How I did it: Over the last few years I've realized my passion for teaching and speaking. The primary problem is that in my current work I have less than three years of experience. I decided that taking my new knowledge of my current career (I'm a neonatal ICU nurse) and delivering it to an audience of my former peers (EMT's and paramedics) would be a winning ticket. This year I presented a talk on survivors of prematurity at our state EMS conference.

Lessons & tips: Make sure that your topic is broad enough so that it seems appealing and useful to your target audience. My 2007 proposal to the same conference was rejected, likely because I talked about a condition that didn't seem very relevant to prehospital care. While I had personal and professional experience with that topic, it probably would not have hit home with many EMS personnel.

The other thing is to plan ahead. Many professional conferences require that presentation proposals are submitted nearly a year before the conference dates.

Resources: I think that pictures (both from personal acquaintances and from image search sites) really helped to break up some of the technical info in my talk.

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Dec 03, 2008, 02:35PM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer