My love hate relationship with speaking in public

  

(Why I love/hate speaking in public.)

I realise that this particular blog topic was probably supposed to be about either loving OR hating speaking in public, but personally I associate this activity with a healthy dose of both. As a city tour guide, speaking in public is what I do for a living. I will regularly find myself standing in the bustling town square of Munich’s historic centre, regaling a crowd of 40 or more people with stories of Bavaria’s convoluted history. In these instances, with these people I’ve never met before hanging on my every word, I seize the spotlight and relish in their attention. Here I find public speaking exhilarating, it gives me a buzz which I latch on to and let it whisk me along for the ride. Sometimes it’s great, I’m a superstar and every joke I tell brings the house down. At other times, even after delivering my best material, my audience will remain staring stone-faced. On the odd occasion I’m sure I’ve even heard crickets chirping in the background. This all comes part and parcel with the job though, you win some you lose some. At the end of the day it’s a fantastic job and I love it.

On the other hand, when I’m not working, for example when I’m catching the train home or standing in the queue at the supermarket, I normally put a lot of effort into drawing as little attention to myself as possible. In fact I try so hard to avoid attention at times I have been known to walk out of stores knowing full well I’ve been short changed, yet saying nothing because I don’t want to make a scene. This version of myself, this ‘real’ me is self-conscious, he hates being the centre of attention, gets sweaty palms in fact just thinking about clearing his throat and yelling “May I have your attention please?!” in a public situation. But this is the same person (me) as the guide who will effortlessly weave a tale of royal intrigue in front of a group of spell bound tourists.

I think this is relevant to this week’s lectures where it was noted that one may find it helpful to pretend they are an actor when they are speaking in public. Public speaking can be excruciating, for the speaker and the audience. I’ve come to realise that it’s all about how you, as the speaker, approach the challenge. Now before I speak in front of a group of strangers I take some time to put on my (imaginary) cape and strap my metaphorical underwear proudly on the outside of my pants. I look at public speaking as playing a role, this helps me to reduce anxiety by distancing myself from the threat of things not going well. This in turn gives me more freedom to enjoy the experience, something which I think is extremely important. 

Trials and tribulations of a modern parent.

As the proud father of a four week old baby, I've discovered that being a parent can be quite the emotional roller-coaster. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, I had been warned after all, but I have to admit that when setting out on this fatherhood thing, I was more than a little naive. In the last month I've been peed on, puked on and pooed on. I've been bought close to tears with a screaming, red-faced, writhing ball of terror in my arms at 4 in the morning, pleading with her to just, please, go to sleep. Then bought close to tears again, on the opposite end of the emotional scale, gazing in wonder as two pure blue eyes peer peacefully back at mine.

The most difficult part of parenting for me though, the part which I'm sure has already tuned a few of my hairs grey, is the not knowing. There's been a lot of guess work. Does that cry mean I'm hungry, I'm too warm, I have a stomach cramp, or I've just crapped myself? So much of early parenting is trial and error. And when at a loss, often I will turn to Doctor Google for help.

The internet has proved an invaluable resource as a parent with a new-born, with a wealth of information at my finger tips, sometimes I wonder how past generations coped. On the other hand, when it seems every link I click on expresses a different, often conflicting point of view, I can see how it could have been a lot simpler in the good old days. Although there is some metaphorical gold on offer on the internet, there is a whole lot of rubbish to wade through as well.

Recently I read an article attention-grabbingly titled Dear Parents, You Are Being Lied To (Raff, J 2014) which I found very relevant and interesting.

The topic of the article was child immunisation and public perception. The author Dr. Jennifer Raff is a health professional obviously frustrated with what she sees as public misperception over immunisation practises. In short she discusses the debate over whether immunising children is safe, effective and/or necessary. She answers all these concerns with an emphatic Yes It Is.

In my opinion the worthiest point Raff makes in her article is the importance of educating oneself in the right manner. This means finding out what the scientific community thinks and learning about the immune system and how it works. She also suggest talking to older generations who lived before today's immunisation techniques existed.

In today's modern society, there is an ever growing distrust of "Big Pharma" - large pharmaceutical companies who are seen as having purely financial objectives. Calls for disregarding modern medicine for natural "alternative" remedies are becoming more common. Personally I believe both have their place. The difficult part is finding the right balance between the use of natural remedies, synthetic medicine, and the faith that the body can  to an extent remedy itself.  I feel this is doubly important as a parent when it is not only your own body you are responsible for but also that of a completely helpless human being.

It's true it can be hard to find the kernels of truth when wading through the swathes of information available to us these days. A great quote mentioned in Raff's article, which I will take with me is the following which comes from astro-physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson "the good thing about science is that it's true, even when no-one believes in it."

Week 6 - Belbin team roles - where do I fit?

