Posted by BJ
I delivered a presentation recently. This was to a new organization whose abbreviation contains 4 letters. The person that asked me to present and provided the background information gave me these as TSRA (letters changed to hide the particular organization). The organization’s letters are in fact TRSA.
On the evaluation form, along with very positive comments such as, “Should have been the keynote.” “Bring him back and give him more time” “The most worthwhile presentation of the event” and the extremely high ratings (9.1 out of a possible 10), guess what many of the participants noticed and commented on.
I delivered a presentation recently. This was to a new organization whose abbreviation contains 4 letters. The person that asked me to present and provided the background information gave me these as TSRA (letters changed to hide the particular organization). The organization’s letters are in fact TRSA.
On the evaluation form, along with very positive comments such as, “Should have been the keynote.” “Bring him back and give him more time” “The most worthwhile presentation of the event” and the extremely high ratings (9.1 out of a possible 10), guess what many of the participants noticed and commented on.
You guessed it. A great many of the audience was distracted by the letters being in the incorrect sequence.
Another area where I missed a bit was the make up of the audience. I had been told the majority of the participants were part of or worked with “very large corporations”. I therefore targeted my presentation to that audience, with occasional references to smaller outfits. Guess who made up the majority of the audience.
Had I done a bit more homework, I would have hit the mark on both the initials and the audience and my score would have been that much higher and the comments cleaner*.
*Yes, I know the comments were very positive and the score was very high. As is the case with our work in proposals, Jon and I are always seeking to achieve the highest score and most positive feedback possible.
Another area where I missed a bit was the make up of the audience. I had been told the majority of the participants were part of or worked with “very large corporations”. I therefore targeted my presentation to that audience, with occasional references to smaller outfits. Guess who made up the majority of the audience.
Had I done a bit more homework, I would have hit the mark on both the initials and the audience and my score would have been that much higher and the comments cleaner*.
*Yes, I know the comments were very positive and the score was very high. As is the case with our work in proposals, Jon and I are always seeking to achieve the highest score and most positive feedback possible.
RSS Feed
