Desgining an Upcoming Presentation

In two weeks from today, I will be presenting to some Canadian music therapists about my ideas about competency-based clinical training and education. I got the acceptance letter last week, so here I am, sitting at my computer, getting my ideas together, and starting my presentation.

I enjoy presenting ideas to people. I like sharing ideas and seeing what other people think of them. The best presentations, in my opinion, are those that challenge your ideas about what music therapy is and can be when observed through a different lens. Those are the presentations that energize me and make me think about what it means to be a music therapist. I hope that I can help attendees with their own ideas about music therapy and competency-based clinical training.

EGAD! I just found a spelling error in my proposal. Ugh. It is a little thing, but it matters to me. Be mindful of the mistake, correct it on the page that I just printed out, go back and change it in the original document so it does not continue, and then off I go into the world of presentation design and development!!

First, I like to outline. I have 45 minutes in a breakout room to fill up with information and discussion. I want to spend most of our time discussing competence within a clinical training lens, so I have to touch on a quick overview of competency-based education and then move on!

Second, it is time to put my powerpoint suggestions into reality. No more than 3 sentences per page. Figure on 3 minutes per slide - so no more than 15 slides to this 45 minute discussion. Visuals are important. Do not just read what is on the slide, but make sure to read what is on the slide for those who are not looking at the presentation. Make sure to include auto-captioning for those who are not listening to the presentation. Focus on the abstract and description that I presented to the review committee.

Last, practice, practice, practice. I tend to do my presentation practice while I am hurtling down the highways to and from work. I have an hour to spend in my own company, so I practice my presentations. Yes, I talk to myself. The good thing is that it is no longer unusual to drive past someone sitting alone in a car talking to the air in the car. It used to get lots of stares from my fellow commuters, but no more! It is nice to be able to talk to myself without reactions from others!

So, today's task is to outline.

I do this, as I do many things, from a time perspective. I start with 00:00 and then go in five minute increments until I have reached 00:45. This helps me pace my information and keep myself on track as I go. I never really end up following that timeline exactly, but it serves as a guideline.

I now have the CAMT Standards of Practice for guidance as well as all the information about being a music therapist that is on their page. Now, I have done the first step of my research into what goes on in music therapy as a Canadian. It is time to immerse myself in this information so I can complete my outline.

As I am working on my outline, I also get to work on my presentation itself. I want to brand the presentation a bit - my logo and contact information on all pages. I also want something that is unique to me. I may work on making my own presentation template to use in all sorts of presentations. Oooh!! That might be fun!

Anyway, it is time to finish up this proposal, turn it into a presentation, and then start to practice!

I still have my fingers crossed that I will be accepted to present at least one of workshop ideas at the World Congress for Music Therapy, but I am going regardless! See you in Vancouver next July?? Hope so! 

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