Title: Strategy Analysis for a Problem-Solution Persuasive PresentationDue Date: Printed copy of assignment due before class starts onWednesday, August 10, 9:00 a.m.(use A5 template provided in welcome e-mail and on D2L)
Purpose: Preparation for development of an oral presentation
Pre-Reading: None
Prep Time: Document preparation = 1 to 2 hours
Grade Points: 20
Instructions:
1. This assignment, together with Assignment Six, focuses on a “stand-up extemporaneous presentation” (p. 159 in your text).
2. Select a real problem or situation where you work or select a community / public issue that you are passionate about. You will gain the most benefit from this exercise if the problem is a real business situation that you are involved with at your place of employment or in your community.
3. Your purpose is to explain the problem and your solution to a specific target audience (visualize the audience in a conference room) and persuade the audience to take a specific, tangible action step.
4. To begin the planning for your presentation, complete a Strategic Communication Analysis using the template provided with your welcome e-mail.
5. Refer to the rubric and a completed student example on the following pages to guide your work.
Submission:
A printed copy of your Communication Strategy Analysis is due on the first day of class.
Example of a GOODTopic for a Problem-Solution Persuasive Presentation
Topic Purpose Target Audience
Telecommuting Convince VP of HR (your boss) to test pilot telecommuting for selected positions in your office Your boss and HR benefits committee
Example of a BAD Topic for a Problem-Solution Persuasive Presentation (Too Broad)
Topic Purpose Target Audience
Global Warming Convince people that global warming is a problem Who would be in the conference room?
Rubric
Communication Strategy Analysis
Problem-Solution Persuasive Presentation
Problem ? Provides a clear definition of the problem
? Identifies a least two negative effects from the problem on the organization
Purpose ? Provides clear, accurate statement of purpose or purposes for the presentation
Audience ? Identifies primary audience (and secondary audience if appropriate)
? Describes at least two relevant audience characteristics or interests
Context ? Identifies at least two contextual variables
Message ? Provides a clear, single sentence summary of the message
? Describes what the audience should do and feel as a result of the message
? Identifies a specific organizing pattern for the message (e.g., problem-solution)
Information ? Identifies at least three pieces of information important to the audience
Benefits ? Identifies at least two benefits from the audience’s perspective (meeting a want or need)
Objections ? Identifies at least two objections the audience might raise
? Identifies strategies for addressing or minimizing the objections
See the following two pages for a student example of a completed presentation strategy analysis. Thanks to Pam Davis of Cohort 3 for permission to use her work. Note that her analysis is about a real problem, targets a specific audience, and involves an actionable solution.
Student Example:
Communication Strategy Analysis for a Problem-Solution Persuasive Presentation
Problem
What is the problem you’re trying to solve? How does it impact the organization or group? ? Currently outsourced functions are not meeting customer service and cost expectations due to the management unrest at the service provider.
? Inadequate customer service, as well as increasing costs due to poor management, is negatively affecting the Credit Union’s bottom line.
Purpose
What is your objective for this presentation? What specifically are you going to ask your audience to do? ? The objective is to request support for the creation of an internal Real Estate Loan Fulfillment Center that includes processing, underwriting, and closing of first mortgage loans. These functions are currently outsourced.
? Specifically, I will request support to proceed with the implementation of an ongoing project to include hiring nine employees, and purchasing loan fulfillment technology.
Audience
Who will be in the conference room? Who is your target audience (decision makers)? Is there a secondary audience? What are the audience characteristics and interests relevant to your message? ? The Senior Vice President of Lending and the Executive Vice President of Operations will be attending the meeting.
? The secondary audience is the Board of Directors.
? The audience is familiar with real estate lending; however, they are not experts and will need some explanation of the various tasks required in processing, underwriting, and closing mortgage loans.
? The Executive Vice President has a charismatic decision making style and makes decisions quickly based on information,
? The Senior Vice President of Lending has a logical and academic decision making style and will require data to support the cost benefits outlined in the proposal.
Context
What are the contextual factors that may influence your message? ? The economy has affected delinquency rates of mortgage loans.
? Senior Management is concernedwith mortgage lending in general because of the mortgage crisis.
? Establishing the correct number of staff members for the Loan Fulfillment Center will be a challenge given the cyclical nature of mortgage lending.
? There will be concern that we currently do not have the expert staff to replace the work that is outsourced.
Message
What is your overall message? What do you expect others to feel and do because of your message? What’s the best method for organizing your message? ? Due to the current situation with our service provider, I recommend that we implement an internal Loan Fulfillment Center that will provide better customer service standards and reduce operating expenses.
? As I highlight the ongoing issues and outline the benefits of bringing the functions in-house, senior management will be concerned about our ability to launch the proposal.
? I will outline the risks associated with dissolving the outsourced relationship and provide solutions to minimize the risks.
? The problem-solution approach is the best method of organizing the message.
Information
What information must your presentation include? ? The presentation must include details on the cost reduction achieved by creating a Loan Fulfillment Center.
? The presentation must include the title, job description, and salary level of the proposed staffing.
? The presentation must address both the benefits and risks of creating the Loan Fulfillment Center.
Benefits
How can you build support for your position? What are the benefits to your audience if they take the action you recommend? ? The primary benefit of the Loan Fulfillment Center is an operating cost reduction of $409,000.
? The credit union lending staff will have greater oversight throughout the loan process.
? The customer experience will improve because of the service level standards required of credit union staff.
Objections
What objections can you expect? How can you address or minimize the objections? ? Senior Management will require assurances that Delta Community will meet all compliance requirements; the Vice President of Compliance has recently hired a real estate lending compliance expert.
? By ensuring appropriate hiring decisions, the Human Resources Department will reduce senior management’s concern regarding the loss of professional guidance offered by the current service provider.
? In order to maintain adequate staffing levels, we will retain an outside provider for cyclical demand in production.
