Caerberu

November 14, 2008. Garden Oasis, Davao City. Today, I’m thankful for being able to attend a seminar, for the several things I learned about being an employer, and for being given the opportunity to develop my skills in public communication by presenting to many people. We were invited in this seminar entitled “Conference Forum on Self-Assessment Approach in Order to Create a Culture of Voluntary Compliance and Advocacy on DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program” to speak about opportunities on the internet that can help augment family income, as well as to present the project that we proposed to the Department of Labor and Employment, Region XI.

Sitting at the back–since I came a bit late–I studied my audience, assessing their age, asking the hosts of the seminar regarding who they were, and planning how best to present our topic to them. I realized that I was going to speak to an audience that would be older, and much more experienced than me. Previously, I had several opportunities where I presented the same topics I would be covering now, and yet this was the first time that all of listeners would be older. So I guess, this made me feel a bit nervous.

But I was in a good mood.

Although I felt a bit nervous, I was also excited. To be able to present in this kind of setting was an opportunity I wanted to take. I was also in such a mood, because I was able to wake up so early in the morning–usually, morning is the time that I would be going to sleep.

Ah, I thought to myself, I have successfully restored my biological clock.

The first topics of the seminar covered laws and regulations regarding employment. I was a bit interested in the topic because I wanted to learn a few basic things before we would start putting the employment project we proposed into action. We would be employing people by then, so it was best to listen to some of those laws and regulations now. I wasn’t really the type who would be interested in such, I found the words too formal, but that’s just the way laws are made to sound. But I knew that this knowledge would be useful, so I half-listened.

My mind would shift focus from taking a few mental notes about the topic, and then scanning and reassessing the audience based on their reactions from the topic. For a moment, I imagined myself presenting such a boring topic as laws and regulations, and pondered how, if I had the chance, I could turn it into something that would capture their attention. Quirk them into a more awakened state. A few solutions came to mind.

The first half of the day passed, with my thoughts wandering. I jotted down a few notes for the 8th chapter of a fantasy novel I’m working on. Occassionally I would look up at the powerpoint slides to keep track of what the speaker was talking about.

In the afternoon, we were first in line of the project presentors. I was able to present the topic as I had planned, and I was quite proud of myself for being able to do it. Speak slowly, you will never run out of words or ideas this way. Pause at regular intervals for them to be able to take things in, and use proper stressing of words so you can pull back their focus to you. These were some of the guidelines I followed, some things that I learned from listening to audio seminars. No matter how good your ideas are, people in general never listened if you spoke too fast. Speaking without stress and good tonality would bore the audience. And finally, never read from the powerpoint presentation unless you have to. Something I learned from a teacher in college. That teacher said, “It’s so easy to read. A 6 year old can do it.”

Instead of reading, a more intelligent way would be to just use the powerpoint presentation as a guide. Place the heading of the topic, one slide each. Then discuss. It’s pretty much a waste of time to have someone present and just read right off from the presentation. Unless you’re quoting something long, or presenting some facts–like laws and regulations.

Our presentation ended well. The seminar proceeded to a topic that I found quite of interest.

The speaker talked of the advantages and disadvantages of growing rubber trees. I was interested in the way this man presented his topics. He followed the guidelines I mentioned beforehand. The facts he presented were also quite interesting. By the end of his lecture, I was convinced I would buy a few hectares of land and plant rubber trees in it, if I had the capital.