One thing that I've discovered is *very* distracting is if I see anyone who looks bored, sleepy, irritated, whatever. That will make me lose my train of thought because I started to be concerned about *why* they appear to be tired, bored, or whatever. I then start to be even more self-conscious, which causes me to talk fast and get even more flustered.
Lots of fun! :-) John >>> "Frank Jimenez" 2/11/03 4:27:08 PM >>> I don't know about you, but public speaking is one of the hardest skills I've had to learn. I've noticed that there are lots of 'fear-enhancing' factors that can become involved; they can vary from person to person - some speakers completely lose it when handling a difficult audience-member, or trying out new material, or typing/demoing while speaking. For myself, it seems having a video-camera in the room will completely trip me up. I can't tell you the number of times I've presented material well (good survey results and everything), only to #@%$& it up completely when having to record it for a Video-on-demand session. Urg. Makes me wish that they'd just use a handheld camera and not tell me it's in the room. :-( Frank Jimenez, CCIE #5738 Systems Engineer Cisco Systems, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of John Neiberger Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 4:12 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: OT: New Instructor Experiences [7:62826] I just feel the need to rant/vent for a bit and I knew there were a bunch of you who might be able to relate to this. I've started teaching a short, one-session general networking class for some of the people here at the bank. The first session, which was really just a runthrough with a handful of students, went fairly well. In fact, it went so well that they increased the number of overall attendees to about 60 or so. Last week I had another session that went exceptionally well, except for a couple of students who really didn't want to be there. I couldn't have asked for it to go better, and my boss heard lots of good things about it. One person even said I should be a professor! :-) Now, that brings us to today.... Today I had an afternoon class, and in my opinion it sucked rotten eggs. I feel embarrassed to have been involved with it. I can't think of too many ways in which it could have gone worse. I rambled, I flew through 2.5 hours of material in about an hour, I lost my place a lot. I'm not certain that I ever formed a train of thought longer than a couple of cars, and I think even those trains were without engine and caboose. Have any of you other instructors had days like that? As I even mentioned in class, I felt like my 'explainer' was broken today, and it certainly was. I'm hoping that I could get some sympathy from other instructors with similar experiences. Okay, I'm going to go drown my disappointment in some coffee! John Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=62835&t=62826 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]