Presentation Evaluations (whatever that is)

Last week, my public speaking class required an informative presentation around 7 minutes long. And this seems to happen the minute I've posted the assignment or walked off the platform. The "what if's" and "I forgot to say's"!  Why? Because for some reason, 7 minutes isn't enough to make a point? Or maybe the point was wrong? Nooooo,  maybe it's because we don't have the confidence to know when it's over!
30 years ago, I was a TV director. The dream job for me would have been directing the soap opera General Hospital. I knew a few people on the show and was able to finagle a tour of the set and to meet one of the directors, Marlena Laird. Her directing was like a movie with cameras moving about on long scenes - very artful. But then I realized, this required an amazing amount of effort and time. I preferred directing live broadcasts for a couple of reasons. First, there was no "take 5, take 6, do it again until its perfect", and two, you absolutely knew when it was over! (and the fat lady didn't have to sing, the clock told me so) No edits, no rewinding the tape and starting over, it was done!
The same is true for our presentations - when it's posted, we're done, so don't dwell on it. Make a note on what you might improve on for the next time, but spending "too much time" (whatever that is) thinking about what might be, might turn into a distracting obsession. And then what? You think about the performance over the content? I hope not. I've seen some very interesting presentations, delivered by my classmates, my peers. Each one of them is exactly perfect for this time and place. Sure, we might shy away from the camera, or talk a little "fast", but they are all getting "better" (whatever that is!) How do you judge these presentations? My hope is that we are all getting more comfortable with ourselves.

Marlena Laird accepting a daytime Emmy in 1981

-30-