Well, the Monday before Thanksgiving I gave my very first Rachel Alexandra presentation. Happily, it was to a lovely audience, the Farmer City Shakespeare Club. The group has a 125-year history, including being the driving force behind establishing the library. That made it a great group to speak with and I had a fun time. Basically I just showed up and told them RAchel’s story, but I learned a ton. I hope they didn’t mind being my guinea pigs!

Here’s what I learned:

1 visual aids: even for a group of adult women, some large photos of Rachel, even something projected from my laptop, would have been a great addition. I brought my laptop but the image wasn’t all that big for the group of 20, and my laptop kept going to sleep! 

2. a short introduction: My friend Debbie Yeagle did introduce me, but I think I could have done a better job than I did to explain why I wrote about Rachel.

3. talk slower: Even though many people came up to me and said they enjoyed my presentation, I still worry that I talked too fast and not organized. Maybe I can pin my friend, Debbie Yeagle, down about what I can improve. People did ask questions, so I think they were pretty engaged…Plus I only talked about 20 minutes (I hope)

4. Going back to visual aids: I think I need to collect a series of photos that will help me structure my talk. When I’m talking about Calvin Borel, I need a photo of Calvin up on my screen! This is so basic I’m embarrassed to have to write this down, but there you have it! A true learning experience!! The question in my mind is, what permissions do I need to get to use a photo in this way?

5. ask questions? Most of my audiences will be school children, and maybe their parents, so I think it would be good for it to be more interactive. 

6. practice: It’s not that I don’t know the material inside and out, but practicing will give me a better idea of how long I really did talk. Near the end I was getting anxious because I was afraid I talked too long. I do not think I did, though!! So practice, and bring an easy-to-read clock with me.

7.TAKE PICTURES!! I forgot to get a photo with the group that I could have posted right here at the top of the blog post. DRAT!!