DEL RIO INDUSTRIAL CONSULTANTS
13.9 Proposal, Business Plan, and Report Topics
A list with nearly 100 report topics is available at www.meguffey.com.
The topics are divided into the following categories: accounting, finance, personnel/human resources, marketing, information systems, management, and general business/education/campus issues. You can collect information for many of these reports by using electronic databases and the Web. Your instructor may assign them as individual or team projects. All involve critical thinking in organizing information, drawing conclusions, and making recommendations. The topics include assignments appropriate for proposals, business plans, and formal re- ports. Remember that a number of self-contained report activities that require no additional research are provided at the end of Chapter 12.
13.10 Executive Summary: Reviewing Articles (Objs. 5, 6)
Web
Many managers and executives are too rushed to read long journal articles, but they are eager to stay current in their fields. Assume your boss has asked you to help him stay abreast of research in his field. He asks you to submit to him one executive summary every month on an article of interest.
Your Task. In your field of study, select a professional journal, such as the Journal of Management. Using ProQuest, Factiva, EBSCO, or some other database, look for articles in your target journal. Select an article that is at least five pages long and is interesting to you.
Write an executive summary in a memo format. Include an intro- duction that might begin with As you requested, I am submitting this executive summary of . . . . Identify the author, article name, journal, and date of publication. Explain what the author intended to do in the study or article. Summarize three or four of the most important
findings of the study or article. Use descriptive rather than func- tional headings. Summarize any recommendations made. Your boss would also like a concluding statement indicating your reaction to the article. Address your memo to Marcus E. Fratelli. Alternatively, your instructor may ask you to e-mail your executive summary in the body of a properly formatted message or as an MS Word attachment in correct memo format.
13.11 Unsolicited Proposal: Thwarting Dorm Room Thievery (Objs. 1, 2)
Consumer Team
As an enterprising college student, you recognized a problem as soon as you arrived on campus. Dorm rooms filled with pricey digital doodads were very attractive to thieves. Some students move in with more than $3,000 in gear, including laptop computers, flat- screen TVs, digital cameras, MP3 players, video game consoles, PDAs, and DVD players. You solved the problem by buying an extra-large steel footlocker to lock away your valuables. However, shipping the footlocker was expensive (nearly $100), and you had to wait for it to arrive from a catalog company. Your bright idea is to propose to the Associated Student Organization (ASO) that it allow you to offer these steel footlockers to students at a reduced price and with campus delivery. Your footlocker, which you found by searching the Web, is extremely durable and works great as a coffee table, nightstand, or card table. It comes with a smooth interior liner and two compartments.
Your Task. Working individually or with a team, imagine that you have made arrangements with a manufacturer to act as a middleman selling footlockers on your campus at a reduced price.
Consult the Web for manufacturers and make up your own figures.
However, how can you get the ASO’s permission to proceed? Give that organization a cut? Use your imagination in deciding how this plan might work on a college campus. Then prepare an unsolic- ited proposal to your ASO. Outline the problem and your goals of protecting students’ valuables and providing convenience. Check the Web for statistics regarding on-campus burglaries. Such figures should help you develop one or more persuasive “hooks.” Then explain your proposal, project possible sales, discuss a timetable, and describe your staffing. Submit your proposal to Billie White, president, Associated Student Organization.
Grammar and Mechanics C.L.U.E. Review 13
Total Review
Each of the following sentences has a total of three errors in gram- mar, punctuation, capitalization, usage, or spelling. On a separate sheet, write a correct version. Avoid adding new phrases, starting new sentences, or rewriting in your own words. When finished, compare your responses with the key beginning on page Key-3.
Example: The following 3 statistical terms frequently describe data, Mean, median, and mode.
Revision: The following three statistical terms frequently describe data: mean, median, and mode.
1. The format and organization of a proposal is important. If a writer wants to be taken serious.
2. Our team members’ prepared 2 proposals for the three million dollar project.
3. Just between you and I, we worked especial hard to develop a
“hook” to capture a readers attention.
4. The manager and him realized an item was missing from the April 2nd shipment, consequently, they sent a claim request.
5. Readers of business’ reports often turn 1st to the conclusions and recommendations, therefore, these sections must be written carefully.
6. If a proposal is sent to the President or I it should definitely ex- plain the specific credentials and expertise of key personal for the project.
7. Benjamin and her wanted to start there own business, therefore, they wrote a business plan.
8. We invited seventy-five employees to hear 2 experts disberse information about wellness.
9. Memo’s usually contain four necessary parts, subject line, open- ing, body and action closing.
10. Darrin Jizmejian who was recently evaluated, wondered whether his formal report would be presented at the March 13th meeting?
