» Presentations

Going out on a limb to really win.

Michael Harrison — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 09:24:45 +0000

My mates at Synchron (a financial services group) run some of the the best conferences I attend. Their ideas are fresh, they challenge the status quo and of course they use great presenters (your truly).

Here are the directors, with a little help from executive assistant Josie Vella, acting as cheer leaders to the applause of all attendees at the Synchron Next Generation Conference for under 40 year old financal advisers.

Queenstown – New Zealand

Michael Harrison — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:00:38 +0000

Queenstown has to be one of the prettiest places I’ve been. The scenery is sensational, the food is great, and for the most part the service is excellent.

I presented a mock court case titled “The Case of Andrew Green” at the Synchron Danger Zone Conference.

The participants were Keith Hanslow (Barrister Ford Lightfoot-Jones) Martin Walker (Judge Hardcourt), Nikki Heald (widow Dianne and Girlfriend Jennifer), John Prossor (Dr Herbert Winterbottom – Compliance expert) and myself as the not so accurate Adviser.

The trial was light-hearted with some hilarious interchanges and a strong educational component.

Lights, Camera, Action

Michael Harrison — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:06:18 +0000

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post. During that time I have been to Alice Springs in Australia’s outback.

For some time I have believed that “immersion” events, where the whole audience is immersed in a single conference theme is a more effective learning model than the traditional company or association conference where speaker after speaker rise to deliver their standard PowerPoint presentation.

Financial advisory group Synchron were brave enough to try my concept at their bi-annual advisers conference held in Alice Springs (in Australia’s Outback).

In brief, the conference was designed as an estate-planning scenario that reflected on a number of “real life” situations as they emerged in the life of Alice Springs trucking business owner Richard (Dicky) Goer.

In the opening scene, Dicky attends a meeting with Financial Adviser Mick Madden (played by me) following a suggestion from his wife Amanda.

Over the scenes that follow:

Dicky is in an accident and is hospitalised
Dicky dies and there is a funeral
At the will reading the wife discovers that he has a very pregnant girlfriend (and they have a wonderful fight in the lawyers office)
Dicky rises from the dead (misdiagnosed)
Attendees present their advice based on the facts revealed as on-stage presentations.

At each stage various “experts” are called in to give professional advice about ares such as:

Business structures
Powers of attorney
Investments
Insurance
Insurance claims management
Retirement funding
Wills

Maybe I have found a new career.

The Main Players

After the Accident – Dicky with Adviser (Yours Truly – red tie) and Lawyer

The Funeral

Rising from the dead