I really do have to give a talk to some school aged kids about the birds and the bees.
I really do mean birds and bees and bats and butterflies and all the other natural pollinators we have in a garden. I wish I was better at talking. I only have to talk for 15 minutes and I my kid sis will make a power point and help out when she can. I have a lot of time to get myself really worked up about it.
If this doesn’t prompt me to get some speech therapy nothing will. I have two months until the spring opening of the new garden.
Is it better to know this sort of stuff a long way a head of time or is it better to have less time to worry and get worked up?
Are you going to memorize or use notes? If you know the stuff well, just a few notes of the main topics to serve as a reminder. For instance, When I play a bunch of Christmas carols and tunes on the piano for someone, I have just a few notes of chord progressions to remind me since the tunes are so familiar to me that I don’t need the bother with all the music. It saves time and effort, no changing pages, etc.
that is cool you would be a really good teacher, kids love props, pictures…etc… and don’t forget the plastic spiders, kids love to be spooked, if you make them laugh you have won them over.
i just had a picture in my head of you saying you had a rare , jumping spider from the amazon and it 'accidently ’ jumps into your kid audience…that’s funny ( cracking myself up again ! ) .
you will be great.
take care
I would much prefer preparing two months ahead of time. As such I can come up with great ideas and modify them to the best. It works for me. I would come up with something very interesting I really want to get it shared and then the strong motivation can kill every anxiety and I don’t need to worry about my memory.
It would be nice to begin with a short story with a little surprise. It draws attention and sets ready your audience for the content that follows. I would then bring up a maximum of three points and illustrate each with real life examples, showing some nice photos and ask questions that require them to observe and think a little bit (like once i show a page in the bank book, i ask them what it is, draw their attention to read a few transactions and decide if it is a debit or credit and then decide did if the bank ac owner save up or lose money, and then ask them to suggest something to do) to help them comprehend the photos and grasp the ideas.
I think it’s much better to know way ahead of time, so you can really prepare. I understand your worrying about it, but once you’re really prepared, maybe that will calm your fears a little bit.
Interesting topic, btw. What other pollinators are there?
Thank you all for the vote of encouragement. I guess it’s good to have as much notice as possible.
@CarolineC
Actually that is the bulk of the pollinators. There are a few small rodents that accidently help the process, but I don’t think I’ll get that detailed. Due to the mass death of bees in the world there are some parts that humans are having to hand pollinate if they want food. But I won’t go into that part. I’ll just stick with the idea that this is a kids simple back yard garden.
@PinCushion
You play piano? Very cool. I like your idea. My sis says she’ll help me practice so the power point will basically be my cue cards and I can put cues on the props so I’ll know what to say when the power point is off.
@darksith I like the jumping spider idea. If I can make them laugh, I can win them over.
I had to give two presentations last semester, one on Sparta and the other on Paranoid Schizophrenia and violence. I felt confident because I knew the material very well and I answered questions afterwards and made an A for both. You’ve just gotta own the material! Act like you are the authority on the subject and fake confidence if you don’t have it!