Gulp ... asked to give numismatic presentation, any advice?

RGL

I have been invited to give a presentation on Jefferson proofs and SMS coins at the July meeting of the Columbus (OH) Numismatic Society ... any advice on a successful presentation insofar as handouts, Power Point presentation, etc.? I will of course, bring along a Registry set or two for viewing and examination. (I can't wait to hear some of this sage advice. ) Foolishly, the program director seems to think I know a thing or two about the suggested topics.

lordmarcovan

Give away lots of free coins. Then, no matter how badly you might flub the presentation, everyone will still love you.

CoinAddict

I do not have any advice for you, Randy, but I will wish you good luck with your presentation. I know it will work out and that you will be able to share lots of valuable information about the Jefferson proofs and SMS coins.

Goldfinger

Powerpoint is awful. Avoid it. For visuals, just a few "ooooh" and "ahhhh" worthy coin close-ups will do.

Goldfinger

Also, have fun. If you do, everyone else will, too. Good luck!

-Jay

mgoodm3

Remember that when you finish and ecerbody wants to show their coins; just tell them that they're wonderful. Lie like you've never lied before, they'll love you for it.

jdimmick

That would be extremely fun to do. When I was in school, I used to hate getting up in front of crowds, would be nervous wreck.

After working with HUD in the manufactured housing div for 5 years, and having to do training seminars and presentations to hundreds of folks doesnt bother me a bit. I had to take all of the Dale carnegie training as well, which actually helped.


Anyway, a power point presentation would be good if intresting and not too drawn out. But more importantly, try to figure out the best way to get the audience involved either by hands on activites, or audience input. Spend some time researching or studying your subject material, and what you want to say/show. If you have an idea as to what you want to say, a basic outline of that is all you need. Dont waste time writing it down.

hope this helps
jim

coppercoins

<< <i>Powerpoint is awful. Avoid it. For visuals, just a few "ooooh" and "ahhhh" worthy coin close-ups will do. >>



I used powerpoint to put together my presentation and it works great. I guess it depends on how much you learn about it.

kamehameha00

I use powerpoint a lot at school and stuff.Don't over do it like some people at my school do.One kid had a different font size for each word,a different color for each letter,and a bunch of sounds.It was supposed to be a presentation about a country in the Middle East.

ealandg

I've had lots of public speaking experience. I try to throw in a few little jokes to keep them on their toes. Also, ask the audience questions that you know someone will know the answer to. They are more likely to pay attention if they feel they might be called upon (remember school?).

keets

hey Randy

get ahold of Jerry and let him help!! his CW articles always seem well organized. i'm betting that with a few note and an attentive audience, once you get past the first minute or so you'll be OK.

al h.

mgoodm3

Less text and more pictures!

RGL

Thanks, all! And, Al, Gerald Tebben is the one who recruited me to speak!

keets

hey Randy

reading your last comment leaves me with only one thought-------you were set-up!!!!!!!

al h.

lava

"I use powerpoint a lot at school and stuff.Don't over do it like some people at my school do.One kid had a different font size for each word,a different color for each letter,and a bunch of sounds.It was supposed to be a presentation about a country in the Middle East."

I would have liked to have been there for that.

Veep

Don't lecture for long. Keep it interactive.

nankraut

Put together an interesting, pertinent, un-complicated powerpoint program and follow it. You will know if you're effective by the number of times you're interrupted by questions. Good luck!

doop

fake it until you make it...

Catch22

Just remember, you're talking to a bunch of nekid people...nekid coin geeks. If you can keep your lunch down, you'll do fine.

DHeath

Great topics to discuss, and you already know the material inside out. I'd say they've got a good man for the job. Tell them what you know, and it'll be easy.

astrorat

Hello-

I give presentations all the time, both numismatic and non-numismatic, and can tell you that your best asset will be your enthusiasm for the topic. If you have no interest in what you have to say, then the audience certainly will not.

PowerPoint is great if used in moderation. Choose one of the simple, non-fancy backgrounds, use large fonts (24 font or larger) and use only 1 or 2 different fonts (stick with times or arial). Choose pictures over text if at all possible. Since you will be the expert in the room, rely on your knowledge to enhance the talk.

Photos, photos, and more photos!

DO NOT read from a prepared script! The ANA has great slide presentations that come with nice scripts. The only problem is if you actually READ them to your audience you will bore them to tears. Notes are great, but a verbatim monologue wastes everybody's time.

Avoid slides if you can. Unless you use them a lot and know the equipment, it is a disaster in the waiting. We had a local "expert" give us a presentation at a coin club and he relied on slides that he apparently had never seen before and had never tested the sildes in the projector . . . we were not able to view all the slides and most took several attempts to load.

Go over the basics first in order to provide a common "background" for everyone in the room. Discuss the history of the series, what is hot now, and what is your impression of the future. Provide the audience with the "inside scoop" on the series, such as hot cherrypicks, overlooked sleepers, etc.

Never forget that you should have fun while you are doing this.

Lane

dcarr

I did a presentation for the Denver Coin club on state quarter design issues.
Someone from the Ft. Collins Coin Club saw it asked me to do one for them (which I just did).
Someone from the Longmont Coin Club saw that one and asked me to do one for them (which I will do next month).

I thought about using Powerpoint (I've used it before). But the drawback is that you have to have a computer
and one of those expensive ("Boxlight" or similar) projectors. So I just printed out my materials on overheads
using my DeskJet printer at home. That worked out very well, and it was easy. All of my overheads are pictures -
no text.

I also threw in a few spoof state quarter designs I've done and they were a big hit. Humor is always good.

Gemini

I did it once for a young Library group of kids and I was pretty nervous.
I brought some examples of the coins I was speaking about and passed them around which they really enjoyed..
I was surprised at the end when the Librarian in charge of the group said this is the first time these kids sat so quiet during a presentation. (maybe I put them to sleep) but that made me feel real good.
Like others have said here keep it short and sweet.
I'm sure you will do okay.
I also learned later that many of the Numismatic publications will supply free copies of their paper when asked.
You can tell the crowd you have some free coin papers and some bottles of no doze available...that will loosen them up...
Good luck and let us know how it went..
Don-

Coinosaurus

I did one for the NBS club meeting at the ANA last year. I strongly recommend going with the PowerPoint and LCD projector - nothing beats it for showing photographs. I had to do a lot of scanning and so forth but it was well received. Also, I did a dry run in front of my family and friends first and that was very helpful in terms of deciding what to put in, how to arrange it, etc.

Gilbert

This is no "sage" advice, and hopefully NOT an insult to you, but -

might I suggest you kinda' grab some organizational ideas and/or points to highlight (those deemed significant) from the "Jefferson Nickel Analyst."