Tim Thompson - Archer English Consulting
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Why Are Presentations So Scary?

4/19/2019

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Comedian Jerry Seinfeld said, "According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that seem right? That means to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy." I don't think I've met a person who actually feels this way but it is a funny quote.  So what is it about presentations that many people find scary?

The first thing has to be the unknown.  Many religious people will tell you that they know what happens after we die, but since different religions disagree about this I think it's fair to say we don't know for sure. Similarly, we can't be sure how a presentation is going to go.  There are so many variables that can go wrong and it only takes one of them to really embarrass the speaker. What if the tech doesn't work even though you tested it in advance?  What if there is a jerk in the audience who thinks he is a comedian?  Even if we prepare thoroughly and have lots of experience, there are things that can pop up and throw us off.

This leads us to the second thing, the multitude of things we need to concentrate on at the same time to deliver a solid presentation.  I tell people who attend my training sessions that presenting is like juggling.  You have to focus on what you are saying, how you are saying it, what you look like while you are saying it, and how much time you have left to say it.  Throw in presenting in a second language and you might as well be trying to juggle four live squirrels and adding in a chainsaw.

Third is the power dynamic.  A lot of people don't like to be in the spotlight.  Having everyone's eyes on you while you are trying to manage all the presentation elements is tough; doing it while you are standing up or on a stage adds an extra layer of stress.  I know a lot of people that can speak confidently from their seat but when you ask them to stand up and come to the front of the room, they freeze.  It's just easier to talk to people when you're on the same level, literally and figuratively.

The fourth thing that makes presentations scary is when they are for high stakes.  Sales presentations, job interviews, speech competitions, and presenting in front of your boss are all stressful because of what happens if you mess up.  The best case scenario might be that you lose out on some future opportunity but the worst case scenario can be that you lose what you already have, like your job. I think we can all agree on how stressful can be.

Finally, it can especially scary when we don't feel like an expert on our topic.  Maybe the topic was assigned to us or we have read a lot of the topic but don't have any personal experience with the topic to fall back on.  We don't have a story to tell and have to rely on the information that we found.  Impostor syndrome can kick in and really mess with our confidence.

So, yes, giving a presentation can be stressful, but so was driving a car for the first time.  Imagine getting behind the wheel and focusing all your attention on the things that could wrong.  Your tire could pop on the highway, someone could change lanes and hit you, the brakes could fail.  Sure, these are all true, so we are taught to focus on what we can control.  Pay attention to what's going on around you, learn basic car maintenance and take it in for regular service, try to obey the rules of the road and things will usually be ok.

A final thing that I tell trainees is that you don't have to be a great presenter, just try not to be a bad presenter.  Try to avoid big mistakes and control what you can control.  If you do it enough, presenting can become as routine as driving a car.  As you increase the size of the audience or increase the stakes, it might feel like learning to drive a bus or even flying a plane, but with training and practice people learn to do these things all the time and it stops being so scary. Hopefully presenting can be the same for you.


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My Public Speaking Journey

4/9/2019

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For a guy who makes a good portion of his living giving talks and training others to give talks, I was really terrible at giving talks when I was in university.  I was probably bad in high school too but I don't remember ever being asked to do it.  I wasn't afraid to raise my hand during class and ask a question or make a general observation about something from my seat but I don't remember having to speak in front of the class until university.  

Giving a presentation isn't like performing in a play or singing in a choir.  You aren't playing a character and you aren't part of an ensemble.  It's just you, as yourself, on the stage, in the spotlight, talking to a room full of people. 

I remember the presentation I gave during a marketing class in university that let me know I was not a good presenter.  It was a group presentation, and like many university students we waited until the last minute to divide up our speaking responsibilities so I didn't have a lot of time to think about what I was going to say.  I felt woefully unprepared and I'm sure it showed.  When it was over and I sat down I couldn't remember anything that I had said.  It was like temporary amnesia and that feeling stuck with me for a long time.  I tell that story when I'm conducting presentation skills seminars now and talk about the hurricane in the brain.  

When I got my first teaching job at a small language school in South Korea in 1996, I remember feeling very nervous and completely unprepared once again.  I had no teaching experience and my training had consisted of shadowing one of the other teachers in a couple of classes the day before.  Looking back, she had been working with her students for a while and had already established a good rapport with them, so assuming that my new students would respond the same way to me as hers did to her was pretty unrealistic.

In any case, before I walked into my first class I tried to give myself a little pep talk.  I told myself three things that I thought were true. 1. I know more than they do about English.  2. This knowledge is something that they want, so it has value. 3. They came here to get my help.  This helped me calm down and remind myself what was important.  My job was to find ways to help them and give them what they wanted.  

When I gave my first conference presentation in 2005, I had already been a teacher for five years. (Yes, I know the math doesn't work.  I went back home and tried some different things for a while.) There's something different about speaking to your students and speaking to your peers.  It can feel like you are being judged in a way that you just don't feel when you're teaching.  The power dynamic in the room is different, especially when there are more experienced teachers in the audience.  But here's the thing, you should still know more about the topic you are speaking on that most of the people attending your talk.  The content you are sharing needs to be useful to them and, thus, have some value. Finally, the people who attend conferences often come to take away a few ideas to use in their classes or to think about teaching in a slightly different way so, in essence, they are there to get some help. 