© Comstock / Corbis
Chapter 14 Business
Presentations
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to
1 Discuss two important first steps in preparing effective oral presentations.
2 Explain the major elements in organizing the content of a presentation, including the introduction, body, and conclusion.
3 Identify techniques for gaining audience rapport, including (a) using effective imagery, (b) providing verbal signposts, and (c) sending appropriate nonverbal messages.
4 Discuss designing visual aids, handouts, and multimedia presentation materials and using presentation technology competently.
5 Specify delivery techniques for use before, during, and after a presentation, and apply reflective thinking skills.
6 Organize team-based oral presentations and recognize communication tasks in teamwork processes.
7 Explain effective techniques for adapting oral presentations to cross-cultural audiences, and
demonstrate multicultural and diversity understanding.
8 List techniques for improving telephone and voice mail skills to project a positive image.
Preparing Effective Oral Presentations
At some point everyone in business has to sell an idea, and such persuasion is often done in person. Like most of us, Jon Georges, formerly of Walt Disney Imagineering, does not con- sider himself a professional speaker. He admits that he once was so afraid of public speaking that he started a couple of speech courses as part of his degree program at UCLA but always dropped out. Finally, he took a night class in speaking and began to get over his fears.
Many future businesspeople fail to take advantage of opportunities in college to de- velop speaking skills. However, such skills often play an important role in a successful ca- reer. In fact, the No. 1 predictor of success and upward mobility, according to an AT&T and Stanford University study, is how much you enjoy public speaking and how effective you are at it.3 Speaking skills are useful at every career stage. You might, for example, have to make a sales pitch before customers or speak to a professional gathering. You might need to describe your company’s expansion plans to your banker, or you might need to persuade management to support your proposed marketing strategy. This chapter prepares you to use speaking skills in making oral presentations, whether alone or as part of a team.
For any presentation, you can reduce your fears and lay the foundation for a profes- sional performance by focusing on five areas: preparation, organization, audience rapport, visual aids, and delivery.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1 Discuss two important first steps in preparing effective oral presentations.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1 Discuss two important first steps in preparing effective oral presentations.
Although many new Japanese theme parks have failed, Tokyo Disneyland continues to rank as one of the world’s most popular attractions. It received 25 million visitors last year.1 However, it has felt the pinch of increasing competition and declining attendance during periods of economic slowdown. Like all theme parks, Tokyo Disneyland understood the need to offer fresh attractions and excit- ing new rides to keep the crowds coming back year after year. In its search for dynamic new ideas to expand its already popular park, Tokyo Disneyland turned to Walt Disney Imagineering.
Generating and implementing new ideas for the Disney theme parks are tasks of Walt Disney Imagineering. This is the research, design, and engineering subsidiary of Walt Disney Attractions. Al- though Tokyo Disneyland is a Disney theme park and Disney retains creative control of the park, the park is actually owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company. This company makes all financial and investment decisions. Although creative concepts come from Disney Imagineering teams, those ideas are not automatically accepted by theme park owners. Imagineering teams not only have to dream up exciting new concepts for the Tokyo park, but they also have to sell the ideas and win the approval of Japanese owners. Millions of dollars in contracts and hundreds of jobs in the United States and in Japan rest on successful presentations to the owners of Tokyo Disneyland.
Jon Georges, former lead show producer for the Tokyo Disney- land Project, was part of a talented Imagineering team that came up with a totally new attraction and restaurant concept for the Disney theme park. Based on Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonder- land characters, the creative project involved two phases. The first was a theme restaurant called the “Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall.”
The second was a major ride attraction based on Winnie the Pooh characters. Both concepts required considerable persuasion to win approval.
Traditionally, the Japanese park owners had accepted only attrac- tions that had proved technically successful in other theme parks.
Walt Disney Imagineering Sells Tokyo Disneyland on Winnie the Pooh
Communicating at Work Part 1
Naturally, they were reluctant to try a restaurant concept and a ride technology that were both brand new. Selling the Japanese on the new concepts required exceptional oral presentations from Jon Georges and the Imagineering team.2 You will learn more about this case on page 450.
Critical Thinking
● What kinds of oral presentations might you have to make in your chosen career field?
● Why are most people fearful of making presentations?
● How do you think people become effective speakers?
http://imagineering.themedattractions.com/
© Yoshikazu Tsuno / Staff / AFP / Getty Images
Knowing Your Purpose
The most important part of your preparation is deciding what you want to accomplish. Do you want to sell a health care program to a prospective client? Do you want to persuade management to increase the marketing budget? Do you want to inform customer service reps of three important ways to prevent miscommunication? Whether your goal is to per- suade or to inform, you must have a clear idea of where you are going. At the end of your presentation, what do you want your listeners to remember or do?
