"Oh, now I've done it."

[EditorOne]

OK, an ultimate test of some sort for an INTP: I agreed to make a presentation and speak for an hour or so on my latest fiction book, 'The Ludlam Legacy,' because it's my home town that wants me to. They want me to because I blended local history (a created historic village is the venue for my presentation) with the Civil War (it's the 150th anniversary.)
Scary, but it gets worse. Remember, writing a book is the ultimate inward experience, I'm going to be talking, in some sense, about how my mind took facts from history, processed it through my own experiences, and came up with a novel.
It's a good thing I'm old. I'd have perished from anxiety if I'd had to do this when I was younger. Now I'm not too worried except for the normal INTP worries, of being gobsmacked and struck deaf and dumb, plus aphasia, when it's time to speak. (I don't know why I'm grinning, that actually happened to me once.)

 

[snafupants]

Well, if you're fishing for encouragement: everyone there is theoretically on your side and wants you to do okay. If that's not enough to get you off, lean on a script as a backup. Good luck.

 

[downsowf]

Ha. I would just do a general overview then keep it to Q & A sessions. Then after no one raised their hand after 5 seconds, I would say thank you then run out of there.

But, yeah, I agree with Snafu. If I give a presentation, I have to write out some sort of script or else I'll just go completely off topic or forget what the hell I'm supposed to be talking about. And, yes, the being struck deaf and dumb thing has happened to me. It's awful. haha. Especially when you stay up there and improvise a bunch of bs until people look at you like they're listening to insanity.

I've always heard xanax works for anxiety when public speaking, but I couldn't imagine being all spaced out in front of a bunch of people. I don't know how much more aloof I can get than I already am.

Here's a good idea I just thought about: If you get struck deaf and dumb come up with a signal for a family member to call you. Then pick up the phone, act panicked, and run out.

Congrats on the new book by the way!

 

[EditorOne]

"Well, if you're fishing for encouragement"

Nah, just offering some vicarious panic.

I think I'll create a power point presentation; they've got a projector. It's an old school kind of thing these days, but it will get me off dead center if my brain seizes up.

 

[Moocow]

Powerpoint won't always save you. I've had the experience of staring at one of my own powerpoint slides thinking "Dear god, I knew what I was going to talk about at this slide, and now it's gone. My life is a joke."

 

[EditorOne]

Oh joy.

OK: Powerpoint plus, in my pocket, 3x5 cards on each slide, plus the fellow that did the illustrations for the book, a lifetime friend, with me. That's more fail safes than we used to have on the nuclear bombers during the Cold War.

(ya know partly I just want younger folks still overwhelmed by some aspects of INTPness to realize that something some think is utterly out of their grasp can actually be done. We've pretty well covered dancing. Like dancing, I suspect there's a range of comfort across all INTPs with public speaking, although I'm even surer that "comfortable" rarely equates to "I really like it and do it every chance I can" as we had with some of the Dancing INTPs.)

 

[Kuu]

Well, I must say that a little bit of the old liquid courage does wonders for public speaking anxiety / stage fright...

I for one would recommend against powerpoint, unless you are a presentation ninja with Steve Jobs ® reality distortion fields... I'd get a chair and just lounge there, as if it was a conversation with a friend. If you can sip liquid courage on stage, all the better. Maybe a couple of slides with only the illustrations or photos from the war or your town.. and just have that as backdrop for people to have something to look at.

When I get to talk about something I made I can rant endlessly for hours... because it is usually a subject you command and certain of your position in regards to it... thus speaking about it always seems effortless and authoritative... Why I find it fascinating, how I made it, what I think was needed that others don't have, what I could change, blah, blah, blah, blah ad infinitum ad nauseum. Indeed those are the few times that people actually find me likeable (as long as the rant's subject matter is of their interest)


Now dancing... that is terrifying.

 

[Dapper Dan]

I imagine having a good friend up on stage will help tremendously.

 

[EditorOne]

The Power Point will be almost exclusively old images from the CW and from local history. Don't those Power Point things come with a stubby little wand you point and click or something? Something new to learn.

