Preparing for a presentation

Hi All, sorry it's been a little longer than usual for my post, I spent last week preparing for a lecture for a Graduate Class on Information Policy.

On Thursday I headed back to my old stomping grounds, the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta to give a talk on my current work with Open Government.

Public speaking has always been a little tricky for me - I'm happy to volunteer, and even more happy to do it once I'm in front of a group and talking, but the lead up to these things can be quite stressful.

So having done a few public speaking events over the years, here are my key tips to making it through.

1) Realize Stress is normal

Totally honest fact - ten minutes before I gave my talk I was literally thinking "I could just run - I'm sure the class will move ahead without me!"  For me, this is totally normal - I knew I wasn't actually going to run off before a presentation, but acknowledging that it is stressful helps.  Public Speaking is stressful.

2) Preparation is key

Whether you spend your time creating slides or simply mumbling your speech to yourself over and over again in the days leading up to the talk, this will help you get going once you've begun to talk

3) Ask for help!

Whether having a friend or loved one look over your talk, or even just explaining to a co-worker the key points you want to touch on, this gives the people around you a chance to help and a way to point out any obvious holes or conflicts in your logic.

So there you go - not sure how often the advice will come in handy, but at least it may give you a place to start.

Prepping for the Oscars

With a week and change to go between now and the Oscars, I'm in pretty good shape for this year - I've seen eight out of the nine nominees for Best Picture, and my last one, Nebraska will be available on Video on Demand next week.

In this last week and change I've still got a few movies to go, but what I'm really excited about is the fact that here in Edmonton you can catch most of the Oscar Shorts this year while also supporting the Edmonton International Film Festival.  I was able to take advantage of the offer two years ago and absolutely loved the event as it let me see a number of films I would never have had the chance to check out before.

Although genre films don't tend to make much of an appearance in the big categories at the Oscars, this year there are actually two Science Fiction films, Gravity and Her, that are both well worth the watch and will both end up in my home video collection (although I have to say I'm nervous about how the visual grandeur of Gravity will translate from the big screen to my television).

Things I've Noticed: Prepping for Valentine's Day can be tricky

As I’ve mentioned previously, having the perfect Valentine’s Day with my wife can be tricky. Her favourite genre romance film is The Fly (1986), and although I agree that the film is a great look at why you shouldn’t start a romance with a mad scientist, it totally creeps me out, yes me; a card-carrying horror fanatic (make sure to comment on this post if you have any great horror fanatic card designs, right now I just have a dog-eared Garbage-Pail-Kid card to prove my credentials).

So I’ve currently got four days to plan out an amazing Valentine’s day celebration with my lovely bride. Here are the variables:

1) I’ve taken the day off work

2) My wife is not a fan of crowds, so no dinner out

3) My wife is not a fan of me spending a lot of cash on gifts, so I have to keep it small(ish)

4) Both my daughters will see my efforts as acceptable Valentine’s day efforts from potential future boyfriends – so I need to show effort.

5) Most of my favourite romance DVDs of the last few years have been purchased for me by my wife already, so they are not available.

Actually, that’s about all I have right now, as any surprises I have for her can’t be disclosed at this early date due to the fact that she sometimes reads my blog.

Best advice from me? Try to pay attention to your lady’s likes and dislikes and give her a gift that lets her know you pay attention.