Some really cool conferences ahead

Some really cool conferences ahead : D 

This time I am not going to talk about a task and what happened during it. Instead, I will talk to you about preparing for a conference. I got this idea after receiving an email from one of the 35th TESOL Greece convention interviewers (Julia Aliverti) but instead of focusing on one event, I will talk about something more general.  I have never presented at a conference before, so this is me sailing in unchartered waters. The newbie conference presenter :)
 

Preparing for a conference presentation on Teaching Business English online. What have I been up to? 

• Loads of reading.

I have spent many hours trying to find articles, books, webpages, videos, and anything else related to online teaching and Business English. It is quite hard cause there is a lot of information out there on online teaching or BE but not much on teaching Business English online. I must say that my connections on LinkedIn and twitter were very helpful!

• Drafting and redrafting.

Although I have been teaching students, for some time now, how to deliver a PPT presentation, I have come to realize that including all the information without squashing everything or having loads of blank pages is HARD (how do you do it lovely pre sessional EAP students?). Then, there is the whole deciding what should go on the slide and what not? Should I have pictures or not? What about animations?

• Rehearsing.

I really don't want to mess up, so I have been practising what I will say over and over again. I sometimes forget some of the things I wanted to say, but I think that by the day of the presentations I will be ready (fingers crossed :0).I also want to avoid going into lecture mode, so I am trying to find techniques to keep the audience engaged and make the presentation as interactive as possible. I have made some note cards just in case though....

• Handouts for the audience.

I will have two different handouts. One will have links to all the sites I will mention during my talk and the other will have the PPT slides for my audience to make notes on. I think the latter is really helpful cause the people watching you get to keep your presentation and take notes on the things they really found interesting. I also believe this is appreciated by people who can't see well! It is awful when you are unable to see the slides!

• Letting my teacher friends know I am presenting.

They will encourage me and give me a sense of security. I am a newbie, remember.....??

Finally, there is all the girlie stuff I have to consider, but I would need to write a whole new blog post regarding the do's and don'ts of looks at conferences :).


My final thoughts
I will list the conferences I will be presenting at in chronological order. I am really excited about all three and I cannot wait to meet all the wonderful people I have been in touch with regarding the conferences. I really appreciate the opportunity the people hosting these events are giving me: )

15-16th March  Tesol Greece 35th Annual Convention  (Athens, Greece)
22 March    2014 Belta Day (Brussels, Belgium)
6-7 June    Eltforum.sk   (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Links to these events:
http://www.tesolgreece.org/index.php/en/events/forthcoming-events/convention
http://www.beltabelgium.com/belta-day-2014/
http://www.eltforum.sk/index.php?page=index&lang=en

 I will definitely blog about these events in individual blog posts later on. : )

Till next time.....