A Wish CameTrue

Back in 2012 I penned a post about Paper Overload in which I lamented about the practice of many speakers to provide handouts, reference lists in hard copy. I said" My plea to presenters is to offer an alternative to hard copy handouts. PLEASE."

When I happened across that post this morning I thought about current practice and realise that many speakers provide links to soft copies of their handouts to attendees or event organisers. 

The cynic in me thinks that this turnaround is due to Covid when we turned to digital delivery of  genealogy education. It was impossible to provide physical copies of handouts when we were operating in an online world. 

I hope the reason is because more genies have embraced technology over the past twelve years and are realising the benefits to the community of saving paper. 

The image I used in 2012. Source:  kathrynbutler.blogspot.com

From the Archives - Cardboard Cutouts or Real People?

 Sharing a post from ten years ago that sadly is still relevant to some genealogy presenters today.

21st Century Genealogy - 2010 Style

It's a geneaversary for me today. Back in 2010 I was dipping my toes into the water as a genealogy presenter with my very first presentation. Since that date I have given numerous talks at libraries, societies and conferences in Australia and overseas. Although currently all I present are online  I prefer being in a room where I can eyeball and involve the attendees.

Photo: Courtesy of Mosman Library

Discovery of this auspicious occasion was serendipitous. Yesterday I went fishing in the archive of my presentations on an external hard drive and came across 21st Century Genealogy, a talk I gave at Mosman Library on this day in 2010. In a subsequent blog post I talked about my experience at Mosman and my second presentation that same week which was for UnlockthePast. 

The first thing I noticed was that I hadn't used Powerpoint to deliver my talk, I created the talk in Dreamweaver, a web authoring tool that I had been using in my working life. I moved on to Powerpoint around 2011.

Home page of my presentation

It was interesting to look back on my content. Web 2 was a buzzword in 2010. The Did you know 4? link had me perplexed. Turns out it was a link to this video which I played during the presentation.

In the page on the 21st Century Genealogist I reflected on past and current practices (some of which have changed since 2010). I emphasised that it was good practice to combination of 20th and 21st century practices ie select  the best approach for each task at hand.

From the Archives - Pointers for Presenters

With all the news about RootstechConnect flooding the geneasphere I remembered this post written in  2010 and offer it to those who are taking to a genealogy stage. I feel that the points I covered are applicable to virtual as well as face to face presentations. As it's ten years since my original post I have added some further comments to the list in Purple.

What would you add to the list?

Monday, August 16, 2010

Pointers for Presenters

Having retired from the world of education I now have some time to devote to my hobby/passion for family history. Over the last eighteen months I have attended a number of seminars and talks on genealogy and related subjects. Some presenters have been excellent and some have been downright woeful. Some of the genealogy presenters I have seen could do well to watch and learn from the presentations I have seen given by Australian students in our schools.

Having knowledge of a subject does not qualify one as a competent and engaging presenter.

Prompted by Thomas MacEntee's announcement that he has published a book " Approaching the Lectern: How to Become a Genealogy Speaker"  I have decided to make a few suggestions for Australian speakers. Each of these points could have helped one or some of the speakers I have heard recently.
  
Before

• Update your knowledge of the topic
• Know your subject well enough so that you will not need to read your presentation
  
• Get prior information on your audience 
• Be prepared, have backups of your presentation
• Prepare a handout or disk for distribution to participants or provide links to the presentation on the internet
• Practice your talk in front of a trusted and honest friend or colleague and use their feedback to polish your work
  
• Maintain regular contact with the hosting organisation
• Dress appropriately for the situation 
• Arrive early and check setup

During

• Set the scene by giving some background information on yourself
• Turn the camera on yourself prior to starting your presentation - attendees like to put a face to a name
  
• State the rules of the game - Are you happy to be interrupted or do you want people to keep questions to the end? Do you allow attendees to take screenshots of your slides?
  
