I was recently part of a workshop presented to some pretty big wig people representing a number of different sectors (read: I didn't want to look stupid). One of the staff in our office videotaped the whole day's proceedings, which included my portion of a powerpoint presentation. I did well based on my voice projection and the content of the presentation, and received nice compliments and words of encouragement. I've been working on my public speaking skills for long time - in high school I was terrified to speak in front of the class - so it felt good to have people give me the thumbs up.
So...I was feeling pretty good about not coming off as a bumbling fool until my colleague told me she took down the "ummm" count for each presenter when she reviewed the tape. Eek. What was my "ummm" count, you ask? Just over 100 for a total of 20 minutes speaking time, or about five "ummms" per minute! And I had 60 more "ummms" than the 2nd-highest "ummm" speaker. So very sad...
Ummm...I guess I should ummm...work on that...
In my defence, she told me she didn't include "uhhhs", which a few presenters used quite frequently instead of "ummm". I suppose that alleviates some of my embarassment...
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I have to make another presentation tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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Totally unrelated note:
I found this rather unexpectedly: An Ephiphany for Emily. In this blog entry, Jeremy refers to the very first blog I ever wrote. I'm really not sure I'm living up to the hype, but thanks, Emily, I appreciate the fan support.
posted by Sonia @ 6:34 p.m.
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