Ahh presentations…

I absolutely love giving presentations. Everything that is involved in the process of creating an engaging, interesting, and informative presentation.

When did this fascination with presentations begin? I know that I have always enjoyed being in front of a group of people, singing or acting. Okay, I haven’t done that much acting, but a much younger me spent many nights belting out lyrics to Disney movies and Broadway plays (I’m sure that my family could vouch for me!). While it might sound a bit vain, I like to hear my voice, which is one reason I love recording the audio or podcast version of this newsletter. Plus, the more important fact of providing another option for folks to listen to my content.

I suppose if I had to pinpoint when my interest in putting presentations together really began, it would be during my freshman year at Oregon State University in the required communications course. The final project was an oral presentation, no slide decks then, to the small class about a topic you were passionate about. I chose the ever-confrontational issue of banning books. I remember looking at my notes and presenting to the class, moving my hands in the air. I was hooked. From that time forward, I relish every time I have the opportunity to make a presentation.

One of my favorite presentations that I gave was in a job interview to work at Apple. Man, I worked hard on the slides. I watched numerous Apple Keynotes and even designed my own app icon graphics. What a blast it was! Sadly, while my communications skills were top-notch, my technical skills were slightly below what they were looking for. Nonetheless, the experience was awesome!

Maybe you have guessed, but for this week’s edition, I have decided to share my dissertation defense presentation with you. While there are some of you who might be curious about my research, I have yet to finish up a short synopsis to share. The next best thing, and especially because it has pictures, is the presentation that I made for the defense. I have recorded this using Loom, and while my real defense had animations included, this version does not. For those of you listening to the audio, I have included a link to the presentation in the show notes if you happen to be outside of Substack.

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So go ahead, pour yourself a cup of coffee, steep a cup of tea, or drink an ice-cold fizzy drink as you settle in for my dissertation defense presentation…complete with slides, stories, and plenty of heart.

Thanks for sticking with me and my stories!

Cheers…

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