With me so far?
Quite a few months ago, my unit educator sent out this email asking if anyone would be willing to volunteer to help present at one of these hour-long inservices on a particular disease process that we see a lot of on my floor. Because I have a background in public speaking, a wizard at power point, and a momentary lapse in judgement, I volunteered. However, the stipulation was that the unit educator share in the responsibility.
Since that time, my unit educator has quit her job, and gone to work as a clinician in the pulmonary clinic...the very clinic that oversees patients with the very disease process that this inservice is about.
Still with me??
I emailed my former educator and asked if she was still going to help with the presentation, because she still works for the hospital, but in another department. She replies that she is unable to because the docs in her office prefer that their clinicians not present at the inservices. The moral of the story: Heather gets to present all by herself.
I haven't started on the power point. I only have a crude outline of what I am going to talk about. And I'm this close to pissing myself out of sheer nervousness.
The inservice is next Tuesday.
To make it even better, some asshole posted a flyer in the break room about it. My name is listed right under Dr. Prestigious as guest speaker...now the entire floor is making plans to come and listen.
Oh...I'm not nervous about speaking. I used to compete in speech and debate. Five points from making it to national competition once. Speaking in front of large groups is something I will have to get used to because I plan on finishing my nursing career in a teaching capacity.
No, what has my stomach in a knot is the audience. I'll be speaking to nurses who have been in practice years longer than me AND some doctors as well. Heather will be lecturing for doctors. And Heather will be lecturing for coworkers, some of whom I suspect would like to see me fall flat on my face.
And I have nothing to wear.
What in the hell was I thinking when I volunteered for this in the first place?!?!?!
5 comments:
I feel for you. I just can't reach you.
Well first, let me say kudos for admitting that you were on the speech and debate team ( I usually only talk about my time in that activity with people who already knew)
Second I would say that for ME, the imagining them naked thing never worked. It was worst when I knew the audience members well (lotta old ladies at my church).
And finally, don't worry. If you speak half as well as you write you'll do great!
N }:-
Presentations don't freak me. I give them fairly regularly in a professional capacity. I've done them for as few as eight folks to over two hundred. Like you, I need to do it because time spent preparing presentations counts towards my professional certification.
Now, for me, it's the Q&A period where I start to freak. After spending 45 minutes talking about some technology, people naturally have lots of questions, sometimes even on the material you just covered. I don't like having to say "Gee, I don't know." when someone asks a question I can't answer.
Good luck with your presentation!
You'll do just great! I know that you will be prepared and more than able to answer any questions that come up. Any hope of recruiting someone else with more expertise?
Not really...all the nurses on my floor have the same amount of expertise. In terms of public speaking, I think it's safe to say I'm the biggest nerd out of all of them...when you count how many times I've spoken in school, competitions and church on top of that.
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