Self Reflections as a Presenter...

Last Monday on the 25th of April I presented a 30 minute talk on our relationship with dogs in contemporary society.

Overall I think the talk went good and I am now in the phase on reflecting back on what worked and what did not work.

As I approach the end of my degree I am constantly asking myself what I want to accomplish in my career and what sort of projects get me excited. I think this is an extremely important question to try push myself to answer because I have found that when I am engaged and legitimately excited about something I tend to do my best work.

So what excites me? What makes the hair stand up on my neck, my breathe quicken and my palms sweat?

The answer...Public Speaking.
To be able to move people simply with your words, to cause people to feel things, and think critically, simply by the string of words and sounds that you have compiled together is magical. To me, a message delivered in the right way, by the right person, is almost as powerful as music!

So thinking back on my presentation I must ask myself....

Did I have people enthralled?

Did I make anyone feel anything?

Think anything critical?

My hope is that, yes, I did inspire someone to look at dogs differently or to think about the concept of speciesism in their daily lives.

All I can do is continue to work on my craft, and to continue discovering other powerful speakers that I can learn from and hopefully emulate one day.

I leave you know with a link to a video that started my burning desire to learn how to be an effective public speaker.

This reading of Sojourner  Truths "Aint I a woman" by Alfre Woodward is so powerful and I hope it resonates with you on some cosmic level

<3