Centenary Annual Research Conference
Friends, Romans, First-Years, lend me your ears; I come to give you a warning, not to scare you. Practice your public speaking skills for the 2022 Centenary Annual Research Conference is upon us.
It is a well-known secret that first-years enrolled in a Trek 116 course are forced to culminate their semesterly work with a presentation (oftentimes in a group with peers) at the Centenary Annual Research Conference. This year’s conference is set to take place Thursday, April 21st, from roughly 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM at various locations on campus. You can find more information on the conference webpage.
Now, while a vast majority of Centenary students may be uniquely prepared to present in front of an audience (…thinking of those theatre kids…), there exists a subset of us whose knees start to knock at the very thought. While I may be unable to eliminate those fears, my aim is to provide some tips and tricks and a few reassurances that will hopefully lessen your anxiety.
Photo by Callie Fedd
My first bit of advice is to, if you have the chance, plan your schedule for the day so that you have a short break before your presentation. That way you can have a second to go over your notes, rehearse with your group one final time, and grab a water or a coffee. However, don't give yourself too much time! I've found that the longer I spend stressing over my notes and stewing in my fears, the more likely I am to draw a complete blank as soon as I get to the podium. Besides, if I don't know the material by that point, I'm not going to learn it in the thirty minutes before I go on.
If you can, look at the program and figure out in advance which room you'll be presenting in. Go there, scope it out. Stand at the front of the room at the podium and practice reading there. The perk of a private school is that we will be provided those basic necessities like microphones, but the more you can naturally project your voice, the better. Things will be a bit different with an audience; however, I suggest bribing your friends not involved in the presentation to come and watch both your rehearsal and the real thing. It's not so terrifying to speak to a room full of people when you’ve seen them all in the 2:00 AM Whataburger line.
My last bit of advice—make sure that you take time during the day to eat. Food trucks will be provided from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM as the dinner option for the night, courtesy of CAB. But it's beneficial to at least snack on something during the day, even if you don't have the time for a full meal. Keep some candy in your pocket, or grab something sugary and caffeinated to help settle the nerves and keep you awake!
Lastly, regardless of if you're a first-year presenting for the first time, or a fourth-year doing it for the fiftieth time, here are a few reassurances to remember:
Reassurance #1: Your professors are not looking to deliberately set you up for failure and/or publicly humiliate you. Remember—if their classes look bad, they look bad.
Reassurance #2: After a year (a month, really), you will be the only one who remembers how you performed at your first Research Conference. First years, these annual conventions begin to blur together after a year or two. Upperclassmen remember what it was like as a participant viewing these presentations in your last few years at Centenary. Do you remember a single individual presentation? No? Exactly. You're going to be the only one to remember that you stuttered once or twice during your introduction.
Reassurance #3: Despite the lack of notoriety among your peers, this experience is genuinely worth it. Regardless of your discipline, you can add this conference as a line on your resume and impress graduate programs and future employers. They will have no way of knowing that you were an anxious ball of neurosis.
Deep breaths, and good luck everyone!