My introduction to professional speaking was as a nineteen year old Air Force technical instructor in 1957 teaching electronics fundamentals and radar maintenance six hours a day, five days a week in three week phases for two years with few weeks off as we were understaffed. Each day was divived into three equal sessions with two ten minute smoke breaks.

Success was measured by an instructor's student graduation percentage based on a fifty question final exam at the end of the phase; therefore it was important to have a disciplined approach covering a set amount of material in each of the fourty-four periods, the fourty-fifth set aside for a final exam. As there were no computers, not even overhead projectors, we taught with chalk on a green board, most of us using colored chalk for highlighting important points.

Without text books or printed matter other than schematics each instructor developed his own approach. My resource was a three ring binder with fifteen daily session outlines, each with a topical structures; e.g., Ohm's Law, blocking oscillators, components, etc. What I did not know then was that this method would serve me well later when I was creating sales and management presentation, then my becoming a full time time seminar professional thirty years hence.

When I became a member of NSA (a membership I encourage professionalspeakers to consider) I discovered that most successful professions did the same, many calling them bits instead of topics. I maintain a bit library on my computer.

In my view we speakers are conveyors of influence and information, both delivered directly or indirectly , somtimes combining all four possibilities. As one with an engineering mindset I created a set of four fundamental bit models I call VISA (Vignette, Instruction, Story, Activity) each on with an opening-body-closing format to achieve an intended purpose:

Vignette (influence directly): Premise to Problem/Solution to Pay Off

Instruction (inform directly): Learning Goal to Unknown-to-Known to Reinforcement

Story (influence indirectly): Initial Situation to Event(s) to Conclusion [two formats]

Activity (inform indirectly): Desired Goal to individual/Group Work to Conclusion

The VISA Models

Closing Note: I use the VISA models as distinct elemental structures. Think of them as you would the four elements in a pound cake (sugar, flour, eggs, butter) each doing its work to create a wondrous whole. When forming a bit on a given topic I begin with whichever seems dominant then let the development flow including whatever it takes to make it complete.