Hi Brad! I was surprised at how confident I was with Elluminate. This was my first ever professional presentation , and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn’t shaking during my presentation. 

I was well trained in Elluminate by my friend (and local tweep) @JoHart:disqus, and tried to encourage people to interact via the polls and whiteboards. I practised my presentation using the web-conferencing room at least 4 or 5 times (!) prior to the day,  which I think made a big difference on the day. 

Yes, my presentation wasn’t 100% smooth sailing – I wasn’t familiar with presenting, and may have sounded a little stilted at times, but it worked out well. I’m glad I had a go, and I hope to present again in the future. 

I’ll be catching up with your presentation via the recording, and will be recommending it to one of my colleagues (who’s interested in Values teaching). I’m sure you did fine!  
 

Hey Mike-

Thanks for sharing.  Glad to hear your session went well, and Jo helped us all with her training.

Elluminate in and of itself didn’t fluster me— it was just that I had a hard time balancing my own rhythm and wondering what others “needed” or how they were reacting… was hard to take glances at the chat box when I felt I needed to stay focused on what was next too.

Glad our #RSCON paths have crossed and I look forward to checking out your video as well !

Cheers, b

Hi Brad,

Unfortunately I had to miss your session on Saturday but I will be catching up on it (and many others!) when the recordings are available. It that sense #RSCON3 has not finished yet!

This was my 4th online presentation and I think I’m used to it now. You just have to accept that it is different to a face-to-face presentation (I have to try desperately not to say ‘regular’ or ‘real’ presentation otherwise Shelly gets mad!) and you have to find ways to make the most of the tools you’ve got. The odd smiley shout-out, writing on the board activity or ‘field trip’ to another website all offer ways to break up the session a bit. The other key thing is to keep the slides clear and simple – too much text is a pain in a huge auditorium with a massive projection screen but it’s even worse on a small elluminate display! (I’m sure this wasn’t an issue for you – just talking in general terms).

As for the most interesting thing I learned…. tough question both because there were so many great sessions and there are many I need to watch the recordings of. I guess the main thing was the feeling of being connected and part of an engaged learning community. Often, I feel isolated or frustrated in my efforts to bring about much-needed change where I work. This weekend, I got renewed impeteus to press on. There are so many great educators out there with so much to share – you just have to go looking

Dave

Community.

What more can we ask for, especially when it’s hard to find that in our own personal contexts for whatever reason— unmotivated teachers, an oppressive school board…the list is long.  

The conference was amazing and I’m ready for RSCON4 already.  Hearing that you’re now more comfortable with your 4th presentation is reassuring.  It was my second, but in Virtual Round Table i had a panel of 4 other presenters to see and exchange.  It’s just part of being a newbie on the webinar scene, I think, and second-guessing and then preparing better for that kind of environment.

Always a pleasure to dialogue, Dave— enjoy the rest of your summer !   Cheers, b

Yes, I agree completely. It’s quite an unusual presenting experience, and it can be quite difficult to keep yourself on track. Ensuring people aren’t falling asleep can be a challenge  (!), but I think we succeeded  

Regards, 

Michael 

I didn’t present, but I watched something like 90% of the sessions that it was possible for me to see, and I have to say that I was really impressed by eluminate. There were very few technical hitches and it allowed the event to flow. The integration of the chat room, response emoticons, whiteboard, passing the mic, embeddable web content etc was top notch. The fact that I was sitting in my office didn’t detract at all from the feeling of community that palpable throughout.

And don’t worry Brad, your apprehension didn’t transmit through to us!

Sorry I missed it as I’m on vacation, but I will watch the recordings! I did manage to catch a  few sessions on Sunday and was impressed with Elluminate. Looked great. I’m sure you did great, Brad! 

Hi Brad!

