Yesterday I did a presentation via webconference to all of our Advisory Boards. Not quite as high pressure as the in-person Board of Directors presentation in August, but still enough to make me uncomfortable. My topic: future trends in the world and the workplace.
Went off well enough, I thought, though I wondered a couple of times if I was speaking too quickly. At the end, though, many of the folks who were in the room congratulated me on my presentation skills. This is hilarious, because I HATE doing presentations and always feel like I really suck at them.
My secret at this point is that I make my slide deck, then put on the voice-to-text microphone and do an ad hoc rendition of the presentation. Then I polish up the script that’s generated and practice it a bazillion times, until it sounds like I am actually a calm, well-organized person sharing some new ideas. I don’t follow the script word for word, but I do know what I’m gonna say.
So, basically, I feel like I have a great cheat. And I learned to modulate my voice and sound relaxed and conversational back in the days when I did poetry readings. So combine those factors and you end up with my Director asking if I would be kind enough to coach people on their presentation skills.
It’s kind of like having your boss ask you to coach people in whatever your worst nightmare is about.
She sat next to me during the webconference. Afterwards, she said, “I could see you were breathing. I always forget to breathe.” Thank you, practice. Thank you, dharana.
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Moon Day, thank God. I am tired. Last night I celebrated with homemade pasta and a strawberry cupcake with a LOT of cream cheese frosting. Mmmm.
And yes, I said a cupcake. The oven made cupcakes! I did two things that might have fixed the oven problem: 1) I pushed and jiggled the heating elements to ensure their electrical connection, and 2) I heated the oven up for a really long time (by baking some tofu before making the cupcakes). Why do I always alter more than one variable in these instances? Sigh. Now I’m not sure what “fixed” the oven. I guess there is one more potential baking flop as I determine which of the two variables is actually the one that mattered.
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There is still time to de-lurk, dear readers. Quite honestly, I am curious as to why people might be inclined to stay silent. Rebecca’a comment that Ashtangi.net can be intimidating, and Kayla’s comment about there being “cool kids” are interesting. So let’s just say this right up front: I promise I won’t be snarky or rude to anyone who comments on my blog. We’re not cool over here — we’re just chatting. So feel free. Sometimes it’s nice to talk. Or not. You can make that call.
Happy Moon Day.