I found this weeks lecture on Belbin team roles equal parts illuminating and frustrating. I have come across similar systems in the past, where different behaviours or personality traits are categorised in different ways. Over the years I have been classified as everything from an an elephant, to a fish, a number 3 and even a sail on a boat. I always struggle with these classifications as by their nature they are generalisations. I realise for the most part they are only meant as guide lines but I believe human beings are just too complicated to be shuffled away tidily into different boxes.

The Belbin system turned out more or less the same. I can see how it could be useful when evaluating roles within a team, but again I felt the generalistaions too broad. I could relate to aspects of a wide variety of roles: the plant, the coordinator and the implementer for example, but felt that none of them really seemed to fit me all that completely. Take the implementor role for example, I really enjoy getting stuck in and "doing" but I see this as an important part of leading. In fact I think that there are many situations where a good leader should lead by example and therefore a healthy dose of the implementer comes in very handy.

Maybe I am taking it all just a little too seriously (is that the monitor evaluator coming through?), if so I apoligise. I do believe systems such as this one have their place, it is just that when it comes to individuals there is a whole lot of grey between the black and white.

Week 5 - Working in a team.

     From the sports field, through the class room to the work place - almost every one of us has or will have worked in a team environment at some point in our lives. Personally I have worked, played and learnt in a wide variety of team environments, in a wide variety of roles - bass player in a band, unskilled labourer at a work site, supervisor of a crew of trail builders and so on. For the most part I find working in a team beneficial and enjoyable, but at other times, when the structure is incohesive it can become downright frustrating. One of the things I have learnt is that for a team to be productive, often it is important to have some kind of structure, so that everybody knows what is expected from them in their particular role.

After finishing high school I worked for a temping agency in Dunedin for a while, being placed in various manual labour positions throughout the city. Working as an unskilled labourer on a construction site, I was at the bottom of the ladder. As the least experienced, least qualified and most easily replaceable employee on the site, I knew that my role was to do what I was told and not complain. I accepted this, and although the work was tedious, I got on with it. This did not mean I couldn't use my initiative, and I continued to look for ways to improve the efficiency and safety of the work site, but my input was limited by my position in the team. This was frustrating at times, to hold such a low position, but necessary for the structure of this particular team. It was dirty work, but someone had to do it.

     On the other hand I have also worked in supervisory roles. Although these positions are much more fulfilling and mentally stimulating, sometimes I missed the days of having no responsibility. For example one position I held was as crew leader of a group of eight mountain bike trail builders. We were working together for three months in the remote desert of north Mexico, a harsh and strange landscape, so naturally we became friends. The work was arduous and motivation levels would ebb and flow. The challenge for me in this particular team environment was to know when to crack the whip so to speak, even when I didn't want to. Although it was difficult, if I had slacked off in this regard, our productivity as a team would have dropped. 

     In 2004 I undertook a polytechnic course in Outdoor Recreation. We were a group of students ranging in age from 18 - 25 or so. As well as teaching outdoor skills like kayaking and bushcraft the course aimed to provide students with leadership skills. With a lot of strong personalities and no official hierarchy within the group of students, there was often conflicting opinions. This led to arguing and indecision. Through this experience I learnt that sometimes it is hard for us to step back and let others take a leadership role, but it can benefit the team as a whole. This doesn't mean that we can't have input into the team, only that the team usually works better if there is some kind of structure which includes a leader or facilitator.

One useful way of ensuring that a team works is to designate roles within the team. Sometimes this is part of the team structure, for example in a rugby team. Each team member has a clear cut position, each with their own roles and responsibilities. This approach can sometimes be hard to implement, but a structured team will almost always work better than an unstructured one.

Week 4 - The things I think are most important for writing in science

I believe that one of the most important aspects of scientific writing is accuracy. When writing in science you are accepting a responsibility that what you're writing is, to the best of your knowledge, truthful. It is about adding to the knowledge of your readers, not just feeding them entertaining half truths. The cross referencing and checking up of facts is, therefore, extremely important. In saying that, what is the use of all that research and striving for accuracy, if nobody reads what you've written?  This is where another extremely important aspect of scientific writing comes in - relevancy.

Science writers are often tackling very complicated subjects. Just as important and often more difficult than good research is making the subject relevant to the reader. In our first assignment our target audience were the readers of a local newspaper. Therefore long technical and wordy scientific explanations were not going to grab their attention, rather the content had to be entertaining - interesting yet not overbearing - and conveyed in a way which they could relate to their everyday lives. This was quite a difficult balance to achieve, as newspaper readers could mean anything from a professor in the subject to someone who knows nothing, or next to nothing about it. It is important to be able to reach a wide range of interest levels and prior knowledge.

Our next assignment on the other hand is a report meant for the Executive Leadership Team at the Ministry of Health, This means our target audience is not so interested in being entertained over breakfast, rather they are looking for a convincing and well thought out report which they can put into action. An all together different kettle of fish. Although a lot of the information is going to be exactly the same, the way in which it is delivered will most likely be totally different.