First of all, congratulations on your presentation – I enjoyed every minute of it. The topic was great and I love the way you handled everything. To tell you the truth, you seemed very comfortable to me and not nervous one bit, so whatever you were feeling that moment did not show at all! I loved it! (And yeah, the whole building heard me whoop whoopin’ for ya!)

Now about my inner dialogue while I was presenting (also my first online presentation!)…I was pretty nervous when RSCON3 started but on the day, I actually wasn’t feeling that nervous. But when I started talking, I kinda thought the same things: am I talking too much, too fast? Oops! I did say again that 5 minutes ago…oh no, I’m so sorry I can’t see all the messages in the chatbox, what if someone thinks I am not answering their question…and stuff like that for the first 10 minutes. But then I started to enjoy it and before I knew it, I had only 5 minutes left. And then a new inner dialogue started: 5 minutes?!?! When, how? Hey, I’m enjoying this, I don’t want it to finish…

So, the conclusion is: I loved it and I want to do it again (if they’ll have me – ha ha!). And I do hope to see you aganext RSCON and a lot of the people I saw. The thing is, I have already made up my mind: next time, I am taking three days off from work, so I do not miss anything, plus I will be connected to my coffee machine and not sleep at all (I did sleep from 3-4 hours every night at this one, but I missed Timo Ilomaki and Aki Puustinen (the Finnish educators), Shell and the Couros brothers for instance, and I ain’t missin’ any more sessions again!).

Thanks for this super (as always!) blog post,
Vicky

Hi Brad!  I completely understand your feelings about presenting to a computer screen.  I felt that way the first time I’d done a webinar also–that moment that you’re talking and wondering if anything you say is making sense or if people can hear you–that second guessing.  It gets easier as you do it though.  I’m sure yours came off more smoothly than you think.  I’ll watch it when it’s available to make sure. 

Hi Brad, I, too, used elluminate for the first time during #rscon3.  It was different.  First of all it took me forever to prepare my presentation.  I was learning a new genre and it took time to understand its quirks. Originally, I had planned to talk from bullet points, but the night before decided on a script. I was glad I did because the whole process was nerve wracking. I haven’t heard myself yet … at that point I’ll know what on earth I actually said! So glad I stepped out of my comfort zone though.  We ask our students to do this every day afterall.

Like you, when I am in a physical classroom, I thrive on all the cues that everybody else gives me all the time, and when I am presenting in a virtual classroom I feel the absence of those cues. When I am planning a virtual presentation, I build in as much participant activity as possible: polling, getting them to put things on the whiteboard (and I comment via the microphone on what they put up) and handing the microphone to the participants.

But being a panelist when the participants might ask any questions (for example, the “Assessing Assessment” panel session) means really living on the edge!

Elluminate was good.  I saw no glitches.  Don’t know how it compares to Adobe Connect price-wise, but I really liked the great dynamism at VRT.  But… beggars can’t be choosers can they !

Not surprised the apprehension didn’t come through— it really was an inner dialogue— I guess what I’m describing is the difference between the classroom environment where I “forget” myself and just do… not being used to a virtual presentation, I did a lot of doing with a lot of thinking.  

Make sense ?  In any case, merci 4 coming, and merci 4 commenting !  Catch u soon buddy —and will have onions and artichokes from Brittany

GLAD you were on vacation !  We all need that !  I’m curious of what you think of elluminate versus Adobe Connect having participated in VRT too.  

Lookin 4wrd to my next blog post… already in the making… think u might know what I’m talking about !  ;-)

Hey Vicky !

Merci for ze wonderful comment.  I hear ya on the “taking off time”.  I really had a great time moderating Dina’s session and would love to do more of that— plus I know they could’ve used a few more hands— a number of the organizers were very very beat by the end.

So, yes, we’ll both take off time !

Nice 2 see that you shared a bit of the “nervous” moments, but then you sailed above ‘em.  Can’t wait to see your recording.           Panda hug, b

Merci dude.  Lots of folks have already said that I didn’t seem flustered, and that’s why it really was an inner dialogue.  Nice to see that I’m not alone there, and like anything else, I think it’s just a bit of a learner’s curve.  Looking 4wrd to your recording too.    Cheers, b

Hey Heidi !

