Dilbert Responds- practically on cue....
Wow...thanks for all the great advice...
Found a Portland chapter of toastmasters...I'll practice with them when I get out of the bush in the fall...
Have a couple ideas on subject matter..Alaska surveying, PLSS, Historical surveys, and maybe how to clean up the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.
If I can help recruit surveyors that would be the greatest...If I can get people to have a good laugh while imparting some sort of knowledge then that would be good as well...
Thanks again guys, much appreciated
If you're going to play a garden party, I wish you a lot of luck......
[flash width=640 height=360] http://www.youtube.com/v/gmSDTutGyIw?version=3&feature=player_detailpage [/flash]
You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself...
[flash width=640 height=360] http://www.youtube.com/v/rFugRFKqjFg?version=3&feature=player_detailpage [/flash]
Daryl,
A really good place to start would be with the local chapter of PLSO. We have monthly meetings and there is usually BEER!
Get a hold of Jered. He is one of the responses above and is on the Pioneer Chapter Board.
Joe
Daryl, I'll give you some great advice. What are you great at? Surveying in Alaska and taking pictures right? There is your entire seminar right there. You are great at putting together slide shows and videos. Mix that in with some of your vacation photos, and you have a captive audience. Just tone the music down a little bit and stop and talk about the places you've been and seen, and your good to go. Just keep in mind, if you think you have a half an hour of material, its seems to really be only about 15 minutes worth, so make sure you have enough material for the entire time. Do a run threw ahead of time to make sure you know how long it will take.
From someone who has done most of his surveying in Illinois, which is known for its corn and soybeans, not for its snow covered mountains and arctic tundra, the photos you take almost speak for themselves.
I use public speaking as therapy for my fear of public speaking.
When I ran for office several years back, the worst speech I ever gave was the first one where I had the whole thing written out on paper. One of the other candidates at the meeting gave me a ton of helpful tips.
When I speak now, I only write out an outline about the topics I want to hit. The rest of it comes off the top of my head and being able to do that comes with knowing your subject matter.
I had been asked to speak at a surveying society chapter event not long after moving to Midland. While I thought about the topic for a day or two before the event, I wrote the outline on the back of an envelope in the 10-20 minutes while I was waiting to talk. It went well. If you know your subject, as I am sure you do, you can talk passionately and comfortably about it with 200 people just as well as 2 people.
The idea of audience participation or feedback is great to. Getting a show of hands or question and answer time is cool. Takes some of the time off of having to speak. The coolest thing I ever saw was Michael Broggie's presentation in 1995 at a convention with 300-400 people (including Ward Kimball) singing "I've been working on the railroad". Excellent presentation.
I fully agree with David. I was just last night enjoying the Amsterdam - Paris - Dubai pictures. Thanks for all the years of entertaining us with your photography.
Really, the best cure for this is just getting out and socializing and best to do it in a reasonably sober, accepting, and supportive atmosphere. Being involved in the Land Surveyors Association and also a church has been enormously helpful to me in feeling at ease in front of a crowd.
Also, always put a little love into it. Show your audience you sincerely care about them and want to share something of value with them. It goes a long way in getting fast positive feedback and quickly reassures you and helps make you feel more at ease.
> Take a look at JB's handouts and do something like that - something that can be used for reference later on.
JB's handout to the 2010 Oregon PLSO Conference was really a 90 page textbook on Oregon Boundary Law.
So Kent, just curious....what do you say when someone asks a stupid question or when someone disagrees with you? (maybe I'll regret asking that....)
> So Kent, just curious....what do you say when someone asks a stupid question or when someone disagrees with you?
Well, you have to distinguish a merely uninformed question from a question that indicates that the one who asks such a thing (a) has mistaken the room where the seminar is being held for the bus stop to Waco or (b) has so little knowledge that there isn't any way to answer the question except in words of two syllables or less.
If the question is uninformed, if a brief, straight answer can be given, do so. If the questioner is wearing any Texas A&M apparel, don't bother with any technical information, just go for the laugh. Most likely the questioner will have forgotten what he or she asked, anyway.
If someone disagrees with a point that has been made, some assessment likewise is in order. Does the person disputing some fact or detail seem to be a total idiot or do they have something to add to the topic under discussion? Odds are it will be the former. If you've done an adequate job of preparing, it won't be the latter, so a good gambit is to have the group figure out why the point raised by the questioner is wrong.
Good one Joe, Thanks ...I'll get in touch with Pioneer Chapter when I get back
> I fully agree with David. I was just last night enjoying the Amsterdam - Paris - Dubai pictures. Thanks for all the years of entertaining us with your photography.
Thanks Marc...means alot...the photo blogs were initially for my parents to see what it was I did in my job a few years ago but sorta evolved a little bit.
Here's the one from this last weekend.
Daryl, my comments on public speaking are somewhat unusual in that I stuttered like Porky Pig for all of my childhood and well into my 30s. Serious stuttering...
It was bad. As a result I wasn't much of a verbal communicator at the best of times. The thought of using the telephone (the hardest sounds for me were S and P (the first letters of my name of course) was enough to cause real panic and anxiety. Over the years I developed many coping strategies when I had to talk. The most common one was thinking about the sentence that I was in the midst of saying and switching problem words that were coming up with similar ones that were easier. Harder to do when the topic is highly technical.