Mark Miller, a loan officer at First Fidelity Trust, faced such questions as he planned a talk for a class in small business management. Mark’s former business professor had asked him to return to campus and give the class advice about borrowing money from banks in order to start new businesses. Because Mark knew so much about this topic, he found it difficult to extract a specific purpose statement for his presentation. After much thought he narrowed his purpose to this: To inform potential entrepreneurs about three important factors that loan officers consider before granting start-up loans to launch small businesses. His entire presentation focused on ensuring that the class members understood and remembered three principal ideas.
Knowing Your Audience
A second key element in preparation is analyzing your audience, anticipating its reactions, and making appropriate adaptations. Audiences may fall into four categories, as summa- rized in Figure 14.1. By anticipating your audience, you have a better idea of how to organize your presentation. A friendly audience, for example, will respond to humor and personal experiences. A neutral audience requires an even, controlled delivery style. The talk would probably be filled with facts, statistics, and expert opinions. An uninterested audience that is forced to attend requires a brief presentation. Such an audience might respond best to humor, cartoons, colorful visuals, and startling statistics. A hostile audience demands a calm, controlled delivery style with objective data and expert opinion.
Preparing for an oral
presentation means identifying the purpose and knowing the audience.
Preparing for an oral
presentation means identifying the purpose and knowing the audience.
FIGURE 14.1 Succeeding With Four Audience Types
Audience Members Organizational Pattern Delivery Style Supporting Material
Friendly They like you
and your topic.
Use any pattern. Try something new. Involve the audience.
Be warm, pleasant, and open. Use lots of eye contact and smiles.
Include humor, personal examples, and experiences.
Neutral
They are calm, rational;
their minds are made up, but they think they are objective.
Present both sides of the issue. Use pro/con or problem/solution patterns.
Save time for audience questions.
Be controlled. Do nothing showy. Use confident, small gestures.
Use facts, statistics, expert opinion, and comparison and contrast. Avoid humor, personal stories, and flashy visuals.
Uninterested
They have short attention spans; they may be there against their will.
Be brief—no more than three points. Avoid topical and pro/con patterns that seem lengthy to the audience.
Be dynamic and
entertaining. Move around.
Use large gestures.
Use humor, cartoons, colorful visuals, powerful quotations, and startling statistics.
Avoid darkening the room, standing motionless, passing out handouts, using boring visuals, or expecting the audience to participate.
Hostile
They want to take charge or to ridicule the speaker;
they may be defensive, emotional.
Organize using a noncontroversial pattern, such as a topical, chronological, or geographical strategy.
Be calm and controlled.
Speak evenly and slowly.
Include objective data and expert opinion. Avoid anecdotes and humor.
Avoid a question-and-answer period, if possible; otherwise, use a moderator or accept only written questions.
Other elements, such as age, gender, education, experience, and the size of the audi- ence will affect your style and message content. Analyze the following questions to help you determine your organizational pattern, delivery style, and supporting material.
● How will this topic appeal to this audience?
● How can I relate this information to my listeners’ needs?
● How can I earn respect so that they accept my message?
● What would be most effective in making my point? Facts? Statistics? Personal experiences?
Expert opinion? Humor? Cartoons? Graphic illustrations? Demonstrations? Case histories?
Analogies?
● What measures must I take to ensure that this audience remembers my main points?
If you have agreed to speak to an audience with which you are unfamiliar, ask for the names of a half dozen people who will be in the audience. Contact them and learn about their backgrounds and expectations for the presentation. This information can help you answer questions about what they want to hear and how deeply you should explore the subject. You will want to thank these people when you start your speech. Doing this kind of homework will impress the audience.
Organizing the Content for a Powerful Impact
Once you have determined your purpose and analyzed the audience, you are ready to col- lect information and organize it logically. Good organization and intentional repetition are the two most powerful keys to audience comprehension and retention. In fact, many speech experts recommend the following admittedly repetitious, but effective, plan:
● Step 1: Tell them what you’re going to say.
● Step 2: Say it.
● Step 3: Tell them what you have just said.
In other words, repeat your main points in the introduction, body, and conclusion of your presentation. Although it seems redundant, this strategy works surprisingly well. Let’s examine how to construct the three parts of an effective presentation.
Capturing Attention in the Introduction
How many times have you heard a speaker begin with, It’s a pleasure to be here. Or, I’m honored to be asked to speak. Boring openings such as these get speakers off to a dull start. Avoid such banalities by striving to accomplish three goals in the introduction to your presentation:
● Capture listeners’ attention and get them involved.
● Identify yourself and establish your credibility.
● Preview your main points.
