Case Studies
Each of the three following case studies contains a presentation and an explanation of how the presentation was developed. Each Case Study lends itself to a 1-1/2 to 2-hour session on the basis that there will be a discussion of the materials. The Challenger case study can be played at any time because it will also prepare participants for the winning presentation program. The QBS example shows detailed steps in message design and contains a presentation that you can present to your clients. The CD contains the QBS presentation in PDF format. Using Adobe Acrobat software, you can also edit this presentation. The presentation on Voting Methods may seem out of place. It is included because it represents an example of how to use the presentation design method for technical presentations such as conference talks.
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Case Studies
(3 hours, 45 minutes)
Case Study 1:
The Importance of Persuasion in Engineering Communication
Case Study 2:
Qualification Based Selection of Design Professionals
Case Study 3:
Voting Methods: An example of technical presentation design
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| Lecture Descriptions: |
Case Study No. 1:
The Importance of Persuasion in Engineering Communication:
Learning from the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident.
(1 hr, 15 minutes)
1. Shuttle Hearings Did Show Common Communication Problems Prevailed
(35 minutes)
 This is a brief story of why nobody listened to the Challenger Space Shuttle engineers and how to be sure you are understood and taken seriously. This lecture describes serious communication problems that contributed to the accident. Three problems are discussed here:
- How decisions changed with the role the person had in the decision. When the engineering VP was transferred to the management decision group he was told “to take your engineering hat off and put on your management hat.”
- How engineers and managers viewed the same data but drew different conclusions (don’t launch versus launch).
- How the engineers lacked credibility, and how the way their data was presented reduced the credibility of the data. Poor use of graphics was a major contributing factor.
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2. Scientific Method Helps Create Effective Technical Presentations (39 minutes)
 This section will briefly show how to move from “gut feel or engineering judgement” to scientific proof.
This lecture shows how the presentation method described in the Winning Presentations sequence of lectures could have been used to potentially prevent the accident. |
Case Study No. 2:
Case Study No. 2: Qualification Based Selection (QBS), an example of communicating the value of a process.
(1 hr, 17 minutes)
Communicating the value of QBS has many obstacles:
Creating the Presentation
This lecture describes how the presentation methods are used to develop the presentation and serves as another design example using the steps in the process.
The Presentation Itself:
Qualification Based Selection Process Provides Complete Peace of Mind
a. Negotiation Process Makes Buyers Quite Comfortable With Price
b. System Optimization Principles Lead to Greatly Enhanced Economy
c. Broad-Based Support of the QBS Process Eliminates Criticism This presentation is also available on the CD to enable you to present this material to your client.
The presentation can also easily be modified to meet your specific needs.
Proactive Application of QBS Process Leads to Excellent Positioning
This lecture describes how the QBS process can be made an integral part of the proactive business development process.
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Case Study No. 3:
Voting methods: An example of how to create a technical presentation.
(1 hr, 11 minutes)
The Presentation is given first in order to provide the needed background to understand how it was created:
Enhanced Voting Methods Improve Election Quality
- US’ Winner-Take-All Plurality Election Method Pales in Comparison to Proportional Representation Systems
- Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) Improves Election Quality for Single Member Districts
- Preference Voting and Multi-Member Districts Improves Election Quality— Even More
The above demonstrates how a longer presentation can be organized. This example also serves as an example for technical presentations as opposed to business development presentations. The goal here is to educate the audience on a “technical topic.”
Applying the 5W Format Filter To Determine Presentation Content
This lecture describes how this presentation was designed—how it evolved for a specific audience—again using the principles in the Winning Presentations lectures.
As the following diagram indicates, voting systems represent a complex technical topic:
The focus filter was used to determine the content of the presentation which also lead to the organization:
The 5W Format Filter is a powerful tool used to determine presentation content and tactics to be used in the case of persuasive presentations:
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