Presentation Guide Tuesdays Together | Durham, NC
@tuesdaystogetherdurhamnc
Tell your story. You have a why. Tell us about it! Explaining why you’re passionate about the work that you do is a great way to immediately connect with members of TT-Durham. Challenge yourself by connecting your skill or topic to a problem that knowing your skill solves! E.g. DIY’ing my SEO has put me in front of more clients. (5 min.)
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Engage the group. Most people think this goes at the end of a presentation, but that is not necessarily true. Engaging the group by having an activity, discussion questions, or visuals throughout your time means there’s less pressure on you to be the entertainer! Bonus: the group gets to learn by seeing & doing! E.g. “What SEO strategies have you tried already?” (10-20 min.)
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Teach new skills. Many presenters can get caught up in explaining everything there is to know about a topic. Resist the urge to do this by asking yourself how you can encourage learning by doing and keep lecture time to a minimum. Remember that most people are tactile/visual learners! E.g. “We’re going to actually go to this resource together to see how your website ranks.” (10-15 min.)
Community over competition. 3
This is what we believe. This is why we are here. Thank you for helping others by sharing your knowledge. This guide is by no means all encompassing, but it might be a good place to start when planning your presentation for our group. As a former teacher, I have come to learn that all good lessons have some easily included components that make them engaging, meaningful, and actionable! It is my hope that this guide helps make planning your time more clear!
Tuesdays Together | Durham, NC
@tuesdaystogetherdurhamnc
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Tuesdays Together | Durham, NC
@tuesdaystogetherdurhamnc
We believe an empowered creative economy will change the world. By elevating the voices of creatives around the world, sharing their stories, and building a thriving online and offline community, we support the creative in their pursuit of a sustainable livelihood. Every day we are on a mission to empower the creative economy to rise together, doing what they love. Rising Tide is a living library of educational resources by creatives for creatives. With blog content from thought-leaders throughout the creative industry, free educational webinars, monthly guides, and online summits—our members are equipped with the knowledge they need to succeed in business. We fuel over four hundred monthly meet-ups across the world that discuss a relevant business topic. We believe that magic happens when creatives gather, support one another, and are empowered to pursue their passions. We believe that when creatives rise, the world is changed for the better. Together, we are empowering the creative economy to pursue their passion with the support of a community.
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Tuesdays Together | Durham, NC
@tuesdaystogetherdurhamnc
OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS:
While you work: Make your group feel comfortable by playing music while they discuss or work on an activity. As you circulate around the room, take photos that we can post to social media! Check in on individuals or groups for questions or listen in on conversations. Ask members if they feel comfortable sharing with the whole group if you hear something great said in discussion!
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Be clear with members (and yourself!) about your objective for your time together. For example, saying, “By the end of our time, you will walk away with three concrete SEO strategies you can put into practice today,” is much more clear than, “Today, we will learn about SEO.”
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If providing a list of action items, ideas, or resources, allow members in the room to share thoughts to add to the list. This shows that your list of ideas is not exhaustive and we can all learn from each other!
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Handouts and visuals are a valuable resource. So many people are visual learners and having a space for resources and notes shows that you value the people in the room and their learning styles!
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Be comfortable with saying, “I don’t know.” While you may be the expert on a topic, it’s totally okay if you don’t know everything! You absolutely don’t need to feel pressure to have all of the answers off of the top of your head. Following up later after you have had time to do some research is a great way to build trust.
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Build in “breaks” for every 5-10 minutes that you talk. Research shows that the average adult can only focus on one thing for 20 minutes at a time, but that is a lot longer than it takes for a presenter to get uncomfortable when all of the attention is on them. A break could look like a quick written reflection, a “turn and talk” conversation with a partner, a brainstorming activity, or showing a video. Anything that you can do to break up a lecture-style presentation is great!
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Leave members with actionable steps or something they can take home (and if they can get started during your time together, that’s even better). For example, can they put something on their calendar? Can they create something or start a process that they can finish later? Can they begin the work that they will need to continue to build a stronger business or more full life?
If you need help with any of these, let me know! I’m more than happy to brainstorm with you! 4
Tuesdays Together | Durham, NC
@tuesdaystogetherdurhamnc
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Tuesdays Together | Durham, NC
@tuesdaystogetherdurhamnc
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