Persuasive Business Presentations

CHAPTER 1

Conducting a Communication Strategy Analysis

Happily experimenting with the problem–solution method to help develop business for our family wholesale distribution company, I was in the conference room of a regional supermarket chain making a presentation on the financial benefits of our services for selected product categories. The target audience, in my mind, was the Vice President (VP) of Purchasing, who, at my request, had invited his staff to participate in the presentation and discussion. But the Purchasing VP had also invited a manager from the accounting department. The accounting manager aggressively challenged some of the assumptions in my financial models as they applied to her organization and pretty well wrecked the presentation, ...