Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts frequently offers workshops on presenting and selling creative work. But there is sound advice to be found from other quarters–surprisingly, the reality TV show, The Apprentice. Here are some presentation tips gleaned from a recent episode.

If you’re wondering if you should trust the welfare of your business to pop culture, you might start by reading Steven Johnson’s new book: Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter. Read just a few pages and you might find yourself reluctantly nodding.

Johnson says, among other things, that reality TV shows, such as The Apprentice, engage you to start thinking about how you’d solve the problems this week’s hapless contestants are currently bungling. He’s not only right, but the advice doled out by Donald Trump himself about creative presentations during the pre-firing debriefing on a recent episode contained a fair amount of wisdom:

“Don’t be late.”
Being tardy to a presentation is just another way of saying, “this isn’t very important to me.” This is not a good starting point if you’re trying to persuade a client or colleague. Being late is rude, and being rude doesn’t put the people you’re trying to convince in a happy, receptive mood.

“Listen to the client.”
On The Apprentice, one of the teams screwed up by failing to prominently show Darth Vader on a computer game display, even though the client felt Darth was central to the product. You wanted to whack these people with a light sabre when you found out they weren’t using a written creative brief (surely you do). A brief sent back to the client after your first input meeting demonstrates that you were listening, and gives everyone the chance to flag important points that might have been missed.

“Have your best presenters present.”
Donald was ready to heave one team member off the roof of the Trump Tower for bailing on her presenter’s role, and throwing a less capable sub in her place. This is pretty simple stuff. Have the person on your team who’s most comfortable speaking in front of others do the talking. Meanwhile, send everyone else off to join Toastmasters.

“Think first, execute second.”
Truth be told, this one didn’t come from The Donald, but from a friend who also watches The Apprentice. She asks, “why do these people go out and start shooting photos before they’ve come up with a concept?” Good question. Makes you stop and think about your own ideas that lean a little too heavily on execution without the benefit of a solid strategy.

“You’re fired!”
It may be brutal. It may be dramatic. But there’s a lesson in Trump’s trigger finger. If someone on your team is a continual source of disappointment, give them help, give them a chance, and then, if you don’t see improvement, give them the boot.