{"id":812,"date":"2018-03-06T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T09:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/?p=812"},"modified":"2018-03-08T18:41:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T18:41:17","slug":"public-speaking-for-the-terrified-conservator-children-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/public-speaking-for-the-terrified-conservator-children-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Speaking for the Terrified Conservator: Children and Teenagers Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public speaking: the one aspect of life that we are doomed to never get away from. Whether it’s raising your hand in class, or standing in front of a presentation, it is the one academic and professional prospect that is guaranteed to crank up stress levels like no other. Gigantic, mountainous, essay? Not a problem. Five minute presentation in front of the faculty regarding your latest treatment plan? Oh sorry, I couldn’t hear that from this panic hole that I immediately just dug.<\/p>\n

There is just something about public speaking that seems to set everyone’s teeth on edge. But it is a skill like any other, and it is one that is remarkably useful to have. If you can diversify the ways you can communicate to different groups of people, you can be fully prepared to adapt to anything the field can throw at you. And one of the most challenging groups to effectively communicate to are kids.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Whitehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now as a professional conservator, the chances of you having to speak about your field in front of children is slim. But it does exist as a possibility. And in this age of diversifying the resume, possessing more marketable skills is better. If you put on your resume that you can talk to kids about conservation, it\u2019s one more thing that will make you stand out.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Whitehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior to 2015 I did not have this skill. Giving a presentation in class was like accidentally eating a hot pepper: sweaty, uncomfortable, and numbness becomes the best option for your tongue. But in the summer of 2015, many years after my last in-class presentation, I got a new job: tour guide at the Alberta Legislature building. From Sunday to Sunday depending on my shift I could be counted on to either give free hour long walk-in tours; guide a group around the latest exhibit in the art gallery space and movie theatre; or else merely shepherd a class of 12-year old\u2019s around the entire facility for the whole day for a special booked tour.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Whitehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The whole day. This includes tours, games, activities, and a mock legislature procedure where I had to guide them through the process of passing a bill in house and explain why the government did the things they did. While getting them into costumes and using sets and props. I was essentially talking to this group of kids all day long about things that they (sometimes) did not care about in the least.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Stephanie Whitehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it was fantastic. The more I did it, the more I enjoyed it. I really came to appreciate that spark of \u201coh, now I get it\u201d that I would get at times. But as much as I came to like it, it was a long journey wherein I had to keep practicing a skill that I was bad at. For instance, one of my first official tours I became so nervous at talking for so long that I got confused by staircases and accidentally led my group into the basement of the building. I had to pretend that it was the normal conclusion to the tour and usher them out the back.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Stephanie Whitehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Messing up happens. And it\u2019s not the end of the world if you do it. The sun still rises, and you just try again the next day with a different group. It was like exercising a muscle that I never knew I had. So learn from my experiences and mistakes! Your best two tools for public speaking are going to be practice and research. Practice what you\u2019re going to say over and over until it becomes muscle memory. And research like you\u2019re going to a dream job interview.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Stephanie Whitehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re talking in front of a group of kids, it\u2019s usually a good idea to speak to them about different things depending on what they are learning about in school. If you phrase your communication to intersect with their own life experiences your message will have a greater chance of landing. Below I have compiled a chart of different age groups and curriculum focuses. I\u2019ve based this off the curriculum in Canada, but you can do your own research into the educational standards of your choice.<\/p>\n

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Photos are not reflective of Alberta Legislature Building but instead of students on historic sites and field trips.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Public speaking: the one aspect of life that we are doomed to never get away from. Whether it's raising your hand in class, or standing in front of a presentation, […]","protected":false},"author":1496,"featured_media":858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[234,236,237,233,235],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cabinet-of-curiosities","tag-children","tag-conservation-on-display","tag-public-engagement","tag-public-speaking","tag-tour-guide"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4fDDX-d6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/treasures-in-a-broom-closet-the-challenges-of-public-sector-preservation\/","url_meta":{"origin":812,"position":0},"title":"Treasures in a broom closet: the challenges of public sector preservation","author":"Elizabete Kozlovska","date":"January 10, 2017","format":"image","excerpt":"Preventive conservation is a complex science that can branch out in different ways. 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Thus, everyone involved in the exhibit's creation must keep one question at the forefront of their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Internships and Placements"","block_context":{"text":"Internships and Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/internships-and-placements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/07\/IMG_20170629_165700-e1499247394148-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/07\/IMG_20170629_165700-e1499247394148-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/07\/IMG_20170629_165700-e1499247394148-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/07\/IMG_20170629_165700-e1499247394148-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/07\/IMG_20170629_165700-e1499247394148-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/07\/IMG_20170629_165700-e1499247394148-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2099,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/in-defence-of-collections-part-1-an-introduction-to-the-collections-debate\/","url_meta":{"origin":812,"position":3},"title":"In Defence of Collections Part 1: An Introduction to the Collections Debate","author":"Sorcha Riby","date":"June 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Concerns relating to the colonial motivations and attitudes behind museum collections have caused many industry professionals, especially those based in the West, to question whether collections are, and if they should be, at the heart of museums in recent years. This six-part blog series on the role of collections in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "About CU Conservation"","block_context":{"text":"About CU Conservation","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/about-cu-conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2106,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/in-defence-of-collections-part-4-collections-the-key-to-quality-public-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":812,"position":4},"title":"In Defence of Collections Part 4: Collections- The Key to Quality Public Education","author":"Sorcha Riby","date":"June 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Museums Association report\u2019s results suggest that the only thing the British public are more interested in than learning is the collections themselves. Jones (2018, p.15), Ambrose and Paine (2018, p.156) note the power \u2018the real thing\u2019 holds for them. Even those uninterested in participating in decision-making around the content\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "About CU Conservation"","block_context":{"text":"About CU Conservation","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/about-cu-conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/the-mutual-benefits-of-volunteering-with-susie-sandford\/","url_meta":{"origin":812,"position":5},"title":"The Mutual Benefits of Volunteering with Susan Sandford","author":"Nerys Rudder","date":"February 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"During my time at Cardiff University I have been keen to add to my practical skills by volunteering. There are always opportunities for students to donate their time to local heritage projects and between 2013\/2014 my colleagues, Sara Brown and Johanna Thunberg and I, have been working with the National\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Internships and Placements"","block_context":{"text":"Internships and Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/internships-and-placements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The waterwheel at Aberdulais Tinworks and Waterfalls. 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