What You’ll Learn In The Seminar On:
Design and Delivery of Winning Interview and Short-List Presentations (and Proposals)

In these times when short lists consist of many firms with similar experiences, where clients find it difficult to differentiate one firm from another, and where technical competence is not enough to win, the effective communicator prevails.

Presenters who don’t know how to be persuasive, who don’t know how to connect with the audience, and who don’t know how to appeal to the decision makers’ motivations are at the mercy of those who can and do.

THE PROBLEM with which you are faced
Your professional staffs are at their best when they work within their technical area of expertise. Yet, they are judged by their clients on how well they present their ideas, concepts and programs during interview presentations.

Unfair? Yes!

Reality? Yes!

Do you solve this problem by sending your technical professionals to charm school? By videotaping their presentations? By teaching them platform skills?

No! Because the real need is for a process that helps technical professionals to create persuasive presentations and deliver them effectively. Content and professional delivery are the issues.

THE SOLUTION
Dag Knudsen, P.E., FACEC introduces a better approach. As a technical professional himself, he recognizes that technical professionals function best when they follow a structured process. To this end, his training focuses on creating the "perfect short-list presentation."

The perfect short-list presentation makes it easy for the client to select you over your competition, because it:

1. Is concise.
2. Has a strong and logical continuity.
3. Supports its arguments with forceful graphics.
4. Uses selected facts specifically directed to buyer’s interest.
5. Ensures professional delivery by any level speaker.
6. Drives to a productive conclusion—a contract.
7. Facilitates presentation by groups and experts.
8. Helps sell the value of your fee.
AND…
9. Provides a streamlined process for writing persuasive proposals.

Course content is based on a careful analysis of real world needs of those who must develop and deliver persuasive interview, short-list, and technical presentations.

Listed below are a few of the problems covered
1. An excellent presentation is concise.
...so how do you

• Stay within allotted time frame?
• Determine appropriate levels of detail?
• Focus your message for maximum impact

2. An excellent presentation has a strong and logical continuity.
...so how do you

• Overcome communication barriers?
• Come across as logical, lucid and persuasive?
• Determine logical order of the message

3. An excellent presentation supports its arguments with forceful graphics.
...so how do you

• Design visuals that bring home a point?
• Present them so they won’t overwhelm the audience?
• Construct them so facts will be remembered?
• Effectively utilize computer-generated graphics

4. An excellent presentation and proposal uses selected facts specifically directed to the audience’ interest.
...so how do you

• Match the content to the audience’ interest, personal agenda, biases and perceptions?
• Unequivocally determine message purpose?
• Determine pertinent facts which will support audience’ needs

5. An excellent presentation ensures professional delivery by any level speaker.
...so how do you

• Make sure your professional staff communicates effectively?
• Help otherwise inexperienced speakers come across with trust and confidence

6. An excellent presentation (and proposal) drives to a productive conclusion—a contract.
...so how do you

• Win audience trust and confidence?
• Make them remember you?
• Win selection committee approval?

7. Corporate and client decisions are increasingly dependent on presentations (and proposals) by the experts (individuals or groups).
…so how do you

• Manage a group presentation (and proposal) design effort?
• Manage a group delivery effort?

8. Price is increasingly becoming a dominant decision criteria.
...so how do you

• Sell the value of your fee?
• Win at the right price?

I advocate designing the presentation first, then writing the proposal on the basis of the presentation design. This leads to a stronger, more persuasive proposal, and is also easier to write. Clients have canceled interviews and selected the winning firm on the strength of proposals which followed the process taught!

Who will benefit from this seminar?
Everyone involved in business development, including their supporting staff.

In addition, it is strongly recommended that senior staff, including the President or Chief Operating Officer, attend. You will find that even the largest firms on my client list had their president in attendance.