For Employers - Tips For Presenters

 

Whether you are speaking to a classroom of students or to another audience, the following suggestions will be useful in offering a full presentation on the motive power repair and service industry.  It is by no means the only way to give a presentation.  Every situation is different, however, so you can use this format, modify it, or do something completely different to suit your needs.

Be Prepared

  • Contact the person who is organizing the event to discuss:
    • what they would like the audience to learn from the presentation.
    • the nature of the audience.
    • what do they already know?  Was there any preparation leading up to your presentation?
    • what approach would appeal to the audience?
    • what the grade and age range is of the audience.
    • the number of people in the audience.
    • the amount of time allotted for your presentation.
    • the venue for your presentation (ie. classroom, laboratory, shop, lecture hall, auditorium).
    • the availability of audio visual equipment.

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The Presentation

  • Gear your presentation to the amount of time allotted.
  • Use a mixture of presentation modes (speaking, visual and hands-on) during the session to engage the audience.
  • Use clear simple language.  Don't use jargon as it will confuse your audience if you use terms that are only familiar to people in your business.
  • Emphasize the skills that are important on the job and the way in which the work is a practical application of school learning.
  • Be prepared for personal questions.  Do not feel you are required to answer them.

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Suggested Presentation Topics

  • Company Information
    • Brief history of your company.
    • What your company does (products and/or services; departments).
    • Who your clients and/or customers are.
    • Brief description of who your competition is.
  • Personal Background 
    • What was your pathway into work?  Did you go straight to work, complete an apprenticeship, go to college or university, or complete all of the above?
    • What careers were you interested in when you were a teenager?
    • What subjects did you like/dislike in school?
    • What different jobs have you done?
    • What influenced you to enter the profession?  Who influenced you?
    • What would you do differently? 
  • My Career
    • Your occupation/job title.
    • Number of years you have been working in this job.
    • Number of hours worked per week.
    • The skills required to do your job successfully.
    • What you love about your job.
    • The challenges of your job.
    • The tasks completed on a daily/weekly/monthly/annual basis.
    • The most important essential skills (reading text, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, thinking skills, computer use and continuous learning) required for your job and provide examples of how they are applied.
    • What on-going learning and training is required?
  • Workplace Trends
    • Is your job or company expanding or shrinking?
    • The societal, marketplace or demographic issues that affect your company, particular job or industry
    • Occupational forecasts for your industry/organization.
  • Advice
    • What do employers look for in employees?
      • Abilities
      • Skills
      • Interests
      • Personality traits (good attitude, patience, organizaton, willingness to learn)
    • What are the courses in school that will help them prepare for work in this field?  Give examples of how school learning applies to work.
    • What hobbies and part-time jobs will help them?
    • How can job shadowing, cooperative education and work experience help them?
    • What kind of training is needed and how can they get it?  Explain the term "apprenticeship" and the different kinds of apprenticeship programs.
    • What the industry can offer them.
    • Where to find additional information on the motive power repair and service industry (locally and nationally).
  • Any special requests from the event contact.

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Suggested Presentation Activities

  • Case Studies
    • Present a real-life problem/scenario that you have encountered at your work-site.  The audience works in groups to solve the problem and discuss their solutions.  Provide them with feedback on their suggestions and relate how the problem was actually solved. 
    • This activity will illustrate how problem solving in the motive power repair and service industry uses a similar approach to the kinds of problem solving the audience does in their daily lives.
  • Work-Site Tour
    • Select one individual to be the tour guide.  For larger groups, you may want to break the audience into smaller groups and have additional guides.
    • Provide an introduction before the tour to explain to the audience what they will be seeing and make time for questions after the tour.
    • Students should have the opportunity to meet and talk with staff to gain a greater understanding of the different occupations available within the industry.
  •  Information Interviews
    • Students meet one-on-one or in small groups with different employees and conduct an informal interview to gain knowledge on the different career paths/job tasks available in the industry.
  • Mock Interview
    • Employees will conduct a simulated job interview with an audience member to help prepare the audience for the interview process as a step in their career development. 
  • Hand-on Simulation
    • Provide something for the audience to touch or handle (ie. tools, parts, vehicle) or to work on (ie. a small engine).
  • Health and Safety Awareness Training
    • The audience will participate in a health and safety demonstration as it pertains to your work-site.  For example, identifying hazards in your workplace, or trying on protective equipment used in your workplace.
  • Panel Discussion
    • Representatives of various occupations within your workplace can share information about their specific job task, training and education.
  • Show a video or other audio-visual resource.

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