20 minute presentation

[Calmdelirium]

It has been a while since I last posted. I finished up massage school last week, and I am scheduled to take my MBLEX on the 27th. I am very excited to start my practice.
As you may recall, I work for a large Fortune 500 company. As part of my ongoing training this year, I am required to attend a two day presentation skills class. This class requires me to give a 20 minute presentation to a large group of other business professionals. I will be doing this orally and with a Power Point presentation. I checked with the instructor, and the presentation can be on anything I desire. I thought that this will be a great opportunity for me to speak about the benefits of massage therapy and introduce my “massage self” to a large group of people. Where else would I have 20 minutes of undivided attention? I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.
There are so many ideas buzzing around in my head, I thought I would solicit some ideas from you all. Have any of you had a similar opportunity – and if so what worked well for you? I’m thinking about brining my chair and giving a demo massage while I give part of the presentation. I could explain that office workers usually have tension in their arms while massaging the person’s arms, etc. I know that I can speak about the basic benefits of massage (relaxation, lower blood pressure, etc) but I feel that I should tailor this presentation to business professionals and people who sit at a desk all day. I appreciate any feedback you all can offer.

 

[Angel Heart]

20 minute presentation

Matt,

Congratulations on graduation, and I wish you all the best on your upcoming test.

I have never had the opportunity you mention, but I am sure you will do wonderful.

I'll start with a few ideas, and maybe you can add to it, and we can get some sort of thought process rolling that way...

How about breaking the presentation into two 7 min. segments and one 6 min. segment. The six minute segment being the last and consisting of the chair massage demo, which will allow you to time yourself and stop on time for the presentation? That way, if you ran over or under in the two beginning segments, you could pick up or drop the time at the end much more easily.



04/17/11 - corrected typo... "braking"... really! :shocked:

 

[Henna]

20 minute presentation

How about braking the presentation into two 7 min. segments and one 6 min. segment. The six minute segment being the last and consisting of the chair massage demo, which will allow you to time yourself and stop on time for the presentation? That way, if you ran over or under in the two beginning segments, you could pick up or drop the time at the end much more easily.

Awesome idea here. That's usually my biggest problem with presentations or my lessons, haha. This is an awesome opportunity for you and it sounds like you could even go into more detail with benefits of corporate massage along with general benefits of massage.

 

[virgod]

20 minute presentation

It has been a while since I last posted. I finished up massage school last week, and I am scheduled to take my MBLEX on the 27th. I am very excited to start my practice.
As you may recall, I work for a large Fortune 500 company. As part of my ongoing training this year, I am required to attend a two day presentation skills class. This class requires me to give a 20 minute presentation to a large group of other business professionals. I will be doing this orally and with a Power Point presentation. I checked with the instructor, and the presentation can be on anything I desire. I thought that this will be a great opportunity for me to speak about the benefits of massage therapy and introduce my “massage self” to a large group of people. Where else would I have 20 minutes of undivided attention? I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.
There are so many ideas buzzing around in my head, I thought I would solicit some ideas from you all. Have any of you had a similar opportunity – and if so what worked well for you? I’m thinking about brining my chair and giving a demo massage while I give part of the presentation. I could explain that office workers usually have tension in their arms while massaging the person’s arms, etc. I know that I can speak about the basic benefits of massage (relaxation, lower blood pressure, etc) but I feel that I should tailor this presentation to business professionals and people who sit at a desk all day. I appreciate any feedback you all can offer.

Hi Matt,

That's a fantastic idea! I've given a lot of presentations over the years, whether it's to 2 people or 100. It's REALLY fun, and a great way to introduce people to new ideas. Recently I've started using PowerPoint presentations myself (the Mac version) and it adds a whole new dimension because many people are visual learners. In addition, it takes the eyes (and the pressure) off you and gives your audience something else to focus on.

A couple things I've learned off the top of my head...

I've learned that it's incredibly easy to go overboard with information. Even a single slide can take a few minutes to address properly. When I put my first presentations together, I always worried about having enough material, so made lots of slides and put plenty of info on each slide (not cramming it, per se--although I've seen other speakers do just that--but I had more than I needed). I ended up running over my estimated time, though. So, over the years I've slimmed my slides down to a max of about 4 bullets per slide (I only do more if they're really short). These bullets don't have to be full sentences, either - sentence fragments and abbreviations are perfectly acceptable.

I found I had to resist the temptation to teach people everything I knew about a subject. I had to realize that the general public hadn't spent the time studying that I had, and so they wouldn't be able to handle some of the more advanced concepts. You know more than you think LOL. Just scratch the basics and explain that that's the tip of the iceberg. Make a joke about the rabbit hole going really deep on a particular subject. I often have to resist the urge to go down some of those rabbit holes and simply say, "I could spend hours on that topic alone" and be willing to break that off into another seminar/class, and that if they're interested to let me know and I'll put one together.

I've learned that people respond to pictures. It helps to devote one side of the slide to a picture; pictures help drive the point home. When explaining complex subjects or if I REALLY want to make a strong point with one slide, I'll choose the slide layout that is mostly picture with a caption underneath for that slide.

And last but not least, I found it helpful to have an RSVP or registration process. Even though my classes/mini-seminars/talks are free, I still like to know how many are coming so I can prepare proper seating, print out notes (my attendees have grown very appreciative of notes; I started printing them off when I noticed everybody bringing notebooks to my health talks at my clinic LOL). So, I have a note on all flyers (or any mention of my classes, even on our website) to call us to register no later than the day before because seating is limited (my clinic can comfortably hold up to 10 people) and it is first come, first served. This last part may not apply to your situation (sounds like your room will be bigger and you already have a good idea who all will be there), but I throw it out there anyway

When I gave a talk on basic massage therapy to a group of chiropractic med students in my internship, I gave a 10-15 minute talk that included the following:
* A brief bit about my own background - helps set the seforum.xxxe when people know your qualifications to speak and it serves as a good intro.
* What massage therapy IS and how it benefits different types of people (maybe 3-4 types, 1 sentence on each population segment - pain management, stress, kids, elderly, etc)
* Different types of massage and their uses (NMT = medical massage good for corrective work, Swedish = relaxation good for chronic stress, Sports massage = ... , reflexology = ...., Prenatal = ....)
* Common myths and misconceptions (MT, NOT masseuse; legit, not "sensual"; healthcare, not just luxury; professional, not unskilled labor, etc etc)
* In addition, you could do a quick demo - I love that idea. Work a trigger point or do a targeted muscle release or something - something that can bring about a major change in just a few minutes so that the demo puppy you used can go around telling everyone how just a few minutes in/on your chair/table did wonders! Ask your audience if someone has a headache or tense neck and shoulders.
* Make sure to leave a few minutes for questions, or offer to stick around afterward to take the first few questions, if you have time. Bring business cards! Maybe a flyer or pamphlet would be good, too. People will be interested and you'll want to feed that interest

Best of luck, and congratulations!!

 

[Skylar]

20 minute presentation

Thank you all for your responses. I have confirmed that there will be 8 people in the class including myself. I recently signed a lease on a treatment room downtown. I plan on giving each of the participants a gift certificate for a massage at the conclusion of my presentation. I’ll let you know how it goes!

 

[Bunz!]

20 minute presentation

Thank you all for your responses. I have confirmed that there will be 8 people in the class including myself. I recently signed a lease on a treatment room downtown. I plan on giving each of the participants a gift certificate for a massage at the conclusion of my presentation. I’ll let you know how it goes!

I would give them a GC for a 1/2 hour and let them upgrade if they want a longer session...

I hope your presentation is successful!

 

[Kellana]

20 minute presentation

I would give them a GC for a 1/2 hour and let them upgrade if they want a longer session...

I agree with Pete. And good luck to you!

 

[Rodeo64]

20 minute presentation

I would give them a GC for a 1/2 hour and let them upgrade if they want a longer session...

I agree with Pete. And good luck to you!

We've learned the hard way, don't give away full hour massage gift certificates! Yes, folks love them, but it's much better to give them PART of a session and let them "upgrade"-- at least you're getting some money out of the deal (if they do upgrade).

Good luck on your presentation! You'll have to come let us know how it goes, okay?

 

[Dani73]

20 minute presentation

*sigh* what a week! On Wednesday I took my MBLEX and passed with a 721. I thought it was pretty easy. On Thursday & Friday I attended my corporate presentation skills training class. My final presentation went very well. Thank you all so much for the suggestions! I covered a brief history of massage, discussed some key demographics of who benefits from massage, some basic strokes of Swedish massage as well as some myths/misconceptions. I wrapped it up with a chair massage while I took questions. It was very well received. I had questions about how I can help someone with sciatica, carpal tunnel and shoulder issues. I decided not to give out gift certificates but I did pass out cards and directed people to my website. I'm pretty sure I have at least 3 new clients from this. I could not be more pleased! Thanks again to you all.

 

[Zeina]

20 minute presentation

Well, congratulations all around, Matt! It looks like you are off to a very good start, indeed.