JANUARY 2019 SEEDWORLD.COM / 47 WE ALL RECEIVE your message a little differently. Whether you are talking to a perspective customer, an employee or your family, some will see the whole picture you are presenting, others will see only the puzzle pieces. Some want you to tell them your message, others want you to show them what you mean. According to the Social Science Research Network, more than 90 percent of people tend to be either auditory or visual learners. A smaller group includes tactile and kinesthetic learners who learn best by doing. Classrooms and most training presentations use a combination of delivery styles with both visual and auditory components to appeal to most participants. Information delivered in long lectures may be appreciated by auditory learners but will frustrate and bore visual learners. The tactile learners? Without something to hold and touch they may become fidgety regardless of how many pictures and graphics you include in your presentation. These workers may come across as having nervous energy, but it is just how they process information. They are not being disrespectful if they fidget while listening. Understand Your Individual Audience When speaking to an individual, as an effective communicator you shape your style according to their learning style. If the perspective customer begins by asking you to “Show me what you’ve got,” you know you are speaking to a visual person who likes to see pictures, PowerPoint presentations and colorful graphs and charts. This person will want to first see the big picture before getting into the details. If the customer indicates you should “Tell me what you’ve got,” this is your clue to bring out the details and explain the pieces. When it comes to listening or reading, visual learners do better if the speaker or text includes imagery that they can imagine. If they can visualize what you are talking about, they are more likely to retain your information. This is where you can use a flip chart to emphasize key words from your message as you speak. When designing employee manu- als, break up sections of text with key thoughts repeated as a callout printed in larger text. Include photos in your service manuals. The key for you to remember is to balance your presentations. Audiences generally do best when they have the opportunity to both listen to and look at your information. Some See the Big Picture, Others See the Pieces ROBIN O’MARA, O’MARA AG SERVICES PRESIDENT Romara60@msn.com • omara-ag.com THE SEED TREATMENT market contin- ues to robustly expand. Increased treat- ment rates plus changes in what we are applying (think microbials – live organisms) have driven this growth. I believe we are a long way from perfecting these processes with room at the top for innovation. If you treat seed, I bet you grapple with one or more of these issues. Wet treatments have caused problems for years. Some of us admit to it, others are in denial. If your operators have to break soybean clumps out of the bagging bin with a rod, you have a problem. This issue increases each year as treatment applica- tion rates increase. There are mechanical – not chemical – solutions for this problem. I don’t believe there is a chemical, poly- mer or drying agent anywhere capable of addressing the complete problem. Sure, some chemicals cure or dry more effectively than others and hydrophobic powders can help. But honestly, we seem to have gone beyond the limits of making these additives completely effective. Most solutions will require some sort of drying even for light film coating rates. For encrustation and pelletizing where drying has been a longtime necessity, many of those solutions can provide new efficiencies for drying wet seed treat- ments. Look for market solutions that use advanced air control, heat and even conditioned air to assist drying. If you are cramped for space, consider advanced equipment that performs the treating and drying functions in one machine. Dust off has become one of the most controversial issues surrounding seed treatment. This topic is usually discussed around loss of treatment downstream in the distributor or even worse the cus- Solving Seed Treatment Problems… We All Got ‘Em JON MORELAND PETKUS NORTH AMERICA MANAGING DIRECTOR moreland@petkus.de • petkus.de tomer’s hands. Dust off (or maybe dust that never got “on”) is a big problem in treatment facilities as well. Colored dust that coats a facility is more the norm than the exception. It is rapidly becoming an unacceptable safety issue. To address this concern look to your air handling system and pair it with equipment that is enclosed and designed for treatment use. Clean out. Enclosed equipment is criti- cal to containing dust off. Most operators cringe at this idea because they assume enclosed equipment is more difficult to clean. This is no longer the case. Kernel- clean can easily be accomplished with new equipment designs. Look for components designed with ample access doors and clean transition lines. Check where your seed will flow. With equipment manufac- tured to current standards there is no place for seeds to hide.