• Start with an overview of the presentation's content - Outline your goals for the gig
• Display enthusiasm or passion for your subject
• State your relationship to products being demonstrated - Some talks are thinly veiled marketing exercises/infomercials - Be honest and upfront about your connections to vendors/products
• Speak clearly, coherently and with animation - Engage your audience through good communication
• Keep your um count low - use pauses rather then ums
  
• Avoid Death by Powerpoint - You are the presenter
• Use original, relevant images to make your points
• Keep text on slides to a few pithy points
  
• There is no need to read the text on your slides - Most of your attendees can read for themselves
  
• Sprinkle your talk with anecdotes and analogies - but don't overdo it
• Use visual aids and artefacts to embellish your talk - Cater for individual learning styles of participants
• Maintain eye contact - Look at the camera
  
• Involve your audience - Ask them questions, get them to comment on a photo or artefact
• When showing internet sites connect to the site - avoid screenshots - use them as backups for times of technology failure 
• When talking about software - Accompany with a live demonstration
• Be honest - If you don't know the answer to a question say so  
• There may be experts in your audience who can add value to the event - Accept their comments graciously

Afterwards

• Invite feedback via a printed or online feedback form - Offer a prize draw for completed forms
• Set aside some time to talk to audience members individually after talk
• Provide contact details for audience followup 
• Use audience feedback to amend and polish your presentation
  

Spruiking in 2020

From time to time I deliver online and face to face presentations to fellow family historians and other other groups interested in learning about family history. I am an amateur family historian but I aim to take a professional approach to the preparation and delivery of these talks.

I don't submit formal applications to present at many events because I find some of the application processes quite tedious and, at my age, I am not anxious to embark on a speaking career.. However, I usually respond in the positive to invitations to present at venues that are within a reasonable distance of home and they don't interfere with my travel schedule. I love sharing my passion and enthusiasm for family history and technology with fellow researchers and curious folk.

I have just updated the Presentations page on this blog with my confirmed talks and there are a couple more engagements that I will add when details are finalised. I look forward to meeting new genimates at these events especially at THE Genealogy Show in Birmingham, UK in June where I  will represent Australia.

Legacy Downunder Webinars

I was rather chuffed last year when I was approached by Marian Pierre-Louis on behalf of  Legacy Family Tree Webinars with an offer to present a webinar in their new Downunder webinar series. Although I get incredibly nervous about presenting to a video camera I could not turn down such an invitation. I was so excited about this gig but I had to keep Mum about the event until the series was announced.

Marian selected the topic, Six Feet Under Downunder, from the list I have on my blog so for the past few weeks as I have been putting my Powerpoint presentation together I have been burying myself in books and articles about burial history and practices in Australia.

An outback cemetery

Hopefully I will manage to cover the following:

"After a discussion of the history of burial practices of indigenous and early European arrivals in the colony of New South Wales we will explore the development of cemeteries, crematoriums and memorial parks down under. We will discuss current legislation regulating burials and cremation and look at some current trends, practices and statistics for burials in Australia. The major focus of the webinar will be on resources available for locating details of people who were buried or cremated in Australia since European settlement in 1788. We will examine a range of free and subscription print and online resources that provide such details."

Tonight after I listened to the recording of Helen Smith's webinar on Australian Archives which kicked off the series it hit me that I am next on the docket for the Downunder webinar series. 

My nerves will be calmer if I know that some of my genimates will be joining me for my deadly webinar. YOU can sign up to join me in the webinar for FREE at 12 noon (AEDT) on February 6 from this link: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=910.

Following the Leader

And that leader is Pauleen Cass. 

 Pauleen (R) and GeniAus (L)

Pauleen posted on Facebook yesterday that she was working on her presentation for #Congress_2018 and I replied that I had been thinking about mine. Pauleen is presenting, Parallel Lives - Irish kin down under and abroad. As my ancestry is mostly Irish and as Pauleen knows her stuff I am looking forward to her talk. She may be presenting another session but there is no facility I can find on the Congress Website to look at a speaker's bio and see a list of their talks (Hope this is rectified).