From writing an article in a magazine covering why kids should brush their teeth, to delivering an in depth scientific report on the benefits of dental programmes in schools, writing in science covers a broad scope of intended audiences. In every instance it is important to be able to stand by what you've written with total conviction in it's accuracy. It is just as important, however, that the information is delivered in a suitable way, otherwise all that hard work could be for nothing.

Week 3 - Summarising the debate

Like any interesting subject, providing a tax subsidy on fruit and vegetables is far from being black and white. The more research I have undertaken on the subject the more points of view I have discovered and the less certain I have become of my own opinion. At face value at least, making healthy food more financially accessible to New Zealanders has obvious benefits. The less wealthy members of society for example, who are more affected by poor health associated with poor diet, would presumably benefit. As Donna Wynd argues in her article "Why taking GST off fresh food won't help the poor, improve their health or make them slim"  however, the influence that the price of food has on the eating habits of low income households is comparatively small.

Eating habits, Wynd (2010) states, are "a complex mix of learned behaviour, education, food preparation and cooking skills, cultural expectations, food availability and affordability, income, expectations, and personal preferences." In other words, it is impossible to point to one aspect of our society, i.e the price of fruit and veg, and say, 'here is the problem, fix that and we will be slim and healthy in no time!' Real life, unfortunately, is seldom so simple. In Wynd's opinion the main factor of the prevalence of unhealthy diets in low income households has more to do with income equality. She argues that until this issue is confronted "then we might as well collect the GST off fruit and vegetables and use it for something socially useful." The point Wynd makes is that a subsidy on fruit and vegetables could be seen as a way of avoiding the much larger issues of income inequality and poverty in our society.

So, as Wynd argues, there seems to be no silver bullet cure for our poor diet but should we totally write off a fruit and vegetable subsidy? Veerman and Cobiac (2013) think not. In an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia they postulate that removing the GST exemption on fresh fruit and vegetables in Australia, effectively raising their price by 10%, "could have a large detrimental impact on health and health care budgets."  In fact, using models based on scientific evidence they estimate that "the extra disease burden could add a billion dollars in health care costs" over the life time of the 2003 Australian adult population. In their research Veerman and Cobiac have touched on a very important part of the argument - the direct correlation between a healthy diet and disease prevention. They argue that a subsidy on fruit and vegetables not only saves lives, but saves money in medical costs as well.

This assignment has been very interesting. I have enjoyed thinking deeply about a particular topic, especially one which is so relevant in today's society. Although my opinion has been broadened now and I better understand why people don't agree with the proposed tax subsidy on fruit and vegetables, I do believe that if it was introduced society would benefit. What's your opinion?

Wynd D. (2010) Why taking GST off food won't help the poor, improve their health, or make them slim. Retrieved from http://www.policyprogress.org.nz/2010/12/why-taking-gst-off-fresh-food-won%E2%80%99t-help/

Veerman JL, Cobiac LJ. (2013) Removing the GST exemption for fresh fruits and vegetables could cost lives. The Medical Journal of Australia, 199 (8): 534-535

Week Two - Research

Wait, it's Sunday already? Where did the week go? Time seems to be slipping away of late, the days are getting shorter (yes here on the other side of the world it is shifting into winter, so I hope you're all enjoying the sun over there!), and my position paper is coming together, it's just happening very, very slowly.

I have chosen my subject - Should fruit and vegetables be subsidised in New Zealand - and laid out a plan including which aspects of the argument I wish to cover etc., but the road block I have hit has been in the research. Being in Germany, with no great source of English literature at my disposal, my main source of information is the internet. I have a healthy suspicion of Wikipedia - this will be my inherent anti-technology trait shining through, (I'm sorry, maybe it's a South Isand thing...) Anyway, I'm just not too sure how reliable the web is as a resource in general, and because it will be my primary resource I am hoping this doesn't have an adverse affect on my paper and how it is received (i.e. my mark). Nevertheless, it's what I've got to work with so I will do my best to filter the wheat from the chaff and produce a solid piece of writing. This will be done throug the use of reliable web sites and cross referencing when possible.

Maybe I will have to gather some data through other means like an interview or survey. I particularly like the idea of an interview, to get an expert opinion and perhaps raise some issues I haven't already thought of. There are also some good surveys and studies published online, the results of which I am tempted to use, but is this in some way cheating? The greatest benefit of using pre-existing surveys undertaken by well established organisations, such as the Ministry of Health, is because of their greater resources and recognition by the general public they can reach a much larger selection of participants. Therefore, I believe their results would be more conclusive then any I would be able to gather under limited time and with limited public recognition.
So these are the things I'm currently working through. I can see the direction my position paper is taking, I know more or less what point or points I want to make, the task now is fleshing it out with solid research from reliable sources. The forecast next week promises a high of 3 degrees - at least it's good studying weather!
Hope you all have a great week.