Month: September 2015

An Introvert’s Guide to Better Presentations

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?

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.)

Frocktober is coming…

Just as I did the last couple years, I will be participating in Frocktober 2015. If you haven’t heard of it, Frocktober raises funds and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. Ovarian cancer is pretty awful, and one woman dies every ten hours from it. There is currently no early detection test, and women are usually diagnosed in the late stages of the disease – when the cancer has spread to other organs in the body. Since its inception, Frocktober supporters have donated more than $1 million to the OCRF. My challenge is to wear a different dress (i.e. “frock”) every day for the month of October. If you’d like to cheer me on and support this excellent cause, I have a fundraising page here. Last year my amazing supporters donated $924.30, and this year I’m aiming to hit a full $1000. Dig deep, people!

I’m also an official “Frocktober Ambassador” this year, so be prepared for a lot of posts and sharing about this excellent cause. And for any women out there – or even men! – you should definitely sign up and frock up. 🙂

Dangling Conversation

As you would’ve seen from the Instagram I posted this morning, I finished my Dangling Conversation scarf! It’s knitted out of a single skein of Manos del Uruguay Fino in “Sealing Wax,” a bright orangey-red. I bought the yarn in the last Morris & Sons sale, drawn to its gorgeous deep colour and its exquisite smooshiness. (It’s 70% superfine merino and 30% silk.) The pattern choice was inspired by a guest at an Inner City Knitters Guild meeting earlier in the year, who showed off her version in a variegated yarn. I casted mine on at Camp on August 28 and finished it this past Sunday, so it took me 23 days from start to finish. I knitted it on 4mm needles, which is a fair bit tighter than most of the other folks on Ravelry. To compensate, I added a lot of extra repeats to make it bigger and use up the entire skein. Oh, and I left off the beads. I’m not insane. 🙂

Ravelry details are here! In sort – excellent pattern; excellent yarn. Highly recommended.