“Sometimes it is not the lack of technical content, but more on how the proposal has been packaged. We need to learn how to open our presentations with excitement and close it with a bang.”
This was emphasized by Dr. Lucille Lastimoza, Consortium Director of the Western Visayas Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVAARRDEC) during the opening ceremonies of the three-day training that focused on the art and science of persuasive communication and presentation.
Dubbed “How to Get Key Decision Makers to Say Yes to your Project Ideas,” the training was attended by 16 research managers, consortium officers and staff members from four regional consortia in the Visayas, Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions.
“In the end, we need to come up with proposals that are fundable, doable and beneficial to our stakeholders – the farmers and entrepreneurs,” reminded Lastimoza.
Dr. Lily Ann D. Lando, former director of the Applied Communication Division of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) and now interim director of WorldFish, served as the resource speaker and training facilitator.
According to Lando, Filipinos in many instances have difficulty trimming their presentations. To capture and sustain the attention of the audience, she advised the participants to organize presentations using the three pillars of public speaking─ pathos, ethos, and logos.
Another guide for making a succinct presentation, according to her, is the use of the Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 rule. The rule provides that ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation. The slides should be given in 20 minutes and that the text should use thirty-point font.
Dr. Greta G. Gabinete of the Western Visayas State University said that although she had been in research for 28 years and had attended a lot of PCAARRD trainings, it was her first time to attend a training on persuasive presentation. This she found very useful, according to her, especially for budding researchers.
Dr. Danilo C. Cardenas, PCAARRD’s Deputy Executive Director for Administration, Resource Management and Support Services said that the training was conceptualized three years ago for researchers and project leaders.
Judging from the positive feedback of the participants, Cardenas said that PCAARRD is slated to conduct two more trainings of this kind for the Mindanao consortia and for the Northern Luzon group by the third quarter of the year.