The Seven Strategies of Master Presenters - Lifecycle Performance ...

40 / THE SEVEN STRATEGIES OF MASTER PRESENTERS
and promptly became hysterical. The presentation had to be postponed
until the 5-year-olds could be taken to a hotel room where they
could see that the actress was indeed alive and the blood from the
bullet wound was indeed ketchup. After the half-hour delay, they were
ready to begin the presentation on time management.
At that point in time, how many people in the room were interested
in a presentation on time management? We would venture to
guess that no one was really interested. But Brad had a secret weapon.
A humorous film titled The Unorganized Manager by John Cleese. 2
The film portrays a manager named Mr. Lewis who is completely
unorganized at work and at home. About halfway through the film,
Mr. Lewis has a heart attack, dies, and goes to heaven. At the pearly
gates, Mr. Lewis rings the doorbell, which plays the “Halleluiah Chorus.”
St. Peter says that there is no Mr. Lewis due in heaven that day
and he must be due at the other place. Mr. Lewis protests that he has
always been a good man and has tried to do right. St. Peter shows Mr.
Lewis that although he had good intentions, he was so disorganized
and managed his time so poorly, both at work and at home, that he
could not let Mr. Lewis in. Mr. Lewis begs for a second chance. St.
Peter then coaches Mr. Lewis on how to better manage his time.
This well-made and humorous film got the audience’s attention. The
audience was thinking about time management and not, at least for the
time being, about the murder mystery. Brad knew that he was now at a
crucial point in his presentation. If he talked to the parents first, he would
likely not get the children to participate. So he asked the children to rate
from, A to F, Mr. Lewis’s ability to manage time. There was a resounding
chorus of Fs raising from their sweet voices. One of the boys seemed to
be particularly vocal, so Brad asked him to rate his father on time management
at home, thinking that he would say A, A-, or B+. Instead he
said, “C-.” You could have heard a pin drop in the room.
His father, like all the members in the Young Presidents Organization
had to have started or become president of his or her own
companies before the age of 39. Members also had to employ 50 employees
and gross $5 million annually. In front of his peers, this young
man had just called his father a ‘C-’ father. Brad learned an important
lesson. Never ask a question in public that could potentially embarrass
a member of your audience.
After the presentation, Brad walked up to the father to apologize
and to state that it was not his intention to embarrass him. The father