Keeping these three in the back of my mind has helped me become a more confident speaker and I find that it also helps my students brainstorm possible presentation topics.  They need to ask themselves: 1. What do I know more about than my classmates?  2. Will it be interesting and/or useful for for them? 3. How can I convince them that it has value?  They can then turn their answers into a complete introduction with a hook and once that has been done, sharing their content with confidence and enthusiasm gets a lot easier.

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Five Writing Tips from Three Perspectives

4/8/2019

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In this post I want to share some advice from my own experiences as a writer, university writing instructor, and editor.  Whether you are writing in your first language, writing in a foreign language, or translating from one language to another, there should be something that will be useful for you.
 
Tips from a Writer
  1. Outline before you write, either mentally or on paper.  Hopefully on paper…  The more detailed your outline, the easier the writing will be.
  2. Picture a target reader when you are writing.  Are you explaining everything clearly and with sufficient detail to take the picture in your mind and transform it into a written text that will help them paint a similar picture in their mind?
  3. You are your own worst editor because you know what the draft is supposed to say.  We miss so many typos because we see what we want to see, not what is on the page. Get a friend or colleague to read your manuscript before sending it anywhere.  If you are nervous about having a friend read it, why would you want anyone who could be important to your career read it?
  4. Don’t rush to publish.  Put the draft away for a day or two and read it again with fresh eyes.  You will make improvements 99.9% of the time.
  5. Experiencing writer’s block?  Take a shower or go outside and take a walk.  That’s when I get a lot of ideas for my articles.
 
Tips from a Writing Teacher
  1. If you only read for content, you will never build a mental database that will help you become a better writer.  Observe how words regularly work together to make phrases, phrases make sentences, sentences make paragraphs, paragraphs make sections, and sections, make articles.
  2. Academic and business writing is formulaic.  Follow the rules.  Don’t try to be too creative.  While there is no one exact template for a business email or academic journal paper, they do have a lot of similarities that can serve as good examples if you are unsure about how to write one.
  3. You can make an outline in your first language but you need to actually write the text in your target language.  If you can’t write well in the target language, you won’t be able to translate it later either.
  4. Choose a target publication before you start writing.  This way you can write for a specific audience and follow the formatting and submission guidelines from the moment you begin typing.
  5. Learn what you can and can’t copy.  You can (and should) copy format but you can’t copy whole sentences and ideas and ideas without citing the source and giving proper credit.
 
Tips from an Editor/Proofreader
  1. Keeping your tone consistent is challenging, especially when you don’t have a good feel for tone in writing.  If you are using an editor/proofreader, mention that you would like for them to keep an eye out for inconsistencies in tone.
  2. Some things in English are just plain hard, like prepositions.  Others, like subject-verb agreement and plurals with regular nouns, are easier to catch.  Read through your manuscript and try to catch as many of those kinds of errors as you can before sending the manuscript to your editor or submitting it.
  3. Be consistent.  Use capitalization and punctuation consistently throughout your paper.  Pick a formatting style and stick with it.
  4. Learn from your mistakes. Keep track of the kinds of issues your editor is pointing out and try to reduce them over time. 
  5. Don’t look at editorial suggestions and changes as attacks.  The editor is trying to help you make your paper better.  Don’t reply to the feedback until at least one day later and you have had to digest it (and maybe calm down). If you disagree with the comments and changes, open a dialogue and explain your choices and intentions rationally, not emotionally.
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Musings About Retirement

4/2/2019

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Picture
I don't know about you, but my Google search history includes a lot of "retiring in (insert country here)".  This isn't new for me, I've been doing it for over a decade.  Part of me dreams of living in another foreign country just to see what it is like (I've been in Korea almost 20 years) and the other part just wants a new adventure.

When I think of retirement there are two main factors and then a plethora of sub-factors to consider.  The two main things are: 1. What do I want to do with my time? and 2. Will I have enough money to pull it off?  Since an endless supply of books, internet access, and red wine doesn't sound that healthy, it's probably a good idea to keep my online editing business active. This will help me maintain the "sense of purpose" that you hear about so many retired people losing and missing. Also, if I'm living in another country I won't have as many in-person training opportunities as I do now, and if I did, they probably wouldn't pay as well.  Here's why... The list of places I've been learning about just in the past week include Tunisia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and the east coast of Italy. Living in these places means I wouldn't expect to do much work (if any) inside the local economy. Instead, I would just try to keep up with my online editing work and slowly begin to phase it out 
when it becomes too much.
​
As a teacher turned freelance communications consultant, I'm looking for a places with lower cost of living and a climate that doesn't get too hot (and especially too humid) or too cold.  I'd like to live in a place that isn't too noisy or crowded but is still close to an international airport.  There are other factors to consider such as the difficulty of the local language, the local food and drink scene, the tax situation, visas, and a whole list of other factors that are too silly to mention here.

I have a former co-worker who has a cabin in rural Canada that he stays in during the summer and then every winter he chooses a new country, closes up the cabin, and heads out.  That could be an option if I wanted to keep Korea as a base, but Korean summers are no picnic.

So for now, I'll just keep dreaming and continue to travel whenever I can.  I've had great experiences in a lot of interesting places but I don't think I've found that one perfect place yet.  Maybe the thrill is in the search.

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    Tim's Thoughts

    Here are some short ideas that probably don't deserve to be published but I felt were worth sharing.  

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