Tag Archives: positiveenergy

Reflections on BarCamp Africa

Yesterday I had an incredibly stimulating day at BarCamp Africa. There were just so many positive elements to this event I first need to create a list. (Each item below deserves its own post)

1) Effective use of social networking & web 2.0 tools before, during, after the event.
2) Incredibly positive attitudes and smart, passionate people.
3) Panel discussions that were “intimate conversations” between 150 people.
4) Tagging your name tag; tagging Africa map before and after.
5) Strong engagement of attendees to really participate not just observe
6) Broad range of interesting break-out sessions
7) Energy radiated by the Google campus
8) One session I participated in that was absolutely beautiful in how it unfolded
9) Self learning about helping and collaborating
10) Feeling like a true global citizen, proud, changed
11) Inspiration for possible book/study and new collaboration session format
12) Incredibly practical innovations and inventions
13) …..

So much more. I’m still processing.

Tone sets the mood

I have a pretty big presentation to make this week and I’m a little nervous. The charts are all done so now it’s about the delivery. My message is one of opportunity so I need to establish that before getting past the title page. I want to immediatey set the right context with my audience.

My wife has given me great advise time and time again. And she shared some wisdom with me for this event as well. She told me to try to:

  1. Be enthusiastic – let the audience see the passion
  2. Be confident yet vulnerable – demonstrate your competence but be honest with where your weaknesses are
  3. Know what I want to achieve – focus on the 2-3 big takeaways you want your audience to get

I’ve been giving presentations for years but I know I can incorporate some of this into my preparation process. So much to do in 2 minutes before digging in but with some forethought it is completely achievable. Thanks for the reminder that memorable presentations require more than good slides.