Hey!
I’ve just gotten notice that I am to appear for a presentation to some sort of grant-giving organization tommorrow. I’m assuming they don’t know anything about FIRST, and that they’re loaded. 
We’ve got half of a promotional video and three team members (everyone else is AWOL). Any tips on giving such a presentation?
ouch.
Know your stuff. Know your audience. Don’t just use bullet points.
Good luck (you’re gonna need it)
If you are making any slides… have more images than words (words on slides bores people)… 
Any chance of bringing your robot to demo it?
If they don’t know nothing about FIRST you should start off with what FIRST is, who founded it, what FIRST does, then get into what it takes to build a robot. You want to start with the organization first then talk about your team. Mention what it takes and the costs to be involved. You should also mention how many students and mentors are involved and approx. how many hours they volunteer. This should give them an idea of the dedication people have to this program.
This is all I can think of now. I know what it’s like to be put on the spot like that. I hate having to speak to a crowd/dealing with people and would rather handle all the “behind the scenes stuff”.
Alright, it seems that the show has been nailed down (remember, lots of pictures!).
As for actually presenting it, here’s my tips…
If you’re using a powerpoint, try to get a hold of a laptop (or another monitor) that you can see. That way, you’ll be able to read the screen while facing them, not with your head cocked towards the screen.
On the subject of speaking, make as many eye contacts as possible–and don’t talk into the laptop or the screen or the ceiling. And don’t mumble.
Since they’re presumably loaded, don’t cheap out on looking good. Shave with a fresh blade (you can always put it back as the next-blade-in-line and keep using your current one), press your shirt as close to showtime as you can (so you’ve got less time to screw up), and avoid eating anything that can make a mess.
And, just to keep things safe, dress in semi-layers. Wear a dress shirt with a jacket tie. There’s no way they’re going to be more dressed, and if they are more casual, then you can discreetly slip off the jacket or tie (or both).
I hope this helps!
Hi
Here are a few things that might help, depending on how much room you have and, as astronouth mentions, who your audience is.
Get there early!
Give yourselves time to set up (1/2hr to 45min…it’ll go fast), swallow your butterflies, and feel a bit more comfortable in the presentation room, parking lot, foyer…whatever
Bring your 'bot (or slide or pic that’s easy for everyone to see) if possible, even if it is a static display. Touchy-feely really works! Place it up front where everyone can see you and the 'bot while you are talking.
Start the promotional video as people are arriving…it gives everyone something to watch as they are finding a seat and sizing you up…it can run cotinuously 3 or 4 times if it is not too long…you know best!
Elect one of you to introduce your team and give a short description of the “mission of FIRST” - 2-3min max
Follow that up with personal testimonies from each team member…nothing fancy…just straight from the gut:
Who you are
Which high school
duties on the team
What it has meant to you, personally …that sort of stuff
…30sec to 2 min…speak slowly…it will still come across as fast to your audience
Gather the audience around the 'bot and each of you take a turn at describing it:
chassis/drivetrain
efectors
electronics
programming
handling qualities
what worked, what didn’t…
…and how each part was used in playing the game.
Field questions…
Be sure to say “thank you!”
…good luck,
You can do this, and have fun doing it, too…it’s all a part of being a team.
Eric
Do not read directly off a screen. If you are going to use Power point or another slide show software, use your slides as an introduction, put brief points on the slides and explain them more in depth while speaking. If you can also do the presentation from memory having direct eye contact with your audience with out using flashcards or reading off a screen, the presentation will come off more professional then if you keep looking away, appearing to not know what you have to present. One last thought that will help is to practice your presentation before arriving at the demonstration and time it, to make sure you can come in a time limit if ones given at the demo.
Good luck and keep us updated.
Thanks for the tips guys…
I’m not really nervous, at the very worst we don’t get the grant… and being nervous doesn’t help that. As DNA (RIP) would say:
Don’t Panic!
Bring something with you that you can leave - a business card, a team brochure, some of your buttons that you gave away last year… Anything that might jog someone’s memory to contact the team in the future.
Several teams have shown us their “yearbooks” that they make up for presentations to sponsors. They keep a copy in their pit area. They bring it to fundraisers. We’re tweaking our copy for RAGE right now so we can get some printed.
