another post
Tomorrow i have to deliver a presentation to a bunch of people. I spent most of friday preparing for it but it's pretty stressful still. I think it's interesting i've not gotten better at public speaking faster. it's easy for me to sit and think about how it should be, but then doing it that way always seems to be a problem. I was glad to get the suggestion last time that i was using words people didn't know. that's a difficult thing to overcome. I don't understand who my audience is sometimes.
Once when i was at western i had just had a particularly interesting class on central asian history and i was ranting in front of Shannon's parents that i would have liked to know about that stuff earlier in my education. So Shannon's mom invited me to come speak to her classes about it, in light of them doing reports on countries for social studies. So i went. I had no idea I'd find it nerve-wracking and difficult. I thought i'd just tell them what i knew.
So i went to the morning class first, naturally. it was not easy at all. the kids had already done reports on all varieties of notable countries (none of which had been previously part of the USSR), and i was able to talk about some things like Japan, China, Iran and Turkey, as i recall. Japan was particularly popular with the kids, but i used the words "religiously affiliated" and the kids didn't know what that meant, but luckily one of them asked me what it meant... i was totally startled.. it never occured to me that they might not know the english words i was going to say.. the foreign language words that might come up, i could expect to explain.. but anyway.. that was a big revelation to me. ...
So i had to change my game plan, and the next class - after lunch- was much smoother. Shannon's mom wisely shared with me some tips for making the presentation flow, and told me some of the things they would and wouldn't understand and all in all i think the second one went much better. i was far less nervous, and i wasted no time on things they couldn't relate to.
Tomorrow's presentation has to be the same. people have to understand, and relate to it. and i'm going to have to use words they will understand, and speak in short, concise sentences. this is not really my style. as everyone knows. but i'm going to try. maybe, if it goes well, i'll tell you about it tomorrow night. anyway.. good night.
Once when i was at western i had just had a particularly interesting class on central asian history and i was ranting in front of Shannon's parents that i would have liked to know about that stuff earlier in my education. So Shannon's mom invited me to come speak to her classes about it, in light of them doing reports on countries for social studies. So i went. I had no idea I'd find it nerve-wracking and difficult. I thought i'd just tell them what i knew.
So i went to the morning class first, naturally. it was not easy at all. the kids had already done reports on all varieties of notable countries (none of which had been previously part of the USSR), and i was able to talk about some things like Japan, China, Iran and Turkey, as i recall. Japan was particularly popular with the kids, but i used the words "religiously affiliated" and the kids didn't know what that meant, but luckily one of them asked me what it meant... i was totally startled.. it never occured to me that they might not know the english words i was going to say.. the foreign language words that might come up, i could expect to explain.. but anyway.. that was a big revelation to me. ...
So i had to change my game plan, and the next class - after lunch- was much smoother. Shannon's mom wisely shared with me some tips for making the presentation flow, and told me some of the things they would and wouldn't understand and all in all i think the second one went much better. i was far less nervous, and i wasted no time on things they couldn't relate to.
Tomorrow's presentation has to be the same. people have to understand, and relate to it. and i'm going to have to use words they will understand, and speak in short, concise sentences. this is not really my style. as everyone knows. but i'm going to try. maybe, if it goes well, i'll tell you about it tomorrow night. anyway.. good night.
2 Comments:
The double-edge of being an actor is that someone else writes your words for you. But on the other hand, you have to make sense of someone else's words.
I didn't know that presentation was that unnerving to you and I guess I didn't hear the "religiously affiliated" story. I'm glad my mom finally gave you the inside info on what the kids might not know. If you didn't work with seventh-graders everyday, you probably wouldn't know that either.
My dad spent most of 1972 explaining the Pakistani-Indian conflict to his seventh grade social studies students...and those kids didn't have a clue what he was talking about. But he was 23 and didn't know any better.
When I presented on England and France one year, I ended up yelling at one of the kids when my mom had left the room. I called him a "little jerk" and the whole class shut up and just stared at me.
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