Anyway, because I am following Pauleen's lead, I have now at least started the powerpoints for my presentations: Beaut Blogs: ideas for tarting up your Geneablogs (a 2014 presentation that also needs a lot of tarting up) and  Managing Frugally: Free Tools for Genies and Family History Groups (a completely new talk). I have been gathering ideas in Evernote for several months but now need to move forward. Should you have any ideas/resources I should include in those talks please let me know. I need all the help I can get!

Those who are presenting at Congress recently received this message "Just a reminder before Christmas takes your mind elsewhere that your handouts are due to info@congress2018.org.au by 8 January 2018

. Please note that this is a deadline, not a target date so please take care to meet it."

As I need to finish my presentation before I can write a handout the heat is on. I wonder how other speakers are progressing with this task.

Tricky Stuff

In just four weeks I will be taking to the stage at Rootstech with three of my genimates to discuss, in a panel session, some tricky topics in Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas in an Online World. 

Unfortunately one of our panelists, Pauleen, is no longer able to make the trip to Rootstech. I am delighted to announce that Canadian genealogist (and Scottish expert), Christine Woodcock, has agreed to join Kirsty Gray (England), Roger Moffat (proud Kiwi living in in the US) and me (flying the flag for Australia) to make up an international panel that represents five countries. Thank you so much Christine for agreeing to join us.

I do hope that some of our Genimates will join us in Room 151 of the Salt Palace (just across from the Exhibit Hall) at 4:40pm on Friday 2 February as we offer some suggestion for dealing with sticky situations.

Should you have some issues you would like us to discuss please contact one of the panelists and we will try to weave your dilemma into our chat.

Please, make me think.

I must confess that I am a bit of a geneaconference junkie.

I love going along to events where I can meet up my genimates in the flesh and hear their news.  I also go along to learn. I hope to be informed, entertained, inspired and challenged. I want to hear presentations that challenge me to think about new ideas and issues. Sometimes I come away disappointed. Whilst I learn something from every presentation I attend I want and need more.

I understand how difficult it is to create a conference program that caters to diverse needs but I sometimes wonder why some program developers concentrate on presentations that inform and entertain attendees and steer away from the inspiring, challenging and controversial. We are more than empty vessels waiting to be filled.

While I am on my hobby horse may I also remind program people that we are well into the 21st Century and presentations that discuss issues around technology are  also appropriate.

This little rant is a plea to those who prepare programs for events to consider the types of presentations they include in their programs and to include a few talks that will give our gray matter a workout.

Tips for Genealogy Event Hosts

My recent post Tips for Genealogy Presenters was well received so I am reposting another oldie. I must confess that having read my tips I need to lift my game.

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Tips for Genealogy Event Hosts

Over the last eighteen months I have  attended and presented at a number of seminars and talks on genealogy and related subjects. Some events have been well organised with thoughtfulness displayed by the organisers. Sadly, I have witnessed instances where speakers have not been treated with the respect one should accord a visitor. Organisers of genealogy events have a responsibility to their speakers and audiences.
 
These tips may help with event organisation:

Before the Event

• Liaise with the presenter before the event to ensure that you share similar expectations for the event.
• Confirm event details in writing, email is appropriate in the 21st century and give presenter contact details of the organiser
• Prepare and distribute marketing/advertising materials that accurately reflect the content and level.
• Ascertain what the speaker's technical requirements and organise prior to the event.
• Provide a map to venue and organise a parking spot for the presenter.
• If possible provide the speaker with details about audience - number of attendees, level of knowledge etc.
• If there are multiple presentations on a day allow ample time for room changes and refreshment breaks.
• Contact the presenter a few days before the event to address any questions he/she may have
• Offer to photocopy handouts. 
• Arrange for distribution and collection of evaluation forms with presenter.
• Make arrangements to record or video the event.
• Check the technology setup on the day prior to the event.

