Right Wisdom

For the last two weeks we have been looking at giving quality business presentations through the concept of sowing and reaping. The sowing was the presentation and the reaping was the audience. I hope that you found this information valuable. During our examination of the audience I am sure you found yourself described in one of the four audience types. Are you reactionary, energetic, apathetic or processor when you hear presentations? It doesn't matter which one you are you will have to make sure if you are creating a presentation that you cater to all the audience types. Here is a summary of what we discussed. The Presentation S = Substance           Mission/Vision           Details           Facts O = Ownership           You are the Driver           R...

I hope you have enjoyed our look at audience types. When I say audience I am talking about those you might meet if you were making a business presentation. During this series we have looked at the business presentation and now we are looking at the audience who you will be presenting that presentation to. We are using the concept of Sow and Reap to understand the business presentation and the audience who sees it. Today we are looking at the P in REAP. It stands for Processor. These are the people who upon hearing your presentation can't immediately make a decision. They have to think things over. They like to analyze everything they are presented with. Sometimes they almost come across as apathetic but that is not true they just want to process the information. How can you as the presenter address this group of people? Make sure your presentation is solid. Make sure it has all the facts and details in your presentation. Make sure you show that you are in charge and show that i...

This week we are working our way through audience types when you are giving a business presentation. We are using the acrostic REAP. Today we are going to take a look at the A. It stands for apathetic. That's right you will have people in your audience who are apathetic. They won't care what you have to say or what you are presenting. They are those who sit with their arms crossed looking at you but not really hearing what you have to say. Just because they are apathetic doesn't mean they won't be receptive to what you have to say. This group of people you may have to work a little harder to get them engaged. Working harder means making sure your presentation really has a great WOW factor. That presentation needs to knock them off their feet. As you are presenting if you wow them it will get their attention and they will become engaged. Once engaged the apathetic people in your audience will be sold on what you have to say. You've got their attention they will w...

I hope everyone had an opportunity to read about those in your audience who are reactionary. It is important that any time you give a business presentation you will be confronted with a potpourri of listening and reacting styles. We are understanding these styles through the acrostic REAP. They are the ones reaping what you are talking about or selling so it is important to understand who they are and what you can do to get them excited about your presentation. Yesterday we looked at the R for reactionary. Today we tackle the E which stands for Excited. This is the group of people in your audience who immediately get excited the moment they hear your presentation. They get jazzed and ready to tackle the project you have presented. The excited ones you definitely want on your side because they will talk up your idea and get others excited. They will be the cheerleader for your project. The thing to be careful about is that they can sometimes get so excited about the idea or...

We have been looking at what it takes to give quality business presentations. We are looking at it through the concept of Sow and Reap. The sow portion of the concept is the presentation itself and we looked at those last week. This week we will be looking at what the REAP stands for. Each of the letters in REAP stands for a different type of person you might encounter in your audience when presenting your presentation. R = Reactionary E = Excited A = Apathetic P = Processor Today we are looking at the reactionary audience member. Those who are reactionary and hear your presentation are immediately going to have something to say about your presentation. These people usually react with negatives about your presentation and idea. They will offer positives as well but more often then not it is the negatives you will hear. How can you hear only positives or very minimal negatives from the reactionary types? Make sure you have done your homework. Make sure your presentation has co...

Any time you give a presentation it is not only the presentation that is important but the audience may be just as important. It is the audience that you are selling your idea to and presenting the information to as well. It is important to make sure you are meeting the needs of your audience. In that regard you need to understand the types of people that could make up your audience. We are looking at the concept of SOW and REAP. The SOW portion was the presentation itself and it included Substance, Ownership and WOW Factor. The REAP is the audience, starting Monday I will address what the R stands for. First lets look at the principle of sowing and reaping. The idea is that whatever you sow that you will also reap. If you plant corn you should reap corn. In our little scenario if you plant a quality presentation with great ideas you should be able to reap success. If you present a bland and boring presentation your will probably put your audience to sleep and your idea and present...

How is that business presentation coming? I hope you have been crafting some substance for your presentation and taking ownership of the project you are presenting. Remember we are looking at business presentations using the idea of SOW for the presentation and REAP for the audience. Yesterday we looked at the O in SOW. Today we will look at what the W stands for. The late Steve Jobs was the king at presenting Apple's new products in a way that blew people off their feet. Steve Jobs used what you might call the WOW factor, that is what the W stands for. It is essential in any presentation that you create some sort of WOW factor that will blow the audience off their feet. There are three things you need to think about when creating that WOW factor. If you follow these three things you will have a presentation with that WOW factor. Bells and Whistles - If you can show off what your project or idea might be able to do that is out of the ordinary then be sure you ring that bell...

This week we are looking at how to give good business presentations by looking at the principle of Sowing and Reaping. Yesterday we looked at the S in SOW which stood for substance. Today we will look at the O. The O stands for Ownership. Anytime you have an idea or project and you are giving a presentation on the idea you want to take ownership. You want to show that ownership in your presentation. Take that idea and show that you are the owner of the idea. You can show ownership in your presentations by showing the following three things. You are the driver - Show that you will take ownership of what you are presenting. Show your knowledge and that you will be the leader of the project. Road Map to Success - Show exactly how you the driver has a plan in place to make this project a success. Show how you will get from the infancy of the project to the successful culmination. Passengers - Show who will be the key players in the project. Who are you taking along for the ride. Make...

We are starting to look at what it takes to create and present winning presentations. If you have ever had an idea or project an you wanted to sell the idea to your boss you may have to create a winning presentation. The tool you need to make sure your presentation is a winner is to use the simple concept of SOW and REAP. Each letter of these two words stands for some aspect of the presentation. The SOW relates to the presentation and the REAP relates to the audience. Today we will look at the S. It stands for Substance. Every presentation must have substance. It can't be vague and general. You really have to give details and back it up with facts. There are three things you must have in order to establish substance within your presentation. Vision/Mission - Have a vision as to where your idea or project will go. Convey that vision in your presentation. Details - Back up your vision with details. Supporting your idea with details in your presentation will give it credence. ...

Monday morning, fresh off a weekend of relaxation with family and friends. Are you ready for a week of leading others and helping others find success?  This week we are going to focus on business presentations. I know what you are thinking "I give presentations all the time, what help do I need?" That may be the case for many of you but I am going to hopefully give you a tool that will help you understand your project and then help you create a winning presentation that will get your project the audience it deserves. If you ever have to give presentations about projects or ideas that you have then this is the blog to read over the next several days. This won't be your ordinary here is how to do it blog. I will present this in a fun and memorable format. This will be only a condensed version of a more in-depth process. If you are interested in hearing more and if you want your company's leaders to benefit from this, please contact me and I'll gladly come in a...