I have been reading Tina Roth Eisenberg’s blog (SwissMiss) for years. I read along as she started the Creative Mornings lecture series. It was thrilling to learn that it spread to my own community as Creative Mornings PKX. I’ve wanted to attend many talks over the years but unfortunately, I am always at work.
Late last year, one of the organizers (Noelle Grattan of Five Line Creative) invited me to speak. I was really hesitant but also interested in accepting the challenge. I teach computer classes but I don’t have any experience giving talks. I thought — I could really embarrass myself! (nervous emoji here!)
How it works is — each speaker around the globe is speaking on one common topic at essentially the same time. When it came time for me to pick a month to speak (and in so doing pick a topic to speak about) I was in the midst of organizing Project Upcycle. One of the options that was presented to me was “COMMUNITY.” When I heard that it felt right so I went with it.
Like I said, I didn’t have any experience presenting and I thought I could really embarrass myself so I decided to get professional help. (big smile emoji here). I reached out to Mike Teixeira at DECK Presentations for coaching. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. He gave me real concrete direction on how to improve my presentation and how to actually present it. The whole experience has opened my eyes to how helpful a coach can be. If you are struggling with something — get a coach!
So without further ado, here is my Creative Mornings PKX talk. During my talk, I played a video about Project Upcycle. It is NOT spliced into the talk below.
THANK YOU!
Thank you, Noelle Grattan, for inviting me to speak. I wouldn’t have done it without your encouragement. Thank you, Keith Tharp, for being patient with me for the photo shoot thing. Sorry I was late! 🙂 Thank you, Raya Al-Hashmi and Miles Woodworth. Your energy reminded me of that final scene in Captain Phillips when Tom Hanks is being cared for by a very capable nurse. Your positive energy really bolstered me that morning. I really needed it. And thank you, Monte Bohanan. It is always nice to see a familiar and supportive face. And thank you to that tech guy ( I don’t know your name) who made sure the audio worked on my video. Thank you to the whole Creative Mornings PKX team. It was an incredibly positive experience!
xo jam
