I’ve had the pleasure over the last month or so of working again with Horticulture NZ and their Young Grower of the Year Competition. It’s a national competition in NZ and very prestigious for the industry and all of the contestants.

I’ve been doing this for about 5 years now. Specifically training the finalists for the speech they have to give at the final and also working with them on a Leadership panel that I moderate, sponsored by Balance NZ.

They are both very challenging tasks that the finalists have to complete in amongst all of the practical field testing and business acumen analysis that goes on as part of the competition.

The Leadership panel is particularly interesting. It’s virtually a live press conference style forum where they are answering questions without notice from their industry peers. It’s moderated by me and they always do an amazing job of dealing with a task completely foreign to them in terms of their day to day practice. It’s an essential skill to master though if they are to continue to develop in the industry.

I always include a DISC profiling session in the training with them. I do this for two reasons. One, I want them to have a good understanding of their predominant communication style and how it has relevance in the way that they present. Secondly, they are all in management positions within their respective businesses and I want them to begin to develop a range of tools that will help them in other areas of their business apart from just being a better presenter.

The key with this short term training in presentation skills is that ‘less is more’. Don’t try and do too much. Work with the individual and build confidence and a range that is within their immediate capabilities.

The more secure you can make them feel the better performance you’ll be able to help achieve.
Thanks again Hort NZ. It’s one I cherish each year.

Craig Ward, Canaan Balk, Andrew Kearney, Hamish Gates and James Huffadine.