The Presentation
Feb. 13th, 2004 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebMy frugality presentation went well. About 30-35 people showed, which was at or above the expected value of 139 participants / 5 sessions = 28. I said most of what I hoped I'd say, people participated in all the empty spots I left for participation, and no one made fun of my thrift-shop clothes. Maybe because I made Robin dress me that morning.
I talked about both strategies that sound rational and strategies that deal with people's irrationalities or strange emotions. My favorite story was from a co-worker who says she shops for the thrill of it, the excitement of getting lots of cool things. She has found a way to do this without spending a lot of money. She goes to Target and walks up and down every aisle. Whenever she sees something she likes, she puts it in her basket. It feels good to have a basket full of lovely things. But she's also constantly evaluating how much she wants the item. Sometimes the thrill of an item completely evaporates only a few aisles later. Sometimes she still has too many things at the end of her tour of the store, so she prioritizes. As she brings the things back to where she got them, the extra time often helps her cool off on extra items as well. Now she can often leave the store with only one item, or even nothing, but she's still gotten the satisfaction and thrill of amassing cool stuff.
After the presentation, several people said they had wanted to come to my session or had heard it was good and asked me for the handouts, so now I've given out a total of 42. Then another co-worker asked if I would do an encore presentation for the folks in her work group. At first I was thinking, "Bleh! But I'm done!" But then I said yes. Later she asked how much time I needed. I said I could shrink it down. She said, "How about fifteen minutes?" Well, I could do a completely different presentation in 1/5 the time of my first one. But I said yes.
Part of me was thinking, why did I do this if I dread presentations? Then I remembered that it was all part of my plan to do extra job duties that I actually liked, especially in areas where I get exposure to other people who might think up ways I can use skills I like and invite me to do that or something. That whole networking thing.
Then I also remembered that of course people don't have to stay away from tasks they aren't good at. Sometimes they can just get better at them. I think my dislike for doing presentations is based on my relative lack of skill in interacting with groups of people. I actually did great working with groups of people in summer camp. So even though focussing on your strengths is usually more productive, improving certain weaknesses can also make a big difference. And as my co-worker pointed out, this is a relatively small, intimate group.
So then I thought I do enjoy people coming up to me and talking about frugality issues. And it's easier for me to shrink a paper (and probably a presentation) than to expand it, so now I'm glad I said yes.
In yesterday's mail, I got a letter from my brother. He volunteered to make me a Valentine's Day card to give my boyfriend, and I said that would be great. So the card came yesterday, and he decided to make me two cards: one mushy and one sleek and modern. They are both cool. My brother liked the mushy one so much that he wished he could sign it to give to me, but he wanted to save it so I could give it to Robin. The envelope containing the letter (and cards) was also decorated, as usual. This time it was a really cool castle at the top of a steep mountain.
I talked about both strategies that sound rational and strategies that deal with people's irrationalities or strange emotions. My favorite story was from a co-worker who says she shops for the thrill of it, the excitement of getting lots of cool things. She has found a way to do this without spending a lot of money. She goes to Target and walks up and down every aisle. Whenever she sees something she likes, she puts it in her basket. It feels good to have a basket full of lovely things. But she's also constantly evaluating how much she wants the item. Sometimes the thrill of an item completely evaporates only a few aisles later. Sometimes she still has too many things at the end of her tour of the store, so she prioritizes. As she brings the things back to where she got them, the extra time often helps her cool off on extra items as well. Now she can often leave the store with only one item, or even nothing, but she's still gotten the satisfaction and thrill of amassing cool stuff.
After the presentation, several people said they had wanted to come to my session or had heard it was good and asked me for the handouts, so now I've given out a total of 42. Then another co-worker asked if I would do an encore presentation for the folks in her work group. At first I was thinking, "Bleh! But I'm done!" But then I said yes. Later she asked how much time I needed. I said I could shrink it down. She said, "How about fifteen minutes?" Well, I could do a completely different presentation in 1/5 the time of my first one. But I said yes.
Part of me was thinking, why did I do this if I dread presentations? Then I remembered that it was all part of my plan to do extra job duties that I actually liked, especially in areas where I get exposure to other people who might think up ways I can use skills I like and invite me to do that or something. That whole networking thing.
Then I also remembered that of course people don't have to stay away from tasks they aren't good at. Sometimes they can just get better at them. I think my dislike for doing presentations is based on my relative lack of skill in interacting with groups of people. I actually did great working with groups of people in summer camp. So even though focussing on your strengths is usually more productive, improving certain weaknesses can also make a big difference. And as my co-worker pointed out, this is a relatively small, intimate group.
So then I thought I do enjoy people coming up to me and talking about frugality issues. And it's easier for me to shrink a paper (and probably a presentation) than to expand it, so now I'm glad I said yes.
In yesterday's mail, I got a letter from my brother. He volunteered to make me a Valentine's Day card to give my boyfriend, and I said that would be great. So the card came yesterday, and he decided to make me two cards: one mushy and one sleek and modern. They are both cool. My brother liked the mushy one so much that he wished he could sign it to give to me, but he wanted to save it so I could give it to Robin. The envelope containing the letter (and cards) was also decorated, as usual. This time it was a really cool castle at the top of a steep mountain.