Thanks for stopping by.  I’m glad that #RSCON has led to our crossing of paths.  Isn’t it amazing to be connected to so many passionate educators !  I too left my slides fairly simple, and had a “cheat sheet” next to me with the bullet points… but I could barely find the pause to even look at it once I got started.  So much for that !  ;-)  

Glad we both got outside of our comfort zones, and will that much more solid the next round (Epic music like Rocky in the background).

Cheers, b

Hey Phil-

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to share your thoughts.  ALSO, thank you and Jo so much for giving us all some very important Elluminate training.  I felt VERY secure with the software… it was just the “being in front of a screen” that challenged me.  

I did plan a fair amount of interactivity because without a certain amount of “exchange” I know I would’ve felt boring and not properly activated the audience so that the message/thinking would have some personal thought to it and be able to sink in.

Your panel does sound like living on the edge— i’ve done a few interviews in the past few months that felt that way… what next will they ask next !  Kinda fun as long as it’s an area where we feel competent.          Cheers, b

As a participant, a few sessions flew by and with a few of the larger keynotes the chat box literally gave me a headache… but… as a first time conference partcipator (for any conference) I found it mind-blowing… 

Some topics where beyond relevant for me (Joe Bower and Mark Barnes) there were only 2 sessions where I was “okay” taking a break.  

I am already looking forward to RSCON4! 

Hi Vanessa-

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your RSCON experience.

If #RSCON4 were this weekend, I’d be game too !  I’m looking forward to catching Mark Barnes’s recording.  He shared some great points in the chat during my session.     Cheers, Brad

Hi Brad,

I had my folks in town among other things and missed out on webinars in my jammies! I’m hoping to catch up on some of them once they’re uploaded.

I was interesting to hear that the online presentation format stumped you, coz I know how awesome you are at presenting! It’s spooked me a bit…I’ve just been asked to do a presentation for the 汉语老师 Show in Aus. It’s available for Chinese teachers all over Australia.

I’ll be taking Michael’s ideas and practicing as much as possible beforehand I think. I also think that, like you, I may find it difficult to do all the talking! (As much as my friends and fam would scoff at that…) the teaching that I do usually revolves around interactivity and the kids talking! I’m there just to make the great jokes and keep things moving!

Great to hear from you again!

Caitlin

Hey B

I can relate, but in a different way. It was my first time presenting on Elluminate (2nd all-together, the first was using Adobe Connect) so despite having participated in 2 of the training sessions given by Phil and Jo Hart, having moderate countless sessions before my own on Sunday and having played around in my Elluminate room the week before, I was still insecure.

Like you, I miss seeing people. We get so much from watching people’s facial expressions and reactions in general when presenting! But on the other hand, I see so much more interaction in a virtual room! The chat goes wild: discussions, comments to what is being said, questions on the spot, links being shared… I think that is an awesome side of this type of conference.

BUT

It is also something that makes me a bit anxious, because while presenting I find it impossible not to look at the chat, not to interact with that, and doing that sometimes makes me lose concentration and the thread of what I am saying. I also caught myself second-guessing myself a few times…

Yes, unnerving a bit, but also it is great. Because it is new and it is exciting and it makes me want to do more to find my way around it and become a good presenter online.

Sorry to have missed your debut oon online presentations… will be sure not to miss the next one, and like Dave said, RSCON3 is not over, there are all the videos to watch now!

Bisous!

Hey Caitlin !  

Merci 4 stopping by again!  The 汉语老师 show sounds cool.  Is it something I can watch ?  Definitely shoot me a link.