This is all in aid of getting the book available in local schools as a content supplement for interested students, more or less as proof to students that history doesn't have to be as boring as their teachers manage to make it seem. My paradigm for writing is not 'bringing history to life' but more like "bringing life to history." The teenage protagonist is plopped in the middle of historic events without much choice, and forced to both change and grow to muddle through it all.

If I knew how, I'd have done it as a video game rather than a book, even though the book does have illustrations to stimulate the imagination. Since an INTP wrote it, however, there's a certain amount of thinking about blowing people up go along with the blowing up, and a protagonist who ultimately has to decide who he is and what he believes is the best course of action when he finds himself able to wield power without accountability. That really doesn't translate well in Warcraft III, I think. And judging from what I read in here from our younger members and what I see out in the world, teenagers still have those kinds of issues looming large. Maybe it will strike a chord.

 

[Grove]

This happening in your town where people (presumably) know the local history could be a blessing and a curse. Either they like what you've done with it or they get all picky about the details. Either way you can use it to your advantage....let them talk about it for a little while.

 

[EditorOne]

Yes, an excellent point. It could be half and half, presentation and q&a.

 

[Trebuchet]

I'm with Kuu. PowerPoint distances you from the audience, and they spend their time looking at that rather than at you. However, if the images are the actual topic, then go with PowerPoint by all means.

This stuff is probably obvious, but since I truly enjoy public speaking and have done it a lot, I thought I'd offer some of my tips.

1. Talk to whoever is in charge of the room about an extension cord, projector, and screen, and make sure they know the schedule and can meet you a half-hour early to set up and test equipment.

2. Talk to whoever is spreading the word about your talk, and make sure the wording sets up the correct expectations for your topic. Also, double check that they got the time and location correct.

3. Rehearse the whole thing a few times with friends. PowerPoint has a timer, so if you are using that, you can find out if you are hitting your times.

4. PowerPoint has a notes page you can print out, to go with each slide. This provides the equivalent of a 3x5 card with a picture of your slide, so you have your talking points.

5. Remember that the audience wants you to succeed. They are on your side, and will forgive any gaffes or errors. Audiences are amazingly forgiving.

6. If you leave something out, never go back. Pretend it was never in there in the first place. If you run out of time, be prepared to skip right to thanking them for attending, and pretend the extra stuff wasn't there.

7. In the unlikely event that you lose your audience, you can press B to black out the PowerPoint presentation, and they will give you their full attention again. Then B again to unblack it.

8. If Grove is right, and you have a lot of experts in your audience, you can probably get them to hold their comments to the end. Then go back to whatever slide number they want and let them talk. (For slide 7, press the number 7.) If they bring up something interesting in the middle of the talk, ask them to hold it until the end and then invite them to talk later.

You are very eloquent here, clearly a master of your language, so your listeners are probably in for a fun talk. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[EditorOne]

Excellent suggestions, thank you!

 

[Jah]

This sounds like a great idea.

Just breathe and take your time, looks like you'll have plenty of time to deliberate, it'll be fine.
(oh, and I just remembered; If you get into details, deliberating some side-track, then try to tie it back in to what you were saying so that you don't lose your bearings.)

Good luck

 

[Minuend]

Awesome, E1 ^^

 

[Da Blob]

Tell a story

 

[cheese]

Your *latest* fiction book? Wow, I didn't know we had any serious writers here. Congratulations on the new one.

Bring a blackboard/whiteboard, write a full script, make a bunch of slides, and move from one to the other when you're stuck. Lots of talks are just rubbish and don't have to make all that much sense or be relevant (unless you're keen on getting it good, or making a living from talks - though even then they can be pretty dodgy), just make up about 80% of the agreed time. And if all else fails you can excuse yourself for a break and claim intermission.

 

[EditorOne]

Thanks, and thanks for the ideas.

I haven't kept the book writing a secret. I'm a bit less private than almost everyone else in this forum. Click on "my books" under my signature line, then on "bill's books - online" on the right rail. "Hiding in plain sight."

If I could stick to one style of writing and one genre I'd probably be ahead of the game, but then I wouldn't be an INTP, would I?

 

[EditorOne]

Da Blob, I'll be telling a story about telling a story. I'll confuse myself, but so long as I confuse everyone else, too, it's all good.