Here’s some info for your slides:
Also, I have a very good FIRST brochure in PDF format that I can e-mail back if you PM me.
Good luck
I have a lot of advice, but no time!!!
Make sure you talk about all the scholarship opportunities thru FIRST-$4.5 million last year.
There is a whole section on the FIRST site with advice for approaching a corporation for sponsorship.
Be sure to follow up tomorrow or Friday with all the things you forgot to do. Send a written personalized thank you. If you don’t have a brochure, make one quick. Write a professional letter adding important stuff you forgot. Ask if you can bring the robot back for a demo (if you didn’t do this already.) Be sure to let the company know all the places you will be doing demo’s. Fairs? Schools? Other companies? where your sponsor’s names will be seen.
Good luck!
OK I am not going to say much, because I don’t have the time but
“Keep the focus on them” . The more they know how they’re gonna benefit, the more they’ll feel like giving it to you. Do all that’s said above, but really emphasize on how they will benefit. Sometimes just telling them that they will be advertised by the team, all over the nation, they’d feel that’s special and give you a grant.
OK gotta run,
-Bharat
Over the four years I’ve been participating in FIRST, I’ve had to make many presentations… some small, some big (but not as big as yours). I had made a Power Point presentation of about 350 pictures of people having fun in FIRST. Pictures range from the 2001 - 2004 games, and include the ppl working on bots in the pits, mascots, robots on the playing field, random happy people, more robots, etc… I set each picture to a 4 sec auto-transition, and put the slide show on repeat.
My style? I stand in front of the screen and talk about FIRST in a way that specifically pertains to my audience. The pictures give an overall visual as to why I’m so enthusiastic about the program, but my words give them the information they need. In addition, because the pictures transition every few seconds… the audience stays interested.
Just an idea…
ByE
erin
UPDATE: Just got out of the meeting. I think it went very well, and thanks for all the advice…
I ended up following Erin’s format, which worked well, except I was freqently interrupted by: “Wow! Thats amazing…” 
They seemed suprised that students were running the show…
The institution is loaded, they said they plan to have $1 Million by NOVEMBER that would just be going to OUR school district…
Now they’re required to save a lot of that money, but hey, any donation is a good donation.
We need $11,000 so thats only 1.1% of their income…
Holy moly! Thats a lot of mulah! If they happen to want to hear any presentations down in Florida… thats already double my schools budget thus far.
Well I’m sorry I didn’t catch this post earlier, but it there are any other people interested and need help with presentations, I gave two speeches during my time over the summer in Oklahoma. I have videos promoting FIRST, the 2004 game animation, a competition during the UCF regional that ended in a tie and all four robots on the bar, team 67 2004 animation (good for values of FIRST), and dozens and dozens of pictures. I also set up an entire promo folder which I put onto a CD to hand out to interested parties. This CD included more matches, videos, and the FIRST 2003 documentary. Anyone who wants any videos from me just let me know.
Too late for Bjorn, but I still have a question.
Do people think it is better to dress up (suit, etc) or
dress as a team (team shirts, buttons, etc)?
I guess you can always take my layers trick a step further–team shirts with khakis is a pretty good casual look, as long as the buttons don’t go overboard. (We had one kid on our team just binge on buttons. He was a windchime by Thursday at Palmetto.)
Well, to be fair this foundation can’t give all that money away, they are required to try to save/grow a lot of it…
BUT apparently a bunch of local developers (think high-rise construction) have been guilted into “giving back to the community” because they are “burdening the school district”…
I don’t care WHY they do it, but it sounds good to me…
Moral of the story: One (wo)man’s guilt is another (wo)man’s Gain!
I think a combination of the two would be best. Wearing a team competition t-shirt could be a bit tacky… if a team has polo shirts with a simple logo on it, now that could work.
With an audience like the one Bjorn presented to, I would have worn the black button-up collard FIRST shirt I got from Logo Loc with a skirt or dress pants & nice shoes.
So I’d say… dress professionally with some FIRST parafanalia, but don’t go in competition wear.
Professional dress, but bring a photo/include a slide of the team uniform.