Last Friday, I co-presented at the Michigan Library Association's Applied Technology and Trends conference held at the UM Hatcher Graduate Library. This was a great experience, where I had the opportunity to create a presentation with a colleague with whom I'd never presented and practice my presentation skills.
On June 8, I will be presenting with a different colleague on a different topic at the eCornucopia conference at nearby Oakland University. I'm realizing that preparing for and presenting is a great experience, but that it also takes a good deal of time. Creating a presentation outline, getting that onto slides, making the slides more creative, practicing, and getting all of the collaborative pieces in place is a great way to learn and prepare, but it is also very consuming.
I'm finding similarities between presenting and instructing in the sense that there is always more to learn and that the presentation can always be improved. Light-hearted comments during the presentation can illicit positive or no response; attending to those is important if the presentation is going to be given again. Audience response at the end, and the amount of questions asked can provide clues into what would be better to focus on or what was particularly interesting to participants.
It's these observations I'll take as I move into my June 8 presentation. The conference session covers creativity and drive (our power words) and so we better make our presentation creative, and interactive. These are the new challenges I'll face while preparing for this conference.
Exciting and time-consuming... a good balance to have as I begin to prepare for the next phase of my educational and professional journey as August nears...
Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!
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