What's on your mind today?

[Sweetdeath]

Aww, i'm so envious. Anyone near new york city?

[Crow]

I am addicted to the iphone game cubes.

[DeterminedJuliet]

I am addicted to the iphone game cubes.

Is the game called cubes? I don't have an smartphone, so I always miss the app obsession du jour.

Tank's been awfully quiet lately. *gently pokes Tank* Everything okay, buddy?

[Sweetdeath]

Every single person is late to work, including my boss

[Tank]

I am addicted to the iphone game cubes.

Is the game called cubes? I don't have an smartphone, so I always miss the app obsession du jour.

Tank's been awfully quiet lately. *gently pokes Tank* Everything okay, buddy?

Been a bit preoccupied of late. Keeping up my janitorial duties though and I read all the posts, so I'm keeping and eye on all of you. 

[DeterminedJuliet]

Darn, I was hoping I could get up to some shenanigans. 

[Tank]

Darn, I was hoping I could get up to some shenanigans. 

I'm always watching 

Like ceiling cat!

[Amicale]

Darn, I was hoping I could get up to some shenanigans. 

Hey, we didn't pretend to slip on the wet floor at the coffee shop and sue for millions. We had our real chance at shenanigans yesterday and we blew it. 

[Firebird]

I've been lurking on this thread and never posted.
Right now, I'm at work, bored, watching a hundred or so machines get installed and planning our summer getaway soon. We just came back from a lovely weekend up in New Hampshire complete with lots of sightseeing and beer sampling. My wife even agreed to drive me home from one brewery since I was...ahem..."tanked" (she's still learning how to drive)

[xSilverPhinx]

Got Vinnie home safe and in one piece. I also learned a few things in the process.


*all told in Vinnie's POV*
1) wheelbarrows are horse eating monsters and cannot be trusted.
2) cows will also eat horses.
3) same goes for horses that only reach your knee
4) if anything moves, it means there is a horse eating monster getting ready to attack and that I should try to run mom over.
5) little horses are meaner than they look and will beat the crap out of you.

You would think that with him being the biggest creature on the farm, that he would have nothing to fear. But no, every little rustle was obviously trying to kill him. So much for the fearless quarter horse reputation.

Horses can get easily spooked (having evolved as prey animals), I think biology speaks louder than reputations

Speaking of involuntary flight responses, does anybody get stage fright?  I have my first presentation before a classroom full of people...any tips?

[Amicale]

xSilverPhinx,

I can understand the stagefright! A lot of people get that. As someone who's done a lot of presentations and who's spoken in front of groups often, I could suggest this: if you're nervous, try and figure out why you're nervous. Are you afraid that you aren't prepared? Are you intimidated by the people you're presenting in front of? Are you afraid of being judged? In any of these cases, I've personally found that it's easiest to just do your best. See them as your peers, not as scary people who'll mock you -- they won't. Every single person in your audience has done a presentation before, and they know how hard it is to get up in front of people. The majority of them will do their best to help you out during your presentation, or at the very least, they'll politely sit there and look interested. Nobody's going to boo you off the stage. Just think of the worst case scenario -- flubbing what you say and screwing up badly. If that happens... well, so what? Everyone makes mistakes. Just correct yourself if you can, make a corny joke, and keep going. I've found that it's best to not take yourself too seriously. Be professional, but be as easygoing as you can be -- people sympathize with someone who can screw up during a presentation, joke about themselves, and keep on going.

You'll be great, don't worry. Just be yourself, try your best, and that's good enough. *hugs!*

[OldGit]

Yes, xSP, try to relax as much as you can,do your best and it'll turn out OK - it always does!

[Tank]

Speaking of involuntary flight responses, does anybody get stage fright?  I have my first presentation before a classroom full of people...any tips?

Pick one person in the audience who makes eye contact with you and present to them, forget the rest. It's not ideal but it works! It's better if you can flit from person to person while considering each interaction as a personal interaction.

Personally I have such a large ego that no audience is big enough 

[Ali]

xSPx - Amicale gave the advice that I was going to give!     She's dead on.  I used to be terrified of speaking in front of crowds, but now I have to do it often and it doesn't really bother me any more.  The thing I finally realized is exactly what Amicale touched on; what's very very worst that could happen?  I get up there and my mind goes blank? 

Well, first of all, don't feel like you have to memorize your presentation word for word.  I don't know if anyone else ever feels that way, but I think I used to try memorize my presentations like they were lines in a play or something, which added to the stress that I was going to "forget my lines."  There is no need for all that (and makes for a worse presentation because it's so wooden and prepared.)  Just know your topic, and write yourself a couple of very short (like one or two words each) notes to jog your memory about some of the different points you want to make. 

Then like Amicale said, really, what is the worst that's going to happen?  Are you going to pee your pants in front of all of those people?  Throw up on the podium?  Lose your mind and take off your top?  Probably not.  Also, as Amicale said, probably every one of the people you are presenting to are your peers, and most of them are as deathly afraid of public speaking as you are, and they'll give you a break if you do lose your train of thought or something.  It's no big deal.

[Sandra Craft]

The thing I finally realized is exactly what Amicale touched on; what's very very worst that could happen?  I get up there and my mind goes blank? 

I have never, thank goodness, had to give presentations to large crowds -- only small ones and those were nerve-wracking enough, altho Ali is right that people are very forgiving of flubs when you're up there.  Probably been thru it more than once themselves.

As to the worst that could happen -- my brother used to be terrified of public speaking, and then he got a real good job that included giving a lot of presentations to large groups.  He told me the first time he did it, he thought it was going fairly well and then looked down to see that his right leg was jerking uncontrollably.  A few minutes later his left leg started in so that he was gyrating around on stage like an Elvis Presley impersonator.  Some people thought it was part of his presentation.  Despite that rather awkward beginning he not only got used to giving presentations but actually came to enjoy it.