How to Use Competition to Get All of Your Presenters on the "Same Page"

No doubt that at some point, your company has handed you slides that have been crafted with a specific message and deliberate talking points. You've been told not to change or skip the slides, but to use them (and speak to them) as they have been written.

We can assume that everyone responsible for delivering those slides is 100% on board and totally comfortable with how they will speak to these slides. But if we do assume that, we will be wrong. You know that. I know that.

Because none of your presenters have ever skipped a slide simply because he/she didn't understand the purpose of the slide, right?

So how can set our people up for success in such a scenario?

I believe that one of my activities - the Slide Show Shootout - can be a valuable tool to help everyone become comfortable with the content on such slides.

The Slide Show Shootout Only Takes Two Rounds

The Slide Show Shootout is pretty straightforward:

Individuals are broken up into teams and each person on the team is responsible for presenting one slide.
Team A opens with the first slide, followed by the remaining teams also presenting that first slide.
That cycle is then repeated for each of the remaining slides.

Once all slides have been delivered, the observers at the back of the room provide comments, critiques and suggestions to each team - based on how the slide content should be delivered and the primary talking points that need to be addressed on each slide.

The teams are allowed to regroup and strategize on any changes they will make before delivering the same slides again in Round 2.

What the Slide Show Shootout Delivers

You get to see exactly where your teams and/or individuals stand with their comfort level of the slide content. And that's something you'd rather see in this environment than when they are speaking to customers, right?

For those individuals that are comfortable with the content, they will seek to one-up each other in their deliveries. Such competition may pop its head up during Round 1, depending on how much of a friendly rivalry there is between the teams.

But after the teams strategize post-Round 1, you will usually see an enhanced level of friendly one-upmanship in Round 2.

All to the point of getting them comfortable, confident and on-target with their delivery of the talking points.

How to Use the Slide Show Shoutout

If you are rolling out a new product, a series of new products, new training content or specific company messaging to your customers, use the Slide Show Shootout to prepare your presenters.

You can learn more below by watching the free Slide Show Shootout video from my new online course: 11 Powerful Classroom Activities for Corporate Learners.

My 11 Powerful Classroom Activities for Corporate Learners course is available on the learning platforms listed below. Click on a link to learn more: