Don’t waste your executive leadership team’s time. They usually want to know if you need them to act, so don’t be shy—include a call to action. In my experience, you will be more successful if you have built a trusted relationship and keep cybersecurity simple and understandable for them.

The simpler you can convey it, the better. Too often, cybersecurity professionals get mired in technical jargon only to lose their audience. “Be clear, unambiguous, and direct,” Noaman advises. “If you’re up front and say exactly what you need to do and put in terms of the why, you don’t have to explain the technical things, because now everyone