Day 12 - Going on the Road

How to Begin a Presentation
I learned to be concise and to the point when presenting to an audience and not to provide to many details. A good strategy I learned from the article was a good point of reference of whether or not your presentation is concise is to practice sharing your presentation while traveling from one floor to another in an elevator....very clever!

Tips for Presenting to Young Audiences

Although I have presented many times to young audiences, I was amazed at the great tips that I learned through this article. A few of them really resonated with me...

I must admit that I take young people's facial expressions to heart when I'm presenting....The author was right when he said, "Shallowness, insincerity and callousness are masks young people wear, but rarely indicate who they really are plague." This is a helpful reminder for me to ignore their "masks".

I also agree with the author when he says, make your presentation come alive. Middle school
students are the most challenging, in my opinion, to present to. However, when I speak from the heart or am just plain "real" with the students, I'm better able to grasp their attention.

The True Power of Simplicity was another great tip for me. As an administrator, I have to be able to toggle my language to match the audience that I am working or speaking with. It is really a true talent to be able to toggle back and forth from speaking with the various people in a school community...students included. :-)

5 Fail-Safe Tips When You Forget or Get Flustered During a Presentation
Provided some really cool tips, which I actually could of used during a presentation last week. :-)

While presenting last week, I actually lost my train of thought....a drew a complete blank as to where I was going with the slide and bulleted list...I could have tried the Fiddle with Fodder tip to regain my train of thought....if I could go back into time, I would have taken off my glasses, since I wear glasses, to verify my notes. Or, even better, ask the audience about the temperature and their comfort level....now, where was I? :-)

The Power of Body Language
I always try to be cognizant of my body language; however, I know that I can improve in some of the areas that have been outlined. I feel fairly confident with making eye contact with my audience, but may need to video tape myself to reflect on my overall posture, gesture, and body movement. These tips will help me tremendously as a further my administrative career. It will also assist me with my dissertation defense!