Well, looks like I just about made it to the finish line. I still have a few more pages to write before everything is all said and done, and what better way to begin by explaining my presentation for the Spring Symposium?
My project is divided into two major points: explaining Godreign, the novel that came as a result of my research and discovery, and explaining my research, which explains my thought process in greater detail.
Since I know that the people at the symposium were probably educated, but likely not as well-read in the same areas that I had covered for my thesis project, I wanted to keep things as straightforward and understandable for the average person. This included (against my own judgement) the usage of Marvel and DC character images to further push my explanation forward. It feels awkward a little, essentially promoting a book that hasn’t been published yet. But it’s my project darn it, and I’m gonna consider it a practice in marketing, if anything.
I tried to take an approach that was less focused on the “how” behind my thesis; save that stuff for the actual written paper. Instead, I wanted to use a lot of time explaining the “why”. Why I feel this needed to exist, why I felt this was a worthwhile endeavor. I never, ever thought I’d be writing a book as part of my academic process, so I think it’s important to explain things to the average person with that in mind.
I’ll be trying to present the promotional materials with the website that is serving as a portfolio for my work. There is a bunch of materials related to both my research and my novel that I would like to share on it, and so I’ll be putting a decent amount of time on the website as well, which should have its own domain name by next week.
I always admired Apple keynotes for their layers of presenting a new product or service, so I studied some of their keynotes as a basis for my own presentation. In particular, the way they set a background for the product or service before they reveal it. While I am not selling anything here, I do want to introduce my story in the same method, using the research to set a background for my actual story, and then proceeding to explain the story that resulted from my research. Public speaking is no stranger to me, but I will be timed to an extent, so I will be keeping that in mind when I present everything next week.
I don’t plan on having any sort of script to stick to however. Nothing ever goes as planned in life, but I feel this is one of those times where staying off the script is going to result in a more organic, more honest presentation. Hopefully those 5-10 minutes will be spent on speaking on what I know best, which is my thesis project, and the novel that came from it as a result.
The Space Between It All 