If you are able to appeal to listeners and involve them in your presentation right from the start, you are more likely to hold their attention until the finish. Consider some of the same techniques that you used to open sales letters: a question, a startling fact, a joke, a story, or a quotation. Some speakers achieve involvement by open- ing with a question or command that requires audience members to raise their hands or stand up. Additional techniques to gain and keep audience attention are presented in the Career Coach box on page 429.
To establish your credibility, you need to describe your position, knowledge, or experience—whatever qualifies you to speak. Try also to connect with your audience. Listeners respond particularly well to speakers who reveal something of themselves and identify with them. A consultant addressing office workers might reminisce about
Audience analysis issues include size, age, gender, experience, attitude, and expectations.
Audience analysis issues include size, age, gender, experience, attitude, and expectations.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2 Explain the major elements in organizing the content of a presentation, including the introduction, body, and conclusion.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2 Explain the major elements in organizing the content of a presentation, including the introduction, body, and conclusion.
Attention-grabbing openers include questions, startling facts, jokes, anecdotes, and quotations.
Attention-grabbing openers include questions, startling facts, jokes, anecdotes, and quotations.
Starbucks’ messianic CEO Howard Schultz uses stories to make an emotional connection with his listeners. One of his famous sto- ries describes a trip to Italy that inspired him to transform a Seattle coffee shop into a global brand on his first visit to a Starbucks. “A
heady aroma of coffee reached out and drew me in. I stepped inside and saw what looked like a temple for the worship of coffee. . . . It was my Mecca. I had arrived,”
said Schultz. Intriguing stories told with enthusiasm help capture an audience’s attention and get them involved.
Spotlight on Communicators
© Rebecca Cook / Reuters / Landov
how she started as an administrative assistant; a CEO might tell a funny story in which the joke is on himself.
After capturing attention and establishing yourself, you will want to preview the main points of your topic, perhaps with a visual aid. You may wish to put off actually writing your introduction, however, until after you have organized the rest of the presentation and crys- tallized your principal ideas.
Take a look at Mark Miller's introduction, shown in Figure 14.2, to see how he integrated all the elements necessary for a good opening.
Organizing the Body
The biggest problem with most oral presentations is a failure to focus on a few principal ideas. Thus, the body of your short presentation (20 or fewer minutes) should include a lim- ited number of main points, say, two to four. Develop each main point with adequate, but not excessive, explanation and details. Too many details can obscure the main message, so keep your presentation simple and logical. Remember, listeners have no pages to leaf back through should they become confused.
The best oral presentations focus on a few key ideas.
The best oral presentations focus on a few key ideas.
Previews three main points
Develops coherence with planned transitions Captures attention
Involves audience Identifies speaker
Summarizes main points Establishes main points
What Makes a Loan Officer Say Yes?
I. INTRODUCTION
A. How many of you expect one day to start your own businesses? How many of you have all the cash available to capitalize that business when you start?
B. Like you, nearly every entrepreneur needs cash to open a business, and I promise you that by the end of this talk you will have inside information on how to make a loan application that will be successful.
C. As a loan officer at First Fidelity Trust, which specializes in small-business loans, I make decisions on requests from entrepreneurs like you applying for start-up money.
Transition:Your professor invited me here today to tell you how you can improve your chances of getting a loan from us or from any other lender. I have suggestions in three areas:
experience, preparation, and projection.
II. BODY
A. First, let’s consider experience. You must show that you can hit the ground running.
1. Demonstrate what experience you have in your proposed business.
2. Include your résumé when you submit your business plan.
3. If you have little experience, tell us whom you would hire to supply the skills that you lack.
Transition: In addition to experience, loan officers will want to see that you have researched your venture thoroughly.
B. My second suggestion, then, involves preparation. Have you done your homework?
1. Talk to local businesspeople, especially those in related fields.
2. Conduct traffic counts or other studies to estimate potential sales.
3. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the competition.
Transition: Now that we’ve discussed preparation, we’re ready for my final suggestion.
C. My last tip is the most important one. It involves making a realistic projection of your potential sales, cash flow, and equity.
1. Present detailed monthly cash-flow projections for the first year.
2. Describe What-ifscenarios indicating both good and bad possibilities.
3. Indicate that you intend to supply at least 25 percent of the initial capital yourself.
Transition: The three major points I’ve just outlined cover critical points in obtaining start-up loans. Let me review them for you.
III. CONCLUSION
A. Loan officers are most likely to say yes to your loan application if you do three things:
(1) prove that you can hit the ground running when your business opens; (2) demonstrate that you’ve researched your proposed business seriously; and (3) project a realistic picture of your sales, cash flow, and equity.
B. Experience, preparation, and projection, then, are the three keys to launching your business with the necessary start-up capital so that you can concentrate on where your customers, not your funds, are coming from.
Provides final focus FIGURE 14.2 Oral Presentation Outline