Shareholder Questions at the Annual Meeting

The National Association of Corporate Directors has posted a very useful 60-page document by PriceWaterhouse Coopers on its web site. The document is a compendium of questions that company executives should expect from shareholders at the annual meeting. Most of the questions are fairly predictible questions about performance, succession planning and corporate governance. Still, the listing is a good primer to help less-seasoned executives anticipate questions that might be asked. The questions might also provide good practice for dealing with analysts' questions.

Don't forget, though, that shareholders will also ask very specific questions about the business. At Wal-Mart, shareholders wanted to know why we didn't carry specific types of fishing lures, or ladies shorts with elastic waists. And during the ten years I was there, someone asked about restroom cleanliness (or lack thereof) every single year.