On the Day

• Be on hand to welcome the presenter or allocate this duty to another person.
• Have a trolley on hand to assist with the movement of bulky items.
• Assist the presenter with setup - Each venue is unique and foreign to the presenter.
• Have water available for the presenter.
• Discuss time management ie windup warnings with the presenter. 
• Nominate someone do an introduction and short bio of the presenter.
• Allow time for housekeeping - Give details of restrooms, food availability before the presenter takes the stage.
• Ensure that someone from the organising body remains in the room during the talk.
• Ensure that the presenter gets the full time allocated to the presentation - A lot of effort goes into planning - Cutting a presentation short is plain bad manners.
• Have someone propose a vote of thanks at the conclusion of the talk.
• If the speaker is a volunteer consider a small token of appreciation eg a book, petrol voucher, flowers.

Afterwards

• Assist with collection of evaluation forms.
• Follow up with a letter of thanks - Useful for the presenter's portfolio.
• Share the results of any evaluation with the presenter.

Tips for Genealogy Presenters

I have been notified that someone is sharing a page I posted on Weebly a few years ago when I was playing with that platform (reminder tto GeniAus - ake the old site down).

As I think what I wrote is still pertinent I am sharing it here:

Tips for Genealogy Presenters

My commitment to CGD exposes me to a range of presenters. Over the last eighteen months I have  attended a number of seminars and talks on genealogy and related subjects. Some presenters have been excellent and some have been downright woeful. In a blog post in 2010 I made some suggestions that may assist presenters at genealogy events. I am updating that here.
I have also suggested that Keynote Speakers should Inspire, Challenge, Educate, Engage, Entertain and Inform but believe that all speakers should aim to do more than one of these in each presentation.
Having knowledge of a subject does not qualify one as a competent and engaging presenter.

Each of these points could have helped one or some of the speakers I have heard recently.  

Before the Event

• Update your knowledge of the topic
• Get prior information on your audience 
• Liaise with the host before the event to ensure that you share similar expectations for the event.
• Be prepared for technology failure with a backup plan. Save copies of your presentation on the internet, a thumb drive, a CD. Have some printed notes for reference in case of complete tech failure.
• Ensure that marketing/advertising materials accurately reflect the content and level of your talk.
• Practice your talk in front of a trusted and honest friend or colleague and use their feedback to polish your work
• Make sure that you have enough content/slides to fill the allotted time. 
• Maintain regular contact with the hosting organisation.
• Prepare a handout or disk for distribution to participants or provide links to the presentation on the internet
• Dress appropriately for the situation 
• Arrive early and check the setup
• If you will be using the internet visit the sites you intend to show on the presentation computer  before the talk so that they are cached on your hard drive and quickly retrieved. 

During the Event

• Ascertain if audience members have auditory or visual issues and try to accommodate their needs.
• Set the scene by giving some background information on yourself
• Ask a few of the attendees: Why are you here? or What do you hope to get out of today's presentation?"
• If it's a small group or an all day seminar invest a few minutes in finding out something about each person in the group.
• State the rules of the game - Are you happy to be interrupted or do you want people to keep questions to the end? Can people record your talk? Can they take photographs?
• I shouldn't have to say this -  Never, ever read a prepared speech word for word
• Start with an overview of the presentation's content - Outline your goals for the gig
• State your relationship to products being demonstrated - Some talks are thinly veiled marketing exercises/infomercials - Be honest and upfront about your connections to vendors/products
• Display enthusiasm or passion for your subject
• Establish and maintain eye contact with the audience 
• Speak clearly, coherently and with animation - Engage your audience through good communciation
• Avoid Death by Powerpoint - You are the presenter and the focus
• Remember the people at the back of the room - Use a large (30point+) font on your slides)
• Smiles are free - Use them liberally
• Sprinkle your talk with anecdotes and analogies - But don't overdo it
• Use visual aids and artefacts to embellish your talk - Cater for individual learning styles of participants
• Pepper your talk with questions. Pose a question or problem and give the attendees a minute or two to discuss it with their neighbour. Ask a few to share their thoughts.
• Graciously accept all contributions to the conversation. Avoid putdowns.
• Always take a question - if is too complex to be answered immediately put it on a 'parking lot' list to be answered at the end of the presentation
• When showing internet sites connect to the site - avoid screenshots - use these as backups for times of technology failure 
• When quoting a URL have an accompanying slide in large font or have a word processing doc opened in the background into which you can quickly tyre the URL
• When talking about software - Accompany with a live demonstration
• Be honest - If you don't know the answer to a question say so  
• There may be experts in your audience who can add value to the event - Accept their comments graciously
• Provide handouts in hard copy or provide a link to a site where a soft copy can be found.
• Reiterate your goals at the end of the talk 

