3.Don't Forget the Polish. Even though the budget presentation can be a pro forma event, it still has to be good. There aren't rubber stamps in budget discussions. When all is said and done, Ford says, he expects he'll be asked to spend slightly less than he's proposed. Closing the deal in your favour requires a polished performance. Use these tips to shine:

• Be succinct. Kearns says that since he's become a CEO, he realizes how focused presentations need to be. "I have this board, and I have five times the amount of stuff for them than we have time to do." So Kearns has his CIO give him a detailed presentation about the budget, and then they talk about which things to highlight in the 30 minutes or so allotted to the budget discussion with the board.

• Pace yourself. Naomi Deutscher, a presentation coach, encourages executives to speak quickly, but adds that it's also important to vary your pace. In particular, she recommends pausing after a significant point has been made, or a new topic or slide introduced.

• Use slides for emphasis. Deutscher advises that slides contain only a few lines of text — six at the most — and that CIOs use these as talking points rather than reading them off verbatim. Using colour or bold text for important points or statements helps get the message across.

• Get feedback. Practise giving a budget presentation beforehand, and, if possible, tape yourself. Then, after the presentation, "have a colleague tell you what worked about your content and style, and what didn't", says Deutscher. "People don't do enough to find out what people like and get feedback on what worked and what didn't."

But the annual performance is but one point in a continuous exercise. It requires strength in numbers and months of hard work, along with political savvy, corporate tea leaf reading and an understanding of the company's strategy and IT's role in it.