Presenter Mentor (PM) held its second organization meeting on 8/20/8 at Microsoft.  The focus was on scope and approach for the group effort. Highlights included:

• Ask user groups to sponsor "mentee" speakers, scheduling a presentation slot for mentee in a 3 to 6 month time frame. Providing the slot and securing commitment from the mentee provides a target goal for the training effort.

 

• After acceptance into the program, require the mentee to deliver a 10-minute ice breaker presentation to the PM group. PM group will use the presentation to gauge speaker needs and facilitate the assignment of an individual mentor. The presentation will be video-taped to discover areas of improvement and measure progress. Ice breakers can be of any topic, such as what the speaker liked and didn't like about their last project.

 

• Assign each mentee to an experienced PM mentor for personalized guidance and training.
• Assignment would be based upon special needs of mentee and strengths of mentor
• Mentor would coach mentee on a one-on-one basis and complete standardized presenter checklist to ensure that all major presentation skills are covered and ensure consistency across speaker development 
• Upon completion of the checklist, mentee would be coached by the full PM group
• One-on-one training could include a short team presentation (mentor/mentee) at local user group meeting

The next PM meeting will be held on Wed 9/17/8 at Microsoft from 11:30 - 1:00.  Target agenda is to attempt to wrap up scope and approach and implement first pass on providing speaker training. 

rob vettor