Michael and Phil’s ideas will definitely help !  And so will this:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY-WFfajWq8

ROCK IT OUT, caitlin, and I hope I can watch it live !  ;-)

HEY CC—

I think we’re seeing muito muito eye-to-eye here.  Nothing new of course !

Great minds think alike in chinese is :   英雄所见略同。。。 “heros have the same battle plan”

I wanted to look at that chat, but then I felt like it made me lose my rhythm.  I guess it’s a kind of multi-tasking that takes a while to get used to.  And I agree— unnerving but great.  So much to learn and share in these conferences.  Plus, by presenting we have to solidify our own thoughts in a way that makes them that much more… um… solid

Dave n u are right— it ain’t over yet ! Besos, b

Brad,

Interesting reflections and I don’t think you are alone. 

In my own prez on the Flipped Curriculum, right at the start I suggested the whole conference should be Flipped. It is too traditional despite the technology. Meaning, presenters record their presentation and then post, pre conference. Everyone watches and then attends a “hangout” which is more a Q and A of the lecture they watched and the readings/reference material if provided. This would be much more valuable IMHO, in terms of learning. 

A suggestion and I hope they take me up on it and Flip the next conference. 

DD

Interesting.

Saw the slides and it looked great.  Will catch the recording.  Your “flip” idea makes complete sense to me.  The pre-view/pre-reading format would certainly make it more dynamic and I think richer for both the presenters and participants.  I’ll toss around the idea with Shelly a bit.  If they’re a bit cold with it, it’d be a nice idea to try for a few of us next time to see how it goes.

Always a pleasure hearing from you David.  Cheers, bp

Hi Brad, I’ve been catching up on some of the pressies I missed, including my own :-0 I really enjoyed the text box, it made it interactive, and gave me opportunities to be (relatively) funny!!

[...] of my feelings regarding presenting online are also Brad Patterson’s as he discussed it in his post about #RSCON, another great post you may want to [...]

[...] is my recording if you haven’t seen it yet.  Post-presentation, I blogged about my nervous inner dialogue— how I wasn’t sure if it went well.  Now that I’ve heard it, I’m [...]

[...] "Accepting the Void" – one #RSCON3 presenter's inner dialogue Source: blog.edulang.com [...]

OK…I’m replying a week late on this one, but you know why already!

Like many others I’m trying to catch up with the recordings. Such amazing topics! I’m sure everyone had a hard time choosing. In that respect, I think RSCON or online conferences are great for catching up on presentations you could not attend.

As for your presentation, I thought it was greater than the “sneak preview” I had. I really enjoyed the interactivity you had with the participants, you took time to look at their comments in the chat box and your timing was great too. 

During mine I felt I had to run to keep up with the clock ticking and it was great to have you there to prevent me from showing the links as I would definitely have run out of time, plus I think I missed some questions on the chat box I will have to come back to now that the recording is up.

So, all in all, I think we should accept that everything new is unexplored and hence exciting which is why we got ourselves into it in the first place, right?

Already looking forward to a next, new challenge! Hope to see you there too!

Dina

Wow !  Thanks Dina.  Glad to hear that you felt like I was connected with the audience.  I wasn’t sure after it was done, but I do feel much better about it now.

Tons of chat/audience interactivity in yours too… i would know, I was moderatin’ it !  ;-)

Thank you for sharing this with me Brad. It gives me great insight into what the experience must be like. So was it just your face on the screen for the whole time? That must have been daunting! Was powerpoint or prezi out of the equation?

Hi Josette-

Thanks for your interest. We were encouraged to not use too much bandwidth, and as such I only kept the video on for a few minutes, and then it was the PPT that was visible as well as the chat box. That being said, it was kind of odd for a first-timer, as I was sitting there in a room and knew 40 folks were listening but I couldn’t “feel” their reactions/attention outside of a chat box, and even then I had to stay focused on my own rhythm presenting so it was hard to juggle it all.

I’m sure next time will be smoother and it was a great learning experience. The PLN came in full support !

cheers, brad