The Stretch Run

This week will be our final two opportunities to analyze and critique our business plan presentation team as they prepare for Thursday's competition.  With that said, we need to be productive and practice our best so we can shine when the lights go on.  Remember the quote "Perfect practice makes perfect," and be prepared to look at every detail when getting ready for the event.

On Monday, Rebecca Bartlett from US Bank will visit our class to help provide guidance as we run through our presentation twice.  Please make sure to thank her and be prepared to explain to her how the competition works.  I've provided her the rubric and the PowerPoint in advance, but you will also need to catch her up on some things that may not have been addressed last week.

On Tuesday, although there is no school, I strongly suggest that the competition team gets together to practice talking through their slides as a group.  My team two years ago (who scored a 92 out of 100 on their rubric, the 2nd highest score of any team competing that year), got together for 4 hours, worked through their slides AND the questions that the judges could ask.  This helped many things, including:

• flow/continuity of presentation
• ability to focus on judges rather than the slides
• understanding of key concepts (economic environment, profitability of business, ABILITY TO SELL THEMSELVES)
• the "so what?" of each slide

I have emailed you all the list of judges questions and expect you to be comfortable answering them. PLEASE ALSO CONFIRM YOUR WARDROBE FOR THURSDAY.  I know you have committed to specific attire, but make sure everything fits and looks professional. 

Wednesday will be our last day to practice.  We will again run through the presentation at least twice (preferably three times).  Be confident, challenge yourselves to get better, and follow the rules of presenting:

1. Know your audience
2. Know your content
3. Hit your talking points

In my absence on Thursday, those who are not presenting will write a blog entry of at least 200 words predicting how you think the team will do.  Be specific with how you think the team will score on each portion of the rubric.  Use the rubric to guide your writing.  Be respectfully transparent in your writing and share your post with me (GMail).  

I'm excited for this week and know we will do well.  Let's optimize our performance by working hard in AND OUT of class so we have our best chance at making the finals!