In my last year of engineering, the full scope of one of my classes was the preparation of a high level technical paper including a formal presentation of the topic to my classmates and department professors. It was as painful a vocal experience as I could have imagined, not unlike King George VI making his first wartime broadcast as shown in the King's Speech...but I knew the topic cold. At the end of the presentation, I was asked the typical questions, but no one commented on my speech difficulty, because it didn't matter to them. What mattered was the content. They respected my thoughts and complimented me on the material.
With this experience, after I graduated from engineering, I vowed to throw myself into situations where I had to talk rather than my usual avoidance of them. Included were opportunities to speak in public much to the amazement and support of my wife and family.
The local URISA chapter had an annual workshop where interested parties could come and give a capsule summary about a subject of interest. Many were only ten minutes long. I volunteered at this event and others whenever I could.
It turns out that public speaking becomes much easier after the first few times, particularly if you have the opportunity to do it frequently. I sometimes listen to others speak and think about what works in their delivery for me and just as importantly, what doesn't. I apply their successes to my own technique.
I also look at their visuals, typically the PowerPoint slides and apply the same method. Now I avoid bullet points and slides swimming in text like the plague. My slides now serve to illustrate my thoughts, not deliver the content. The audience listens to what I am saying rather than reading the slide while I am talking.
Miraculously, after a few years I suddenly discovered that I wasn't stuttering anymore. At all. Ever. I wasn't even aware of when the transition had happened. People who meet me now are incredulous to learn that I once had a severe speech impediment.
I am now very confident to speak in public and before my professional colleagues, and the executive team and clients, from a few people to several hundred. The dark side is that after decades of not being able to talk fluently, I now tend to talk too much...LOL. I often have to practice 'active listening'.
To be able to communicate effectively is such a critical part of our profession, I strongly encourage anyone who doubts their ability and confidence to be able to speak in public to grab the opportunity whenever it presents itself. Joining your local Toastmasters chapter is a great idea.
In this case, practice might not make you perfect, but it does help significantly. You'll find that people aren't concerned about how you sound or look. They want to know what you have to say. With this knowledge, you may be pleasantly surprised at how well you do speaking in public.
You were invited because you are an expert at something, or, you have a very interesting story to tell, which means you have earned the right to be there and talk to them. I'd go to one of your talks anytime, especially if you related some of your adventures in the middle of nowhere, with photos.
One of my tricks is to get their attention first. I hold up a letter size exhibit and start talking about how it shows the curb where the plaintiff fell, then I look up and ask the people in the back of the room if they can see this clearly. No? How about the people in the front of the room. No? Of course you can't! You know why? Because it isn't big enough! (leading to a discussion on courtroom exhibits and why they need to be BIG).
Toastmasters is a great organization. They will help you find your problem areas and have plenty of suggestions as to how to cure them.
Practice, practice, practice. Do not try to memorize it, just get very familiar with what you intend to say. Plan ahead for what to leave out if your time is running out. Plan ahead what you can do to stretch things in a meaningful way if you have extra time.
No ethnic jokes. No anti-University jokes. No religious jokes.
Plan to answer obvious questions that should come up if you are doing a good job.
Never, ever, under nany circumstance, exagerate your sense of self-worth. They don't want to hear about you. They want to hear what you know that may be of use or entertainment to them.
I have a buddy who insists on correcting himself when trying to tell a story. Try to avoid that. You know, something like: Last June (or was it July) (yes, it was June) I participated in a trek (really more of a short vacation) to Northern Wisconsin (some might say Northwestern Wisconsin, but, to me it was more Northern than Northwestern) where I was able to.....................
Grab their attention early. Once I began a speech with a short spiel of how I was descended from a world famous explorer whose name they all recognized. Then, I told them that to the best of my knowledge I had just told them an absolute lie. That piqued their interest. Next, I jumped into my speech about genealogical research and how to track your relatives or those of others.
O.K., Magic, that was inspirational, educational and practical. Sheesh! Who can top that?
I aways fall back on the old ”Hey, is this thing on?” (tap, tap). You can’t work that one for very long though.
Seriously, that was a memorable post.
Thanks,
Don
I was fortunate enough to have had a boss that cared enough about my development that he sent me to Dale Carnegie Leadership and Public Speaking training.
Basically, they teach you to first say a little something about yourself (where you are from and how you got there...etc), an introduction of sorts. Maybe even interjecting a little humor at the start before you get to the business at hand.
Don't blindly speak to "the crowd". Make eye contact with everyone in the room and make them feel that you are making your presentation especially for them individually.
Practice...practice...practice. Prepare good notes and don't be scared to use them (especially if you have a podium, which is also a good place for a glass of water).
Talk about something that you are very familar with. Emphasize how you aquired your talents by relating a heartfelt story
My first speech, I was drenched with sweat and my stomach was tied in knots. But afterwards, several people from the audiance came up to me to introduce themselves and they commented about how they had experienced similar circumstances.
Most importantly, don't be afraid to fail. Nobody in the room is any better than you are. If you lose you train of thought, don't stall trying to remember. Just move on to something else and eventually it will come back to you.
Kent,
You made me think of a college math professor. Whenever a student answered incorrectly, he would make a huge point of thanking them and then go on to explain in great detail how their logic led them down a wrong path. It really was a great way to learn, and you weren't afraid to answer and be wrong.
Andy
