After returning from the ATIA Convention in Orlando Florida I thought that I would discuss the steps that you must go through in order to prepare for a national convention.

The first step is to submit an abstract explaining the content of your topic.  I discovered it is very important to closely follow the specific requirements for each section of the abstract.  The number of words for each section must be adhered to as closely as possible.  It is helpful to look at abstracts created by others.  Fellow blogger Rick Hohn [Link to Rick’s Bio] showed me some abstracts he had written in the past that I used as a model.  I could not have done my first few aspects without the help I received from Rick and others. They each reviewed my work and made constructive suggestions before I submitted anything to ATIA.  After many revisions, I finally submitted my abstract and waited anxiously to see if it was approved.  I also need to emphasize the importance of meeting deadlines in presenting at the national level.

After what seemed like an eternity, I was notified that my abstract was approved and that I would be presenting in Orlando in January, 2010.  Now the really hard work of getting the presentation organized and put into a format that was easy to manage began.  To do this I started a text document just for ATIA.  Rick suggested keeping the paragraphs short – just three or four sentences each.  After learning the hard way a few years ago, I made sure to back up my work after making every change!

Once I was happy with my presentation, the hard work was over – for the time being.  I still had to give the presentation.  To ensure that I could concentrate on giving the presentation, I came up with a list of pre-presentations tasks: 

• Be sure to check the room where the session will be held.  Try to get to the room at least an hour before you are to begin to get comfortable. 
• Make sure all the equipment is working properly and the sound is adequate. 
• Usually there are evaluation sheets to be completed by the attendees.  I find it helpful to include an evaluation with the handouts I had.  When people came into the room, I had someone give them the handout and the evaluation sheet.

OK.  So the presentation is over.  It went well!  But the work still isn’t over.  Be sure to allow time for questions at the end of the session.  It is helpful to try to anticipate what some people might ask and have responses already saved into your device.  If the question is spontaneous and you need to type the answer, be sure to have a button which says something like, “Please be patient while I compose what I want to say.”  If you’ll be at the event for a bit, be sure to invite them to stop by to speak with you personally.   Presentations by augmented communicators – whether at a large national conference or to a small local community group – help people understand that although some people communicate differently, they still have something to say!