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Tomorrow morning I'm presenting preliminary results of my last 2 years of research in the domain of urban governance in Montreal, overlapping the domains of political science, public health, urban planning and public transportation. I have a 20 minutes presentation at a seminar and even though I've given 3 hour lectures, I'm fucking terrified and I want and expect one of you to hold my hand. I'll be presenting my findings to professionals, activists and other academics who all are proficient in the general area of what I'll be talking about.
Everyone has told me if you know your stuff, it'll go well, but what they fail to account for is that while I can ramble about a topic in a coherent manner, I can't ramble in a concise manner. I've rehearsed my semi-prepared (structured) presentation earlier: it worked well once, then I started getting hungry and I couldn't get my fucking words out. I stuttered, used the wrong words, outright said untrue things (yeah!), had sloppy transitions between powerpoint slides...
I've got it, I can do it in 18-20 minutes if I deliver every line correctly, if I pronounce words properly, if I don't beat around the bush, if I can think of the word "consensus" which I always seem to forget when I need it, if I can stop being a speech impaired halfwit for 20 minutes.
The time limit is forcing me to do something that would otherwise seem very natural to me in a very artificial manner, which I find to be very jarring because if I ever find myself tempted to go off in a tangent (which is pretty much a huge part of my personality that you're witnessing as you read this tangential line) I will definitely have to whip myself back on track.
I fucking hate this. 7 years ago I would've told you I wanted a job alone far away from people. Now I have to have a bunch of highly critical eyes pointed at me while I'm in my weakest setting. Fuck.
Thank you.
 
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Sounds a little like me. I used to like giving presentations in high school when I could make it stupid and funny and put jokes in the powerpoints etc. But then again, I was just presenting dumb powerpoints to a bunch of classmates and it didn't have to be particularly relative to the topic lol. I wasn't nearly as settled when I presented my senior exit project to just 2 teachers/staff members because it had to look professional and I stumbled a lot. It sucks to give a presentation where you're forced to be professional and present it in a manner that you're not particularly suited to. Good lucks tho.
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Good luck yo.
Also it sounds like your failed practice attempt was due to hunger more than anything. Eat up!
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It's definitely tough when you're speaking in front of a crowd of experts. I can talk for hours in front of students or colleagues, but when I need to give even the shortest of talks to a few people who know more than me in my field, I get extremely worried x.x
The best I can say is that it does get easier with time and practice and experience 
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there's a reason public speaking is one of the top fears people have! Take a breath, relax, and believe in yourself. There's a reason YOU are presenting. Be confident in your work!
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Pretend they're naked or stupid or something
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United States24637 Posts
I just had to give a presentation under somewhat similar circumstances actually. Rehearsing with someone watching helped, but also I just primarily taught to one particular person I knew sitting towards the back of the room. I barely noticed the people that were actually on a panel sitting in the front. Ideally, you pay closer attention to VIPs while you talk, but you can revert to doing that if you are feeling more comfortable (I did towards the end).
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Thanks guys . Especially you Yorbon 
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Hello, Djzapz.
You shouldn't think so highly of the people you are presenting to. Even if they are more qualified and knowledgeable in general, it will just make you nervous. As far as your research is concerned, you are the expert, and they are the students interested in your work. That's why you have been chosen to do the presentation, not them. You've spent two years thinking about a topic that is quite specialized, I assume, which is longer than anyone else. Try to think of this seminar as no different from any of the other three-hour lectures you've given in the past. It's just another day at the office for you. By the end of your presentation, those guys will be enlightened with your knowledge and will be glad they attended and listened to what you had to say.
Before the presentation try and meet some of the folks who'll be attending and make some friendly banter. It's always easier knowing there are friendly people in the crowd. Also, there's no need to be super serious about this. Take a deep breath and smile before you begin talking. Even if you make a mistake with pronunciation, just pretend you didn't and move on--no one will notice unless you actually dwell on it. If things do happen to go badly and you start stuttering or rambling just pause for however long you need to calm down and get back on track with the point you want to make. Lastly, don't feel as if you have to be talking all the time. Pauses in your speech can make things more interesting and dramatic than if you were talking in one long sentence. They also give your audience time to think about what you've said. Anyway, have fun with this, good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Sincerely,
Shalashaska_123
EDIT: I forgot to mention that oral presentations can be quite exhausting, especially if you aren't the most extroverted individual. Make sure to get a good night of sleep and have a bite to eat beforehand. Nothing's worse than doing something physically and mentally taxing while being tired or having an empty stomach.
