How a bottle of Beer Changed the Presentation - Ofili

Dear Friends, here is another article i thought to share with you. The wonders of a Beer Bottle.

For years the company had struggled to explain quality to its, floor workers. They had invested dollars in colorful posters, flew in experts from all across the globe to deliver solid presentations dripping with glossy videos and resplendent pictures. But somehow or the other the message was not resonating. The floor workers were aware of quality, because they had no choice…the posters were everywhere. But beyond that, it was as if quality did not exist. In curt words, the message was NOT connecting.

But then came a man, who changed all that. He did not open a single power point presentation, he had no colourful pictures or posters created with the magical Helvetica font. He just came with a bottle of Beer, to be precise, a bottle of STAR lager beer. He held up the empty bottle and everybody laughed…he explained how each bottle of Star beer had at least 250 quality check points. He informed the floor workers that if a bottle of Star beer could have 250 quality check points then our products, which were more complex than a bottle of star should have even more quality check points. He ended the presentation by making everyone look at the label on the STAR bottle, with the 250 quality checks boldly printed.

The room no longer laughed, it was quiet. For the first time the message of quality had connected.

And the only reason it connected, was because the floor people connected with Beer. That was what they drank almost everyday. By moving away from the glittery slides and focusing on a connecting item, he was able to break into everyone the mentality of quality. And he did it with a cheap empty bottle of beer.

How is your company communicating with its people? Are you drowning them with mindless presentations, spending thousands on expensive campaigns? Or are you finding that connecting item that can resonate with each individual section of your company?

Whatever you are doing, remember your presentation might just be a bottle of beer away from making a connection…