An Introvert’s Guide to Better Presentations — Medium – Following on from that last post, here’s Matt Haughey talking about how he prepares to give talks. I don’t think he’s as much of an introvert as he thinks he is. I have the exact same thoughts when I’m about to get up on stage. It’s unnerving and scary to have that many people look at you, regardless of how much of an extravert you are.

I took Matt’s advice recently and purchased the Beyond Bullet Points book. I haven’t finished reading it yet, but it’s already made a difference in how I approach giving talks. It’s quite heavily oriented around PowerPoint, but it’s pretty easily to ignore that stuff and focus on the approach to crafting a narrative for the audience.

Will the Real Introverts Please Stand Up? – Beautiful Minds – Scientific American Blog Network – Fascinating article. It seems that extraversion is more about “reward sensitivity” than gregariousness. I definitely get a dopamine rush from giving talks. (I was on a high for several hours after my talk at the Dream Collective Career Summit last week.)

This is particularly interesting: the 10 behaviours most uniquely predictive of extraversion (out of a list of 400):

1. Told a dirty joke.
2. Planned a party.
3. Entertained six or more people.
4. Told a joke.
5. Volunteered for a club or organization.
6. Tried to get a tan.
7. Attended a city council meeting.
8. Colored my hair.
9. Went to a night club.
10. Drank in a bar.

Uh, other than going to a city council meeting, I’ve done all those. (I’ve pretty much given up on tanning though.)