*Originally posted June 11th 2019*
The engaging flyer that Rebecca Shea, Events Coordinator at Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, did to publicize my presentation.
By now, as part of my life as a writer, I have attended many lectures, presentations, author talks, book festivals, and a writer conference or two. I have benefitted from all of them, the good and the bad. They all revealed something to me (as an attendee)–and I just want to take the time right now to give a high-five to the brave men and women willing to stand up and present their perspective on writing and/or their subject matter.
Last week, I presented a lecture entitled: Faith Trumbull Huntington: An 18th Century Life. The lecture is based on my research for a lengthly article I have written for Connecticut History Review which is due to be published this year (2019).
Me presenting to the patrons at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, June 2019.
Suprisingly, I thought I did pretty well and had some good feedback from my 15+ guests. A writer friend of mine, Sarah, was kind enough to take a few photos of the event.
Here are a few tips I have for doing your own presentation, on an historical subject, at your local library:
Call or email the events person at your local library far in advance (as their schedules fill up).
Use images from your slideshow in your email pitch.
Keep your presentation to around 35-45 minutes.
This translates to roughly 20 slides.
Do not OVERCROWD your slide with too many words and keep the font as large and simple as possible. 36-48 pt. size in a basic font like Times New Roman.
Try to have an image with each slide to keep viewer attention
Schedule a practice session with the equipment you will use BEFORE the day of the presentation. Also, make sure you have your presentation on a thumb drive AND in a cloud somewhere (like Dropbox).
Finally, practice your presentation once a day in the run up to the presentation.
Needless to say, doing presentations can be an important part of marketing yourself as a writer and author.