Around this time last year I decided to start doing things that were positive but scary. The first of those was to sit on a panel at the Nine Worlds 2016 convention – an experience which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the fact my hands were shaking all the way through. Since then, the list of scary things done has expanded to include the following:
- Sing in a concert as part of a quartet (so no one to hide behind)
- Sing in an international competition as part of a quartet
- Sign up for egg donation
- Dance with strangers at a ball
- Speak to one of my celebrity crushes (I say speak… ‘squeak’ is a more accurate term)
- Go out with people I don’t know
(If you think that looks like a tame list, I’d like to point out that for a repressed introvert most of those took considerable effort and spoons.)
Anyway, this weekend it’s time for me to add another one to the tally: stand up on a stage and give a presentation. And we’ve come full-circle, because the stage I’ll be standing on is part of the Nine Worlds 2017 convention. This Sunday I’m scheduled to be talking about different types of narrative technique and how they impact your audience. My day job involves looking at a lot of other people’s presentation slides and, after 12 years of seeing some truly awful slide decks, it was really fun to write my own. I’m quite pleased with how they came out. And on the day, I’ll be faintly terrified.
What does this mean for you, my loyal readers? Well, basically it means that over the next few weeks I’ll be reporting back on the various talks I attended, hopefully with some really interesting and productive content on all things story-related. I’ll also make my slides available at some point, so you can have a look at what I presented.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a lecture about classical monsters in popular culture coming up shortly, and I want to get a good seat. 🙂
everwalker 
Good luck with the presentation – I love your bravery in the face of obstacles.