Ever since I attended my first conference, long ago, I have always wanted to speak. Anyone who knows me knows I never shut up so the desire to speak will not come as a surprise to them.
I was unsuccessful at least five times with proposals that did not impress each committee. I tried to change my approach each time but that is much like punching out of a bag because “no” is not very descriptive. Still, I really want to speak and finally found a topic which I feel passionate about and pitched it to the EACUBO committee (Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers. They accepted and I will speak in Boston on March 26, 2010. The name of my presentation is Strengthening the Business Officer/Athletic Department Relationship.
I have presented this in my head at least 50 times. When I drove from Niagara Falls to Baltimore last month for the MAAC Swimming & Diving Championships I had the radio off for hours and practiced what I was going to say, all alone in my car.
Apparently I must have intuitively known some of the tips from “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Fro not Any Audience” by Carmine Gallo. The book was very good and I read it on my new Sony Reader so I was able to write notes in the margins and highlight important text.
To begin my outline I am going to determine the one main point I want to leave with my audience. Gallo explains you should have no more than three-four big ideas. For each of those ideas you need to create the story, deliver the experience and package the material.
Over the next few weeks I am going to write about my first experience presenting at conference. I will journal my actions and my thoughts and share them with you.
First up: complete my slides. These are due on Monday, March 8th in order for EACUBO to post them on the website. Attendees browse these slides and determine what sections they want to attend. It feels a bit like throwing a party and not knowing if anyone will actually come.
Stay tuned and I will describe this process – I will try to make the relatively boring sound at least a little exciting!
“All right, Mr. De Mille, I’m ready for my close-up” – Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950).
Hold on Norma…not yet!
Jude Russo Caserta
AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog
Twitter: JudeCaserta Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta
E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com
