technical requirement or technicality? denise louden mbc final project may 2006 persuasive...

technical requirement or technicality?

Denise LoudenMBC Final ProjectMay 2006

Persuasive Presentations

The Challenge

In this industry, technical professionals

must sell.

Few are trained or skilled

Therefore, persuasive presentational skills

are necessary to achieve new business.

Leo A Daly’s remedy

An internal training program was rolled

out last year (2005).

However, no formal evaluation was

conducted.

Research question

Does Leo A Daly’s persuasive presentation

training workshop improve the skills of

those who participate?

Methodology

Web-based questionnaire Asked 102 workshop participants 25 questions, 1 open ended

Question categories

Technical professionals’ relationship to

persuasive presentations

Assessment of training workshop

Desire for future training

Response

66 responses (65% response rate)

34 responses to open ended question

How important are persuasive presentations in acquiring business in your market sector?

8%

92%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Somewhat Important Very Important

How often do you deliver persuasive presentations for the firm?

42%

15%20%

14%9%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Less thanonce/month

Once/month Once/week Once/day More thanonce/day

58%

How much persuasive presentation training have you had?

12%

42%

28%

11%8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Never 1-2 3-6 7-11 12 or more

Number of sessions

My persuasive presentation skills have improved as a result of the workshop.

Unsure 28%

Strongly Agree 9%Agree

63%

How would you assess your performance in front of clients since completing the training?

8%

53%

22%17%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Very muchimproved

Somewhatimproved

No change Have not metwith client since

My colleagues persuasive presentation skills have improved as a result of the workshop.

Unsure52%

Strongly Agree5%

Agree42%

Disagree2%

If further training were available, how often would you be willing to attend?

51%

33%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1-2 times/year 3-5 times/year 6+ times/year

100% want more training!

Research answer

Does LEO A DALY’S persuasive presentation

skills training workshop improve the skills of

those who participate?

YES

What we’ve discovered

Majority view these skills very important. Majority have little prior training. Majority deliver more than once/month. Majority perceive improvement after just 1

session Majority perceive improvement in front of

clients 100% want more training

Recommendations

Provide more frequent training:quarterly

or bi-monthly. Develop training program in each office;

appoint leader. Determine best training approach for

each office Develop formal evaluation process.

Questions