Afterwards

• Invite feedback via a printed or online feedback form - Offer a prize draw for completed forms
• Set aside some time to talk to audience members individually after talk
• Provide contact details for audience followup 
• Use audience feedback to amend and polish your presentation for next time

Please, genealogy presenters, recognise that learning is a collaborative exercise. Involve your students. You can learn from them and give them and yourselves a richer learning experience. Updated 12/4/2012

Word Order Matters

Tonight as I was preparing my handout for tomorrow's presentation on Effective Google Searching I was reminded of this one minute Youtube video that I share with participants because it explains why Word Order Matters when performing Google searches much better than I can.

I thought some of you might find it useful it too.

Caitlin and The Camera - at Rootstech

As I was setting up for my Lost Cousins Downunder? talk at Rootstech this morning I looked around for someone to take a couple of happy snaps. I entrusted Caitilin with my camera knowing it was in good hands and I wasn't far wrong - she took 83 photos during my session. I have very few photos of myself in flight at a gig so I really appreciate Caitlin's contribution (and she tweeted all through my talk too).

THANK YOU CAITIE

It was great to have some supporters in the audience too. Thank you Fran and Hlary

Supporters: Fran, Caitie, Hilary

Here are some of Caitie's photos:

Add caption

His descendants went all over the place

This lady came all the way from Texas for my talk

Thank Heavens that's over.

Spit and Polish

In need of a polish

The furniture in my home is in need of a good polish.

I can't say the same for my presentations for the 4th Unlock the Past Cruise, they are being polished to within an inch of their lives. I just can't seem to say "that will do". One of my sons asked me today, when I said that I had to get home to finish off my presentations, "How many do you have to finish?".

My reply was that they are all finished but that I am still working on them.

As I need to pack my bags and do some work around the house I have decided to save and back up all except the presentation that is scheduled for the first morning of the cruise. I will go through "Beaut Blogs: what makes a blog stand out from the crowd?" just one more time and then I'll call it a day.

Rootstech Downunder

I will be on the high seas on a geneacruise during Rootstech  2014 but I hope to view some of the live broadcasts that have been announced. I have used one of my favourite web tools
Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator to convert the times of the presentations into Sydney time (AEDT) and create a calendar for myself which I am sharing here for other Aussies who may wish to imbibe some of the Rootstech spirit.

I may not be able to view those that are scheduled on sea days but I am taking my new Telstra 4G wi-fi gadget with me so I should be able to view some of these from my cabin while we are in Adelaide.

Thursday, February 6

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch by Tammy Hepps Friday, 7 February 2014 at 4:30:00 AM 

1 p.m. to 2 p.m., FamilySearch Family Tree: What's New and What's Next by Ron Tanner Friday, 7 February 2014 at 7:00:00 AM

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Intro to DNA for Genealogists by James Rader Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 8:30:00 AM

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Genealogy in the Cloud by Randy Hoffman Friday, 7 February 2014 at 10:00:00 AM 

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sharing Your Family with Multimedia by Michael LeClerc  Friday, 7 February 2014 at 11:00:00 AM

Friday, February 7

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Storytelling Super Powers: How to Come Off as Your Family's Genealogy Hero by David Adelman  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 4:30:00 AM

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media by Lisa Alzo Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 7:00:00 AM

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.com by Crista Cowen  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 8:30:00 AM

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Finding Family and Ancestors Outside the USA with New Technologies by Daniel Horowitz  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 10:00:00 AM

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Do It Yourself Photo Restoration by Ancestry Insider  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 11:00:00 AM

Saturday, February 8

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Become an iPad Power User by Lisa Louise Cooke  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 4:30:00 AM

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results by Josh Taylor  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 7:00:00 AM

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., A Beginner’s Guide to Going Paperless by Randy Whited  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 8:30:00 AM

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History by Tom Taylor  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 10:00:00 AM

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep by Deborah Gamble Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 11:00:00 AM

New Society Website

I can't understand societies that pay little attention to their websites. In the 21st Century a group's website or blog provides the world with a window into a society and its activities and resources. A daggy, outdated and old-fashioned website gives the message that a group or its members are daggy, outdated and old-fashioned.

