Hey Reader,

In this week's Simply Learning:

• Connect with your audience for better presentations
• Look at a crazy AI website with people who aren't people
• Learn about your online platform BEFORE you go live

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PRESENTATIONS

Often we get so nervous when we are presenting, that we forget about the audience completely.

I used to rush through my rehearsed talk, then run off stage to sit down. I couldn't get back to my seat fast enough.

I didn’t stop to think about my relationship with the audience.

To be honest I didn't have the headspace to do it.

I knew things had to change.

The simple steps that help me most now are:

1. Learn about the audience beforehand. If you understand the audience, your talk will be geared towards them, and you’ll know what they are looking for. This is the making of a meaningful connection.
2. Don't use a script. When I learned a script, my thoughts were always in my head on the lines and never with the audience. Using notes as a guide allows me to be present, to see the audience, and to react and respond.
3. Pause. I used to race through my talk without a moment to take a breath. The audience must have felt like it was a whirlwind. Now I am mindful of my pace. I pause. And I use the pause to look at them and connect.

Scripting, racing through the talk, focusing on the next line are all for our benefit. They all help us to feel better, but they don’t help the audience.

Instead, if we can be present we will connect more with the audience.

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TECH

AI technology always blows my mind.

There is one website that no matter how many times I look at it I cannot can wrap my head around it.

​This Person Does Not Exist is a website that generates random AI-generated faces of people.

Just keep pressing refresh.

They look like actual people, but they're not.

These people do not exist.

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EDUCATION

There are few things more awkward than watching someone fumble around with unmuting their microphone at the beginning of an online event.

Before I run an online session, I always make sure I know the platform well.

Run through the common task on your platform so you know them inside out:

• How to record
• How to run breakouts
• How to use the text chat
• How to share your screen
• How to turn cameras on/off quickly
• How to admit people to the room

Be prepared for the common tech tasks.

It'll take the pressure of you during the live event and it'll allow you to focus on the content itself.

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See you next week.

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