forming). But the magic is in the ending.
Closing the loop is the most strategic part of the answer. If you don’t deliberately land your answer, you drift. If you drift, you ramble. If you ramble, you lose authority. A clean close, signals you’re done (hello Chair, you can come in with the next question now please). It shows you’ve addressed the concern, and you’re in control.
Chairs, you’re deciding whether a board member receives an elegant set-up, or a hospital pass. A skilled Chair can “gift” a speaker a strong platform to respond. A Chair is responsible for letting grandstanders have their time, but not too much of it. A tough, but important, balance.
Pause
As with any presentation, remember the power of the most perfectly timed pause. Before the big numbers. After the big numbers. The part you’re running a virtual highlighter over. Want the audience to remember that bit? Pause before you say it, so my brain has the chance to take notes.
AGMs are a great opportunity to demonstrate strong and transparent leadership. Answer with question, and answer the emotion.