I was frustrated earlier this year when I tried to access the website of The Central Coast Family History Society to get details of their Family History Fair and found that it was down while a new site was being built. I was delighted this week to discover that their new website is up and running at http://www.centralcoastfhs.org.au/home-top.

Home page of new CCFHS Website

Whilst there are a few things I would change (but that's personal opinion) a perusal of this site tells me that the Society is a vibrant group with a wide range of  activities for members and that it is actively publishing materials of local interest. 

The new website is an attractive showcase for the Society, Congratulations to The Central Coast Family History Society.

How does your Society's web presence measure up?

The Genealogist's Gadget Bag: International Panel

It's only six weeks until Rootstech and my excitement is growing. I am thrilled to announce that Marie Dougan from Scotland and A C Ivory whom I both met at Rootstech 2011 will be joining me in this session The Genealogist's Gadget Bag: International Panel on Thursday. 

You can see the outline for our presentation and proposed discussion points for our panel here.

Pre Rootstech Activities

The Talk we attended in 2012

If you are arriving early for Rootstech 2013 you may be interested in the program of free talks at The Family History Library. 

Mr Geniaus and I went to a great one prior to Rootstech 2012. From memory we put our names down on an attendance list when we first visited the library.

Program details can be found here:

https://familysearch.org/locations/library_class_schedule

I'll certainly be doing some learning at the library prior to Rootstech. How about you?

Done and Dusted

Filed away in Evernote I had a little note listing my talks for the Unlock the Past History and Genealogy Cruise that leaves Sydney on Sunday.

Before I started doing my Powerpoints I just had that list staring at me. When I made a start I wrote Started  beside the title of the talk, when I was nearly done I wrote Nearly Completed  and when I finished I wrote Completed.  

Tonight I am dancing because I have completed all but one set of slides. I like to have just enough slides to get me through if technology fails and do live demonstations of the tools I am showing. For the cruise, where internet is said to be dodgy and expensive, I have been busy doing screenshots and preparing lots of slides. Thank you Windows Snipping Tool. In addition I have finished a talk I am giving on Friday at Ku-ring-gai Historical Society and one for Hornsby Library post cruise. That's 12 Powerpoints in all.

The slides for a panel presentation will need to be finished off on board as I need to confer with the other panelists Shauna Hicks, Helen Smith and find some other poor unsuspecting person who I hope to co-opt on board.

Here is the Evernote Note of which I am so proud.

GeneaGoogling: Effective Google searches (Basic) Completed 

Google Tools for Genealogy - Completed

Social Media for Genealogists: Where, why and how - Completed

A Genealogists Toybox: Gadgets and Tech toys _ Completed

Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner and Picasa Both Completed

Family Historian Software Completed

Android Genealogy Completed

Case study: the story of a clock Completed

Google+ for Genealogy - Completed

GeneaBlogging - Completed

Chair: Social Media Panel - Started

I won't be able to avoid going back and tweaking those presentations until it's time to deliver but it is a wonderful feeling to have them all done and dusted.

A Date at my Local

Details of my next talk at my local library , Hornsby Shire Library, have been firmed up. I enjoy meeting up with local people who share my passion for family history; hopefully I will be able to share some tips that will help them further their research. Thanks to Neil Chippendale, Local Studies Co-ordinator at the Library, for the invitation to present.

I will be presenting a session GeneaGoogling : Effective Google Searches at the library at 6:30 pm on Wednesday 27 February. This will be a basic session that introduces attendees to some simple strategies to optimise their use of the Google Search Engine.

Bookings are essential; details will appear on the library website shortly. The library charges a small fee for attendance of these events