Confessions of a Spoken Communication Professor
March 10th, 2010
It is currently 6:38 pm on Wednesday night.
That means I have 2 days and 21 hours (or 4186-ish minutes) before my presentation at the State Conference on Saturday.
Never mind. The minutes went down.
I have always told my students never to wait until the night before to prepare their speeches. Most people can work well under pressure, but when it comes to public speaking, most who prepare their presentations under time pressure generally do not do well. Why?
Because they rushed their gathering of information.
Because they did not practice.
Because they are generally thinking of their deadline instead of their topic.
Because they won’t get much sleep (less than normal, probably).
Because they won’t meet my outline submission deadline. *wink, wink*
…but mainly because they won’t be as familiar with their content as they could have been if they had started sooner. (There are some exceptions)
According to my timer, I’m down to 4183 minutes.
I’ve got two days before my presentation, and I’ve been working on my PowerPoint and content intermittently over the past few days now. But I’m not done yet.
And I’m feeling the pressure.
Even if I have a couple days left.
Because those days will be full of other responsibilities.
And then I’ll present.
I’ll get up before my audience (thanks in advance for coming!).
And I’ll present my content.
I’ll present my thoughts.
I’ll present what I’ve been eating, drinking, sleeping (metaphorically, of course) for the past few days (but truly, for several years of my life).
4178 minutes.
Confession #1 – I should have started preparing sooner.
Confession #2 – I feel pressure, too!
Confession #3 – I will be in professional dress when I present.
Confession #4 – I feel nervous, too, before presenting. (It’s a good thing!)
Confession #5 – I really want you guys to succeed when you present…but your preparation does matter. Preparing two days in advance can actually help you more than a few hours the night before.
Confession #6 – I have a really cool, new clicker that I get to use when I present, and that makes me cooler than you. Just kidding. Y’all will get to use it for your informative speeches.
(Speaking of which, how are you guys doing?)
4175 minutes.
And I’m off to finish my PowerPoint.
Wish me luck!
Cheers,
Corinne a.k.a. “Prof. Thomas”