I'm super busy, but happy. Last night I conquered one of my greatest fears. I generally have great difficulty making presentations to mid-sized groups. I have no idea why. I can speak in front of huge crowds and small groups with no difficulty, but that 25-100 crowd really shook me up. Last night I gave a slam-dunk presentation to a mid-sized group. No fumbling for words, no blanking, no nervousness. I was polished, personable, and worked the crowd. It was a thing of beauty.
So now I'm drinking some incredible coffee and staring at the tree in my backyard. It's the first time I've seen it in the spring, and it's thick with white blossoms. God, I love this apartment.
Ok, back to Tax Law. Huzzah.
2 comments:
You've described something similar to what I've felt (discomfort with mid-sized groups.)
I think that the issue is that with smaller groups, you can present conversationally, more personally, and connect with different observers individually.
With a larger group, you can act like it's more "lecture", as though they're there only to observe.
With mid-sized groups, they're too big for the personal connection, yet if you slip into full-blown "lecture mode", you come across as arrogant.
If you find this to be at all accurate, and, having conquered the beast, can offer some suggestions as to how to do so, I'd be interested to read them.
Honestly, it was practice that did it for me. The fact that I'm called on regularly in class (which is generally a mid-sized group) helped me to gain some skills with the mid-sized beast. At the presentation, I ended up doing a mix of the usual theatrics I use for larger groups and the personable comments reserved for smaller groups. I chatted with a few people I knew were outspoken in the group and ended up saying things like, "I see Bob over there nodding, as many of you are. Clearly this is something you've experienced..." Anyway, most of the elevated comfort level came from forcing myself and being forced to do it.
Post a Comment