By Kit Brown-Hoekstra | STC Fellow and Cindy Currie | STC Fellow
I have a few years of experience and want to start speaking at conferences. How can I build my skills?
That’s great! The tech comm community is always looking for new voices with unique perspectives. The best way to start is to start. By that we mean, pick some topics that are relevant to the conference themes and submit proposals to conferences that sound interesting to you. Take some workshops on giving presentations, join Toastmasters. Watch TED Talks and keynote speakers for pointers. Practice by volunteering to give a webinar or speak for a chapter meeting or for a class at a university. Ask a trusted friend or colleague to listen to your presentation as you practice.
Here are some recommendations for a stellar presentation:
- Look through conference programs, blog posts, and journal articles for the past year. What topics are trending? What is interesting to you? Have you done something new and cool that you think other people might be interested in?
- Remember that your audience is there because they want to hear what you have to say. They are on your side and want you to be successful.
- Use graphics in your presentation, and limit the number of words on the slides.
- Refine your message. Plan to spend 30 seconds per slide. Make sure that you are clear about what you want to say.
- Pick two to three main points, and build the presentation around them. Clearly identify what you want people to take away from your presentation.
- Include recent events, and refer to earlier sessions at the conference where you are presenting.
- Provide handouts that support your message.
- Practice your delivery, and if you are presenting online, do a tech check to make sure everything is working properly and you are well lit.
- Practice some more.
I’m really struggling with staying focused after months of this pandemic. What are some strategies I can use?
You are not alone. Most people are struggling at this point in the pandemic. Time is moving weirdly, because we don’t have as many social cues and event markers to frame the passage of time, and we aren’t seeing as many people in person. Everyone seems on edge and stressed. We are all flying a little blind as we navigate this situation, and doesn’t look like it’s ending soon, so we need to pace ourselves.
Some things that have helped us:
- If possible, get outside every day and go for a walk in nature (socially distanced, of course). Breathing fresh air and feeling the sun on your face is remarkably healing. Hugging a tree (or just leaning against one) is amazingly healing.
- Start meditating daily, even if it’s only for 10 minutes. Oprah Magazine recently provided a list of the best apps.
- Get enough sleep. It can be challenging to sleep with everything that is happening in the world. Make sure you have a good sleep routine, and turn off your electronic devices.
- Limit your doomscrolling. This can be hard because there is an almost obsessive need to know what’s happening. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and make yourself stop when the time is up (or set automatic blocks on your social media apps). Turn off notifications.
- Set aside one day a week for digital detox, and go completely off line. Use the time to read a physical book or magazine, garden, engage in a hobby or interest, play board games, do a jigsaw puzzle, play with your pets, or hang out with your family.
- When you feel yourself getting anxious, pause and take three deep breaths: Inhale through your nose, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale through your mouth.
- Take a drive, and have a picnic. A change of scenery can do wonders for our mental and emotional health. Driving is a safe, self-
contained activity that changes your perspective. Windshield time is great for unsticking the brain. - Phone a friend. Talking to people we love and care about can help us re-center.
- Keep a daily gratitude journal. Write down (by hand) three things that you are grateful for today—big or small. Taking time to be grateful helps us orient our brains toward more of what is positive and good.
- Try a new hobby. When we are feeling uncreative and tired, this might seem counterintuitive, but by engaging your brain in a new way, you can distract yourself from the world for a while.
- Take a mental health day. Companies are reporting that people are taking fewer vacation days—probably because it’s so hard to go anywhere—but we need breaks, even short ones, to rest and recharge our brains. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so we need to pace ourselves.
Most importantly, schedule and practice regular self-care. This is particularly important if you have lots of demands on you or lots of additional stressors.
Our company has been working from home since the pandemic started. My boss seems to think that we don’t need time off and that we should be available 24/7. I’m getting super burned out. How can I talk to my boss about needing some time off?
This is a challenging problem, because everyone is worried about staying employed right now. It’s also unreasonable to ask employees to work this hard when there is an ongoing global crisis happening.
Look at this as a business case, and present it to your boss with a solution. First, find out why the boss is pushing you so hard right now. What is the business problem he or she is trying to solve? Identify some solutions that allow you and your team to work reasonable hours. Do some research on burnout and productivity, and present data to back up your ideas.
At the same time, start blocking out times in your schedule as “focus time.” Make sure your calendar shows the time as “Busy,” so people don’t book you for meetings during that time. Practice good self-care, and take time off when you need it (be sure follow procedures for requesting the time off).
In addition, there are very few content emergencies that require a 24/7 response. If you are working with global teams, rotate the pain so that one person on the team isn’t always having meetings in the middle of the night. Pick one day/evening during the work week that is meeting-free.
If your company is uninterested in rethinking their policies, start looking for another job. There are lots of opportunities out there. Use your network and find something that is a better fit.
Ask a Tech Comm Manager is an advice column geared toward answering all those questions you have, but might be uncomfortable asking. We glean the questions from social media, forums, and most importantly, from you, dear reader. If we don’t know an answer, we will interview experts and get information for you. Send us your questions to kitbh.stc@gmail.com or tweet them to @kitcomgenesis or the hashtag #askTCmgr.
Reference
Janes D. The best meditation apps to help with anxiety. The Oprah Magazine. 3 March 2021. https://www.oprahmag.com/life/health/g29861798/best-meditation-apps/.
