Expectations for the Business Report and Presentation

based on the Mike’s Bikes simulation experience

The following section headings with brief summaries are intended as a guide
for preparing both the written business report and final presentation based on
the Mike’s Bikes simulation experience.

Start with an Executive Summary - Get right to the point!

How much money did the company make under your management; what
share price did you achieve for shareholders? How many bikes did you sell;
what was your market share?

What was your relative standing in the industry in which you competed?

Industry and Competitive Analysis

What characteristics and trends were evident in the market segments of the
bike industry?
What did they want in a bike? How did the segments change over time?

Which companies were your main competitors?

What were their apparent strategies, strengths and potential weaknesses?

Company Strategy

Explain why you did what you did,

identify critical decisions and turning points during the experience.

What you Learned

Share what you learned from the experience,

both about business and about working in groups!
 Tips for Effective Presentations
However you might feel about it now, your actual presentation will actually prove to
be a surprisingly short time "up at the front." Therefore, it is extremely important that
your presentation is well organized, and focused on the most important points you
wish to make. The principle of an Executive Summary applies to presentations
equally well as to written reports.

If anything, you should plan to speak slightly more slowly than normal conversation,
or at least, certainly not any faster. Therefore, be selective; don’t try to cram too much
in. At the same time, you must be well prepared to answer any questions. If you have
left out anything of particular interest, rest assured your audience will feel free to ask.

Related to the above, remember that there is only so much information which can be
successfully displayed on one overhead before it becomes too cluttered to be
comprehensible. Accordingly, distil your visuals to their most significant elements,
and place these into an uncluttered overhead with reasonable sized type.

Good overheads can be useful to you as well, as prompting notes for what you are
going to say, (but don’t make your overheads a verbatim transcript of your talk, or
your audience will be reading ahead of what you are saying). Note cards are also
acceptable prompts, but straight reading is not recommended. Whatever system you
use however, be sure to maintain regular eye contact with your audience.

Presentation Etiquette
Begin your presentation by introducing each member of the group, and indicating
what topic each member will be addressing.

When you have concluded your portion of the presentation, say so, and then
reintroduce the individual who will be following you to the podium, and re-indicate
what topic they will address. This makes for smooth transitions between speakers, and
gives the overall presentation a sense of continuity.

When you are not the member of your group actually speaking at the moment, pay
close attention to the one who is! His or her content may be old news to you, you may
even have helped to develop it, but if you look distracted or bored, the audience will
notice that and start to feel the same way! And nothing is more distracting than talking
or fidgeting "off stage" by members of the presenting team who are not actually
speaking.