How To Give A Lecture At A Con workshop
So, as a follow up to my last post, last night I went to the How To Give A Lecture workshop for this upcoming con.
I'm glad I went, but the theoretical portion was definitely better for me than the practical one.
For the first hour it was just a very practical lecture on how to build a lecture, how to use a presentation correctly ("you don't need a presentation to give a lecture! really!" and "paragraphs in your presentation - delete. Sentences - turn into one word. One word - replace with a picture"), the basics of public speaking, things like that.
I both appreciated the refresher (it's all stuff I technically know but could always use a reminder about) and there were also specific things I'm not used to doing that I'm glad I had drilled into me. Like everyone keeps saying that at a con it's important to introduce yourself and establish with the audience right away why you have the authority to speak about your topic.
Which I'm definitely not used to! Starting a lecture with not just my name and a generic job description but something that clarifies how ~brilliant and qualified~ I am feels weird, even though it's literally just stating objective facts about my CV. The lecturer highly recommended memorizing your intro if you memorize nothing else, and I think I'm going to try and follow that advice because saying it just feels... weird and wrong in the moment. Like I'm trying to show off to an entire room of people who already paid money to come see me speak. (Even though again, OBJECTIVE FACTS ABOUT MY CV. God, self.)
Anyway, after that theoretical portion came the workshop portion, which didn't really work for me, even though it was useful for pretty much everyone else in the room.
The lecturer gave us 10 minutes to write an intro for our lecture, memorize it and try giving it in front of the class. I... hated this A LOT. I resented something that felt so stressful and so much like work/training for a lecture that was supposed to be just a fun experience (I just felt like I was having no fun at all, so). Like, I've done exercises like this lots, but it was never for something I did purely for fun.
I'm also terrible at memorization (like, it takes me a long time and I can't just do it by looking at a page, and there wasn't enough time or space to read it out loud several times or really practice), and I'd never done an intro quite like this, so it was literally doing something new on a tight schedule. I was sort of super bummed because I felt like I was going to fuck up for sure, when this isn't in any way representative of how the real lecture prep would work, and why do I even need this experience then?
Anyway, after all that angst and blah, I wrote a short intro, OF COURSE didn't manage to actually memorize it, but when I went on stage the lecturer... had no comments. Nothing to say about my body language, eye contact, the text itself, the speed, etc etc. She was just like "ok, you're perfect, I have nothing to say, sit down". LOLOL.
I mean I'm glad? This definitely wasn't a professional level public speaking workshop (nor does it need to be, it's for a fannish con!), like I've done workshops for TV appearances before and they required a MUCH higher level of polish. Like even within our class, there was someone who spoke and I would definitely have told her to slow down but the lecturer didn't comment on her speaking speed. (She actually didn't talk about speaking speed at all, come to think of it. Whereas I talk VERY fast naturally so I've had SLOW THE FUCK DOWN drilled into me so many times I now feel like I'm talking in slow motion when I lecture.)
Anyway, the lecturer has over 10 years experience lecturing at cons (and also in many other venues, since she's an academic as well), so it was good and I'm glad someone like her thought I did well.
So, yeah, that happened.
Now I just have to deal with the fact that my presentation is only like 50% ready and the pilot lecture is on Sunday lol.
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I'm glad I went, but the theoretical portion was definitely better for me than the practical one.
For the first hour it was just a very practical lecture on how to build a lecture, how to use a presentation correctly ("you don't need a presentation to give a lecture! really!" and "paragraphs in your presentation - delete. Sentences - turn into one word. One word - replace with a picture"), the basics of public speaking, things like that.
I both appreciated the refresher (it's all stuff I technically know but could always use a reminder about) and there were also specific things I'm not used to doing that I'm glad I had drilled into me. Like everyone keeps saying that at a con it's important to introduce yourself and establish with the audience right away why you have the authority to speak about your topic.
Which I'm definitely not used to! Starting a lecture with not just my name and a generic job description but something that clarifies how ~brilliant and qualified~ I am feels weird, even though it's literally just stating objective facts about my CV. The lecturer highly recommended memorizing your intro if you memorize nothing else, and I think I'm going to try and follow that advice because saying it just feels... weird and wrong in the moment. Like I'm trying to show off to an entire room of people who already paid money to come see me speak. (Even though again, OBJECTIVE FACTS ABOUT MY CV. God, self.)
Anyway, after that theoretical portion came the workshop portion, which didn't really work for me, even though it was useful for pretty much everyone else in the room.
The lecturer gave us 10 minutes to write an intro for our lecture, memorize it and try giving it in front of the class. I... hated this A LOT. I resented something that felt so stressful and so much like work/training for a lecture that was supposed to be just a fun experience (I just felt like I was having no fun at all, so). Like, I've done exercises like this lots, but it was never for something I did purely for fun.
I'm also terrible at memorization (like, it takes me a long time and I can't just do it by looking at a page, and there wasn't enough time or space to read it out loud several times or really practice), and I'd never done an intro quite like this, so it was literally doing something new on a tight schedule. I was sort of super bummed because I felt like I was going to fuck up for sure, when this isn't in any way representative of how the real lecture prep would work, and why do I even need this experience then?
Anyway, after all that angst and blah, I wrote a short intro, OF COURSE didn't manage to actually memorize it, but when I went on stage the lecturer... had no comments. Nothing to say about my body language, eye contact, the text itself, the speed, etc etc. She was just like "ok, you're perfect, I have nothing to say, sit down". LOLOL.
I mean I'm glad? This definitely wasn't a professional level public speaking workshop (nor does it need to be, it's for a fannish con!), like I've done workshops for TV appearances before and they required a MUCH higher level of polish. Like even within our class, there was someone who spoke and I would definitely have told her to slow down but the lecturer didn't comment on her speaking speed. (She actually didn't talk about speaking speed at all, come to think of it. Whereas I talk VERY fast naturally so I've had SLOW THE FUCK DOWN drilled into me so many times I now feel like I'm talking in slow motion when I lecture.)
Anyway, the lecturer has over 10 years experience lecturing at cons (and also in many other venues, since she's an academic as well), so it was good and I'm glad someone like her thought I did well.
So, yeah, that happened.
Now I just have to deal with the fact that my presentation is only like 50% ready and the pilot lecture is on Sunday lol.
comments on Dreamwidth