Around 35 members of the North Central NAMA Chapter met for lunch on November 17 to polish up their presentation skills, a topic of high interest to chapter members. Chapter programming chair, Jill Wenzel with the AdCulture Group, scrambled to get more chairs and order more lunches to accommodate the larger-than-expected crowd.

Veteran agri-marketer Dan Schwalbe was the speaker. Schwalbe spent 29 years with CIBA’s Agricultural Division in sales, training and human resource development before forming his own consulting firm. Dan’s presentation centered on the concept that “every presentation you make (or have a chance to make) represents an opportunity to influence people.” Using acronyms like “SMART,” “MAMA,” “3xE,” and SAQUS?,” Dan gave the audience memory tips to help them plan, develop and deliver informative presentations with high impact. “And finally,” he instructed, “remember the ‘Turkey Close:’ 1. Know your stuff; 2. Know who you’re stuff’n; and 3. Know when to stop stuff’n.”

The next meeting of the North Central NAMA Chapter will be a Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament on December 15th at the Padilla Speer Beardsley offices in downtown Minneapolis. The $30 entry fee to the tournament will be donated by the chapter to the Minnesota Ag in the Classroom project.