Business Presentations

We were asked to prepare a presentation for a 60 seconds pitch for investment in a publicly-traded company in Nigeria. Actually, there were two presentations. One was an individual presentation and the other was a group presentation. My group prepared well for the group presentation only to find out on the presentation day that we will only be doing the individual presentation.

A few weeks before the presentation day we were asked to take an online Harvard course on writing and presentation. While studying the course I had no idea I was actually going to be asked to make a presentation based on what I learned from the course. But when about the presentation came in, I knew I had to revise what I learned.

I spent most of my time preparing for the group presentation and had only a few hours to prepare for my individual presentation. However, I was lucky. Choosing a company and deciding what to pitch about came to me easily. It was able to utilize the few hours I had to prepare well and I came up with a reasonably good presentation a few hours before the presentation.

On the day of the presentation, we were all expecting our faculty but he sent a representative. The class started on time and she introduced herself and let us know we would each be given 4 minutes for our presentation. However, we were told to prepare for a 60 seconds presentation and we let her know and she agreed. At this time, I was still not fully prepared for my presentation and I was worried because we were told in the email that we would be called randomly to present. As soon as she called on the first 2 people to present, I knew the presentation sequence was according to our matriculation numbers which meant that it would be a while before it got to my turn.

This extra time helped me make my presentation much better.

The presentation sessions were really interactive. We were allowed to ask the presenter questions after their presentation. The questions allowed us to learn more about the companies that were seeking investment. Some of my colleagues were really prepared and answered all the questions well.

By the time it got to my turn to present, I was fully ready. I made a pitch for Dangote Group seeking an investment of $1.7 billion dollars for the completion of the Oil and Gas refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. The presentation was easy for me since I live and work around that axis and I am quite familiar with the project. The refinery is the biggest in Africa and has the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. My presentation was short and straight to the point. I was able to answer the few questions that were asked after the presentation and I can say I was satisfied with my performance.

I look forward to more successful presentations as I make progress in the business world.