You have recently started your first job in either accounting or IT (think about what that role might be). You are working for a medium sized or large organization, a market leader in their business sector and you are excited and proud to have secured such a good role with that company.

After two weeks in the job your CFO or CIO invites you to attend the monthly departmental team meeting. The IT or Accounting department has about 30-40 staff and this will be your first opportunity to meet all of them. Everyone associated with the department will be there including senior management, section leaders, technical specialists and junior members of staff.

You have been sent an agenda and asked to confirm your attendance. On the agenda you notice that there is an item whereby all new members of staff are asked to come to the front of the room and deliver a 3-5 minute introduction of themselves so that everyone present can learn all about them.

The meeting is held in a large meeting room and scheduled to start at 11am and finish at 12:30 pm. At 12:30 staff are invited to remain in the room where they can enjoy a finger buffet and light refreshments provided by the company.

Assessment

1. Write out your 3 – 5 minute introduction all about yourself and then deliver it to your “colleagues” in the class room. (This should be 400 – 800 words and will depend upon your “run rate” i.e. how many words per minute you speak)
2. Complete a debrief on the feedback you received from your tutor and colleagues. (200-300 words)
3. Explain what you plan to do to ensure that your first team meeting attendance was successful for you. (100-200 words)

Part 1 – Your 3 to 5 minute introduction

• Ensure you structure this for maximum impact
• Embrace the 4 Cs of successful communication – CLEAR _ CONCISE_COMPLETE_CONSISTENT
• Think of a good opening to “grab” the audience attention – perhaps a statement of something bold or unusual you have done? A thought provoking question? A quote that says something about you
• Try to divide the body of the speech into 3 main sections with logical transitions between the three e.g. my past, my present, my future ambitions or my family, my education , my career or where I’m from, what I’ve done in Australia, what excites me about XYZ company or simply Education – Employment – Skills. The ‘rule of three’ is powerful in speaking.
• Summarise briefly what you have said
• Conclude – end on a memorable sentence that defines what you want people to remember you by. “As I explained, helping my customers to succeed has brought me the recognition and reward that fast tracked my career and led to this exciting new challenge.”

Your Presentation – this is a verbal presentation no slides or other visual aids please.( Write here or attach separately)

OPENING_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BODY________________________________________________________________________________
1.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SUMMARISE & CONCLUDE_______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part 2 – Debrief from your Presentation Delivery

Write a debrief in approx. 200 – 300 words on how your presentation went. Include amongst other things of your choice:

• Were you nervous and if so how did you overcome this?
• How good was your content? E.g. Structure – Language – Logical thought
• How good was your delivery? E.g. Eye contact – Gestures – Voice – Stage Presence
• Audience reception – Enthusiastic? Engaged Encouraging?
• What indicated to you that the audience was attentive and listening? Or not?
• What went well?
• What would you do better next time?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part 3 – A Successful First Department Team Meeting

A department team meeting is a fabulous opportunity for your colleagues to get to know you and vice versa. This is a meeting where you will have ample opportunity to raise your profile, to establish yourself as a valued subject matter expert and trusted team player. In brief, this is a forum for establishing and enhancing ‘Brand You’.

What actions are you going to commit to ensure that you maximize the value to your brand in attending this meeting? Assume that your diary is flexible to attend the meeting as needed that day. Some points to think about:

• What time should you arrive and why?
• What do you do when you get there?
• As well as writing your presentation what else should you do about the agenda?
• What actions will you do when other items are discussed?
• Do you stay for lunch – explain your reasons for your decision?
• Let’s assume that you stay for lunch – what actions will you take during lunch?