Blog 5: Presentations(Clear)

As a Public Relations major, I have given approximately 8,000,000 presentations.  Although, I have to say that the thing that is most exciting about presentations, is there is always room for improvement.

The Heath Brothers, are some of the most influential presenters I have ever got the pleasure of listening too, and their book, Made to Stick (which I described in my previous blog), was one of the better books i've read in my lifetime.  I think that powerpoint is beginning to be a tad out of date, but there are explosive ways to capture more attention.

In professor Means videos, I liked how she broke down the issue with bullet points.  It seems that everyone I come in contact with, only knows how to present in this mindset.  I really enjoyed the presentation/comedy routine that Don Mcmillan provided.  People were laughing hysterically, but as a current college student, I see these mistakes all the time.  The saddest part is, i've been a victim to committing these "crimes", time and time again.

Some other aspects of the videos that I liked was the usages of typology.  That is something that I've never really payed a lot of attention to, but I will definitely take it more into consideration in my future endeavors.  Nancy Duarte is also a great influence on today's society with her imaginative presentations and books.  I actually own two of her books and recommend that anyone wanting to improve the visual aspects of their presentations, to read her books.  All of them are essential and important.

Here is a link to one of my favorite presenters of all time, Jason Sadler, who I had the pleasure of seeing and meeting here at UF last year.  He is the Owner and creator of the company "I Wear Your Shirt."  The company uses various sources of blogs/presentations to give an "emotional image" to a brand.  He really puts a face on many company's brands and his presentations are hilarious, hip and extremely smart.

www.iwearyourshirt.com


Thanks for reading this week.  If you have any links to cool presenters that are possible similar to Sadler, or have someone that is explosive in your opinion, please post a link here.

Best,

David Cole

Blog 4 Clear: Porter's five Forces/Challenging society

I really enjoyed the video portion on Michael E. Porter's five competitive forces that shape strategy.  I think it's interesting that there is a broken down analysis on competition and it makes sense that competitive forces from rivalry within an industry effects the overall outcome of the forces.

It's also interesting how attractiveness and "sexiness" is the overall reason industries seem to profit.  An unattractive industry is when all 5 of the forces act to decrease overall income.  An industry that is extremely unattractive would be an organization that is thriving on pure competition, which makes other profits for organizations propelled to normal profit.

I think that it's important to recognize competition and it is a driving "force" that allows the mind to expand and become more involved with profit and overall outcomes of ideas.  It's also extremely intense, which is the importance of competitive rivalries.  Being innovative and competing with companies via the internet and in human form, are the most important aspects of competition.

Organizing, to some extent, is important but many companies find that they cannot be as innovative or competitive if they don't have the best financial investment.  Becoming a powerful member of competitive strategy is essential to a company's growth and improvement of branding.  Without a substantial brand, a company cannot prosper, and that's why it's so important to stay on top of rival competition.

A book, that professors Means and Olson recommended "Made to Stick" is actually one of my favorite books i've read focusing on a business perspective of improving an image and presenting yourself to be larger than you are.

Following a guideline of "SUCCES" is essential in improving a brand and being "memorable".

• Simple--  Being simple captures attention.  I like to view society as simple, and the more simple you are when presenting, the more communication and attraction you obtain.  
• Unexpected-  Taking risks is important when evaluating a brand and making it more available to society.  As Bill Gates and Steve Jobs illustrated in their video, taking risks and challenging competitors was the main reason they were so successful at what they did in the building of the computer business.  
• Concrete--  Being concrete is important because you need to get the point across.  
• Credible-- Credible comes with the improvement of your brand and being truthful and honest is the best way to improve your credibility to society.  
• Emotional-- capturing a consumer or target public can be easily obtained with helping them relate to your product or brand.  Make them feel like your brand is more important, because you have a face (charity etc) that you want to improve the future for.  
• Stories-- Like emotional, get them engaged and inspired.  Tell stories of how your brand has improved and focus on individuals within the company that strive to make that difference.  

I find that the more involved you are with your company/brand the more other's will get involved.  Providing positive forms of Corporate Social Responsibility and leadership are important variables that can help a company  improve and prosper.  Just doing it successfully, is a whole new outlook.