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United States24637 Posts
Congrats. Did you use any particular advice from the thread?
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On May 24 2015 03:06 micronesia wrote:
Congrats. Did you use any particular advice from the thread?
I continued to hold Yorbon's hand, I ate up before my presentation, I mustered up some self-confidence thanks to y0su and Shalashaska, and I largely followed your advice when you said you were essentially teaching to one person. I spoke as if my colleague who was in the room was the only one listening. It was very helpful. Eventually, it started to feel natural and it got easy
Thanks again to everybody
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Look, the next speech you give, I'm gonna give you the best advice ever: When you go on stage, you are the master of the realm. You are basically Tupac, and all the people came to hear you rap. You are the king and they are unwashed plebeians. Don't even imagine them naked because they are all ugly when nude and their flesh should never see the light of day or the light of the moon at night. You are a vicious cheetah and they are a herd of gazelle that you are about to attack. All they can do is watch helplessly as you deliver whatever the hell you want. You want to do a power point and throw a picture of some weird hentai in there just for shits and giggles? Do it. When someone introduces you on stage and shakes your hand before giving you the floor, crush their hand during the handshake. If they squeeze back harder, swiftly knee them in the penis. They should be honored to touch your hand.
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Hi, my name is The Eternal Will Of The Swarm and I'll be talking about urban governance.
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edited: I realized OP nailed it and doesn't need advice. Congratulations!
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On May 23 2015 13:01 Shalashaska_123 wrote:Hello, Djzapz. You shouldn't think so highly of the people you are presenting to. Even if they are more qualified and knowledgeable in general, it will just make you nervous. As far as your research is concerned, you are the expert, and they are the students interested in your work. That's why you have been chosen to do the presentation, not them. You've spent two years thinking about a topic that is quite specialized, I assume, which is longer than anyone else. Try to think of this seminar as no different from any of the other three-hour lectures you've given in the past. It's just another day at the office for you. By the end of your presentation, those guys will be enlightened with your knowledge and will be glad they attended and listened to what you had to say. Before the presentation try and meet some of the folks who'll be attending and make some friendly banter. It's always easier knowing there are friendly people in the crowd. Also, there's no need to be super serious about this. Take a deep breath and smile before you begin talking. Even if you make a mistake with pronunciation, just pretend you didn't and move on--no one will notice unless you actually dwell on it. If things do happen to go badly and you start stuttering or rambling just pause for however long you need to calm down and get back on track with the point you want to make. Lastly, don't feel as if you have to be talking all the time. Pauses in your speech can make things more interesting and dramatic than if you were talking in one long sentence. They also give your audience time to think about what you've said. Anyway, have fun with this, good luck, and let us know how it goes. Sincerely, Shalashaska_123 EDIT: I forgot to mention that oral presentations can be quite exhausting, especially if you aren't the most extroverted individual. Make sure to get a good night of sleep and have a bite to eat beforehand. Nothing's worse than doing something physically and mentally taxing while being tired or having an empty stomach.
Basically this. No need to worry. I could attend a few presentations in the institute I work with, and almost none of the experts really took presentations incredibly serious. It was more casual than I would've expected it, nobody minded if people slipped up, e.g. having trouble to pronounce some complicated phrases - most just smile or add "glad this doesn't happen to me only". Really, experts can relate far better to your problems (e.g. trying to make something difficult easy to understand) without judging your work or your skill as scientist. Even if you get lost, people will usually help you getting back on track by reminding you were you left your trail of thoughts, or asking about some detail. As the post mentioned, they're interested and are not forced to listen to you blabber about something boring - in the end you really only need to have a very general structure people can follow, if they already know about the topic beforehand.
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EPT
