Paper done (mostly)

10Oct2007 Filed under: Writing Author: Dawn

Last night Leslie read my paper out loud to the group (because I was too nervous to read out loud, which doesn’t bode well for reading out loud at the conference but then again, the conference is full of strangers and my writing group is full of friends and I care what my friends think while strangers are people I’m likely never going to see again). Anyway, she read it out loud and it seems short — it’s about a page and a half too short, according to Becca, who hasn’t read it but gave me the page count. I don’t know if I can stretch it and frankly, I’m inclined not to even though we’ve already figured in time for questions. It just seems to be working now and I don’t want to pad it. It does need a line edit but I’m less worried now about embarrassing myself. (One question though — Is Bruner with a long U?)

I don’t mind public speaking but I’m not crazy about public reading. Shannon says some of the people there will be incredibly bad readers and not to fret but I can’t help it. I have a slight lisp and reading (except to preschoolers) brings it out.

Maybe I’ll pretend the room is full of preschoolers and occasionally hold my manuscript up like I’m showing everybody the pictures. Heh.

Oh, a quick addendum to yesterday’s post for David who was commenting on the girliness of Miz Madison. Not only did she say she was going to buy a car to come visit me (and make muffins) but she also said it would be a hyundai (like our old car) and it would be pink! With sparkles! And (she added dramatically) rhinestones!

She takes after her aunt that way.

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3 Responses to “Paper done (mostly)”

Susan
October 10th, 2007 at 8:44 am

Short is fine–I”m cutting my paper down, too. There are four of us on the panel, and shorter is better. More time for discussion.

You will be amazed at the range of reading/presentation styles: some people will be eloquent, some won’t, some will read aloud material that is better handed to someone to read on the page…you are going to be fine. And b/c this conference is drawing people from all different academic fields, I bet there will be a lot of styles shown off. Different fields have different norms about visuals, handouts, organization, etc. So it should be an interesting mix.
Brittany (thistle_verse)
October 10th, 2007 at 10:19 am

Yeah, don’t worry about how you read…I’m sure you will do very well. The academic conferences I’ve been to have shown me that A) a good stage presence cannot compensate for a poor paper/poor info and B) while a terrible presentation might distract an audience from an excellent paper, a simply adequate presentation will not. Generally, the audience wants to see you succeed at the kind of conferences I’ve been to, and I anticipate that will be your experience, too.

Two tricks I picked up for the actual presentation were to print your paper out at a large font for reading and to physically mark on your hard copy when you want to pause. One professor told me she literally wrote down “take drink of water” so she would stop if nervous.

I’m sure you will be fantastic!!!
Stephanie
October 10th, 2007 at 4:43 pm

Just a ditto on the advice to not worry about length. I’ve seen presenters go over their time on so many occasions, and have to skip ahead and summarize while the panel chair points at a stopwatch, and everyone feels nervous when that happens. No one ever complains about having an extra minute or so for questions.

"There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, 'Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams.' Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, they're still there."

~Erma Bombeck

About Me

I have two kids and a delightfully odd husband, Brett. My children are Noah (born to us in 1997) and Madison (born to her first mom, Pennie, in 2004 and brought to our family through a domestic, open adoption). They are my inspiration and also the reason I don't get more done around here.

I'm a writer and sometimes I get published, which is a nice thing. I write for joy, I write for money and when I'm very lucky, both things happen at the same time. My work appears in national publications including Yoga Journal, Disney's Family.com, Utne, Wondertime, Brain Child and Salon. Currently I am working on a book about my daughter's adoption and seeking representation for the proposal. I also own Smart Cookie Communications with my husband.