Abstract

‘The Complete Guide to Business School Presenting: What your professors don't tell you... What you absolutely must know’ reveals the secret expectations harbored by business school professors when viewing presented material. Designed to offer a competitive advantage to anyone interested in a career in business, this award-winning guide offers a truly unique means of developing powerful presentation skills. It identifies seven verities of speaking that form the bedrock of superior presenting in the twenty-first century, and which imbue any speaker with power, energy and confidence: stance, voice, gesture, expression, movement, appearance and passion. These principles, when studied and applied, can form the foundation of a vast improvement, operating by correlating directly with the inherent values of corporate America.

“A brilliantly warm, witty, spot-on book that will be the one of the best books ever read by business students. The tools, tips, best practices provided here will continue to guide students not just through the challenges of making business school presentations, but in their professional careers as well…where the ability to influence is key to opening the professional opportunities.” —Dr Dawn K. DePasquale, Chief Learning Officer, American University, Washington DC

“Dr Stanley K. Ridgley’s ‘Complete Guide to Business School Presenting’ delivers on its promises – it provides undergraduate and graduate business school students with clear, compelling and comprehensive instruction on how to deliver powerful business school presentations. This is an indispensable tool for all business school students who want to develop an especially powerful professional skill-set to last a lifetime.” —Christine Kuhinka, Global Business and Marketing Communications Leader, The Dow Chemical Company

“‘The Complete Guide to Business School Presenting’ is an ideal book for anyone who would like to feel confident in a professional context. It is a real guidebook that enables business students to develop their presentation skills and themselves. This is also a great resource for business people as it will equip them with knowledge and skills that are much needed in the twenty-first century business world. The material included is a perfect combination of real-life examples, case studies and excellent practical exercises.” —Dr Anatoly Anoshin, Dean of the Institute of Economics and Management, Udmurt State University, Izhevsk, Russia

“Dr Ridgley shares years of experience in brilliant advice on presentation skills. This book should be required reading for all graduate students, especially those in business school. What a wonderful primer! I wish this book was available when I was in school.” —Stephanie Roberson Barnard, co-author of ‘Listen. Write. Present. The Elements for Communicating Science and Technology’

“‘The Complete Guide’ is a unique and distinctive contribution to management literature. It is quite a stunning effort in a neglected area! I will be really surprised if it does not become a rage amongst B-school students. I see great advice in it – comprehensive, direct, and full of empathy and warmth for the young MBA student, as well as for anyone who cares about learning and performing better in the world of organizations.” —M. N. Rao, CEO of Tata Business Support Services, Hyderabad, India

Stanley K. Ridgley is Assistant Clinical Professor of Management at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business in Philadelphia, PA.

‘The Complete Guide to Business School Presenting: What your professors don't tell you... What you absolutely must know’ reveals the secret expectations harbored by business school professors when viewing your presentations. Offering a competitive advantage to anyone interested in a career in business, this award-winning guide provides a truly unique means of developing powerful presentation skills.

The guide identifies the seven verities of speaking that form the bedrock of superior presenting in the twenty-first century, and which imbue any speaker with power, energy and confidence: stance, voice, gesture, expression, movement, appearance and passion. These presentation techniques can transform a person’s professional life, ignite the potential for landing a higher position, and distinguish a business student from the vast majority of their competitors – all by correlating directly with the inherent values of corporate America.

The book also discusses the utility of business analysis tools, such as “SWOT,” “PEST,” “value chain analysis” and Porter’s “Five Forces,” and demonstrates how to work seamlessly and effectively with PowerPoint to deliver concise and persuasive presentations. It also addresses the innate challenges of working as a group and preparing group presentations – a requirement of all business students and a highly sought-after skill amongst corporate recruiters. In addition, a section on preparing for case competitions – a major rite of passage for business majors and MBAs – is included. The result is a masterpiece of business school wisdom and practicality.