p2i Week: Jane Davidson on p2i’s Messaging Model for Workshops

Potent Presentations aren’t just for paper sessions! This week’s posts, curated by dataviz dynamo Stephanie Evergreen, highlight ways that AEA members have used the Potent Presentations Initiative beyond paper sessions at the annual conference. If you think p2i doesn’t apply to your session type or situation, read on for inspirational guidance!

Kia ora (greetings, from New Zealand), evaluators! I’m Jane Davidson and I’m an evaluation coach, trainer, facilitator, and consultant (check me out at EvaluationCoaching.com).

Looking forward to the AEA conference in Denver? Had a presentation or workshop accepted? Now is the time to start thinking about how to ROCK that room!

Lessons Learned: Ever had one of those “Where do I start?” moments when trying to create a conference presentation? I have had more than one of those, and p2i snapped me out of my mental block! Better still, it’s useful for demo sessions and workshops too!

Rad Resource: Check out my all-time favorites: the p2i Messaging Video and the Messaging Model Handout. These have literally saved me again and again!

Hot Tips: Just this one diagram was pure gold – stick it up on your wall right this second:

Davidson

Now, be honest, people. Have you ever nailed the background piece of a 15-minute presentation in just 45 seconds? And then gone straight to the bottom line? No, I hadn’t either!

But here’s the really cool thing. I use the same guidelines to plan demonstration sessions, mini-workshops, and even my big 2-day preconference workshop at AEA. When I’m explaining a particular concept, method, or example, I use roughly the same time proportions to make sure I get the message across in the most understandable way.

I particularly love that all-important part at the end: What do you want people to DO differently once they leave your presentation or workshop? For example, the next time someone tells one of my workshop attendees that it’s “all just subjective” whether a result is good or not, I want them to totally nail the response with the great explanation I give them. The p2i Messaging Model reminds me to say so!

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating p2i Week with AEA members who have used our Potent Presentations Initiative. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from members who have used p2i strategies in their presentations. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

 

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