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Public Speaking and Meat
Mar. 6th, 2006 07:04 pmThe conference opened with a good presentation on how to give a presentation. The speaker made just a few points, but they were all good.
First, be yourself. Most people are afraid of speaking in public, so they try really hard not to make a mistake. He then did some play acting, first as someone who was talking to a friend and then as that same person talking in a monotone with a deer-in-the-headlights look. It was great. (Where is that other person? That likable, interesting person?)
A second point is to acknowledge the obvious. By this he means if something odd is happening, or something is going wrong, don't try to ignore it. Instead, try to use it. For an example, he brought up an Academy Awards show, live, where, just as David Niven was about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor, a streaker ran across the stage and through the audience. Let's just say Niven no longer had the attention of the crowd. So, he went with it, looking shocked while they were being shocked, and probably thinking to himself that he better come up with something to say when the noise finally died down. He came up with something like the following: "Finally someone is drawing attention to his shortcomings."
A third point he made is that by being yourself and going with the flow, you make it easier for people to like you. He said it's more important for people to like you than for you to get your point across. This is because a) you probably won't get your point across. And b) if they like you, they will be more likely to contact you, thus giving you another chance to get your point across. I'm not sure how well that works when you're an educator, but there's probably more truth to that than I've imagined.
In other news, today for lunch we had the following menu:
* fried chicken strips with mustard sauce
* grilled chicken on a stick with hot and sour sauce
* grilled beef on a stick which I didn't taste
* grilled chicken quesadillas (cheese and chicken in a tortilla sandwich, fried on both sides)
* a salad or veggie plate (on two of the tables, but not the one I was at)
and, in the next room:
* gigantic cookies.
I like to summarize that as "meat, meat, meat, and meat."
First, be yourself. Most people are afraid of speaking in public, so they try really hard not to make a mistake. He then did some play acting, first as someone who was talking to a friend and then as that same person talking in a monotone with a deer-in-the-headlights look. It was great. (Where is that other person? That likable, interesting person?)
A second point is to acknowledge the obvious. By this he means if something odd is happening, or something is going wrong, don't try to ignore it. Instead, try to use it. For an example, he brought up an Academy Awards show, live, where, just as David Niven was about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor, a streaker ran across the stage and through the audience. Let's just say Niven no longer had the attention of the crowd. So, he went with it, looking shocked while they were being shocked, and probably thinking to himself that he better come up with something to say when the noise finally died down. He came up with something like the following: "Finally someone is drawing attention to his shortcomings."
A third point he made is that by being yourself and going with the flow, you make it easier for people to like you. He said it's more important for people to like you than for you to get your point across. This is because a) you probably won't get your point across. And b) if they like you, they will be more likely to contact you, thus giving you another chance to get your point across. I'm not sure how well that works when you're an educator, but there's probably more truth to that than I've imagined.
In other news, today for lunch we had the following menu:
* fried chicken strips with mustard sauce
* grilled chicken on a stick with hot and sour sauce
* grilled beef on a stick which I didn't taste
* grilled chicken quesadillas (cheese and chicken in a tortilla sandwich, fried on both sides)
* a salad or veggie plate (on two of the tables, but not the one I was at)
and, in the next room:
* gigantic cookies.
I like to summarize that as "meat, meat, meat, and meat."