From Idea To Presentation: Finding Your Voice Workshop

This two-day in-person workshop will be held at the office of the Alabama 911 Board at 1 Commerce Street, Suite 620 Montgomery AL 36104

Speakers will include:

Lauren Sisler, ESPN Sportscaster/Inspirational Speaker

Leah Missildine, Executive Director, Alabama 911 Board

Dawn Shumway, Instructor with the Denise Amber Lee Foundation/Comms Director

Ricardo Martinez, II, Founder, Within the Trenches Media

Sara Weston, Founder/Executive Director, 911der Women, Inc.

So, you’ve never presented before an audience (whether live or virtual), but you have this seed of an idea for a session that you know would be absolutely brilliant! How do you go from inspiration, aka the “lightbulb” phase to having a PowerPoint you can be proud of? How do you take that giant step forward in finding the confidence to find your voice and speak on that topic that is important to you and your industry? We’ve all heard it time and time again: FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY! But what if the fear is just so suffocating or you don’t know where to even begin with translating your idea into a reality? This workshop is all about helping you to convert that idea into a presentation that you can share with the world. You will learn all about how brainstorming is your friend, and how to write an abstract that captures the essence of what you want your session to say. You will get valuable information on how to plot an outline, build a PowerPoint, and plan on learning objectives for your attendees. Subject matter experts will give you the tools to empower you to take your thoughts from paper to the stage, and finally create and deliver that presentation you’ve been wanting to make!

Objectives for the workshop:

1. To motivate attendees to think about what topics are important to them or what discussions they feel are worth exploring. We want attendees to think about what their “dream presentation” would look like. Is their presentation based off of a topic they’ve already seen covered before? If so, how do they plan to expound on this topic, or offer a different viewpoint? What format would it fall in: lecture-style, open forum, or an interactive workshop?

2. To explore the process from brainstorming to planning to creating to presenting. Brainstorm a bunch. Plan for success. Create from your heart. Present with passion. The goal is to bring heart and passion to whatever the topic of your choosing is, and, above all, have fun through the process.

3. To demonstrate (from a personal standpoint) how writing up a presentation doesn’t have to feel like you’re writing Beethoven’s 10th Symphony! It all starts with an IDEA. Start with what you know! Go from there, and be confident in knowing that no one is better equipped to deliver your presentation than you are.

4. To empower attendees to take all of the information they’ve learned and content they’ve created and share their ideas with the 911 community and beyond.

Takeaways for attendees:

1. Attendees will walk into the workshop with an idea and a laptop, and walk out with a session, slide deck, and lessons on how to present.

2. Attendees will learn how to write abstracts and session descriptions in a way to give them the best chance at getting their session selected for in person or virtual conferences.

3. Attendees will have hands-on training from subject matter experts.

Attendees will receive a workbook and lunch will be provided.

Thank you to our partners, INdigital and RapidDeploy for making this workshop possible and FREE to attendees!

If you have questions, please email [email protected].