Let's Try This Again...

Last fall I had the opportunity to challenge myself and give an early literacy presentation for child care workers and preschool teachers, along with my manager. I am always looking for opportunities to expand my repertoire and gain new skills and experiences, so I was glad to do it. Unfortunately, it didn't quite go as well as I'd hoped.

To start with, we only had 2 weeks to put it together, and with me being only part-time and my boss being a very busy outreach manager, that amounted to very little time! We did the best we could, but it just really wasn't enough time to prepare adequately. I knew the material well, but I did not have the actual presentation of it down. Plus, I got a little nervous, and when I'm nervous I tend to talk too fast. I forgot to pause and show examples, and realized it was too repetitive, and the slides were way too text heavy. To make matters worse, two of the attendees blatantly put their heads down on their desks and went to sleep! 

Fast forward to this spring, and we were asked to do a similar presentation for another early childhood "summit" by another group, which is this coming Saturday. This time around I hope I have learned from the mistakes the last time. The slide presentation is shorter, much less text, and larger fonts, and is more focused. Also, we fortunately were asked to focus on just preschoolers, whereas last time we covered birth through age 5. We've also had more time, so hopefully I will know the presentation much better. I'm really hoping I'm more relaxed, too! I am not afraid of public speaking, and right now the idea of doing it doesn't make me anxious in the least. But then when the time comes, the nerves start to kick in!

But one really good thing is that my manager is much more accustomed to public speaking and does a great job. The other great thing is that our session is not until 10:15am, versus 8:00 am the last time! So I can get a little more sleep, and get there early enough to have time to set up without feeling rushed, and have a chance to relax. I am just not fully functional at 8:00 in the morning!!

So, anyone have any advice for keeping the nerves at bay and keeping the audience awake? Short of an air horn, that is 😈