Show and Tell: 12 Days of Christmas, Day 9

Show Notes

“Your perspective is valuable. Whether your first presentation is big or small, it’s a chance to contribute and inspire others in the museum field.”

In today’s episode we explore a topic that might feel intimidating to many but is incredibly rewarding: presenting at professional conferences. Sharing your knowledge and experiences with peers can be a transformative step in your professional journey, and Rachel is here to guide you through it!

Whether you’re new to presenting or just need a little push, this episode is packed with actionable tips and heartfelt encouragement to help you take the leap. Rachel shares her personal journey, advice for starting small, and practical tips for planning, practicing, and engaging your audience.

For full show notes and a transcript, visit https://modernmuseumeducation.com/podcast/017

Creators and Guests

Host

Rachel Gibson

Museum Education Consultant | I help museum educators create sustainable, strategic, and pedagogically sound museum programs for children and families through 1:1 consulting, museum program evaluation, educator professional development workshops, and online content, sourced from my unique experience as a long-time museum educator and academic researcher.

What is Modern Museum Education?

Rachel Gibson is a museum education researcher, consultant, and former frontline educator helping museum professionals create engaging, sustainable programs for children and families. On the Modern Museum Education Podcast, she explores topics like family learning, audience engagement, museum strategy, program design, intergenerational learning, and the real-world challenges museum educators face every day.

Part conference session and part coffee shop chat, each episode blends research-backed insights with practical strategies you can actually use—whether you're planning field trips, designing family programs, leading education teams, or trying to keep your creativity alive in a stretched-thin museum world.

If you believe museum education matters deeply—and that your work isn’t childish just because you work with children—you’re in the right place. Discover more at modernmuseumeducation.com!

Hi, I am Rachel, a resource expert and
career coach for museum educators who

are stretched thin, but long to fall
in love with their world-changing work.

After over 15 years with my own hands
in the glitter, I know how it feels

when your Board thinks your work is
childish because you work with children.

I know how hard it is to lead a
tour on a difficult subject, and I

know the frustration of waiting on a
school bus that is 20 minutes late or

worse, 10 minutes early as I'm heading
towards the second half of my career.

I find myself with a passion to
help my fellow educators reverse the

chronic state of being overworked and
underappreciated so that they can reclaim

their creativity and emotional energy.

Join me and my museum buddies as
we share our best tips, tricks, and

techniques for modern museum education.

Hi, welcome back to the 12 Days
of Christmas Museum Education

Edition, my holiday gift to
the museum educator community.

Over the last several days, I've
been releasing short podcast

episodes to help set you up for
museum education success in 2025.

And today we're going to dive
into a topic that I think can feel

intimidating if you've never tried
it, but it is so incredibly rewarding.

And that is presenting at
professional conferences.

Sharing your knowledge and experiences
with colleagues is an excellent

way to grow both professionally and
personally, but I know some people

are uncertain about trying it.

And so what happens, especially at smaller
state level and regional conferences, is

that the same people present every time.

And as you know, I'm a really big
proponent of more voices being heard.

So I want to encourage you if you've never
presented before that now is the time.

But I get it.

It can be really intimidating.

I worked in the field for over a
decade before I got up the nerve to

present at a professional conference.

But now it is my most
favorite thing to do.

So I put together a few tips to
encourage and inspire you to try it.

If you've never done it before.

All right.

Tip number one is to start small.

If presenting at a large conference
feels overwhelming, don't feel like you

have to go big right out of the gate.

And honestly, it can be really hard to
get into some bigger conferences, so

I would encourage you if you've never
presented at a conference before to try

a smaller conference or even a smaller
opportunity so many conferences offer

opportunities for small sessions like
poster presentations or lightening talks.

That's how I actually got my feet wet in
presenting at conferences at the time.

The regional conference that I attend
here in the Southeast had a recurring

session that now that I think about it,
I can't remember what it was called,

but essentially it was like a lightning
session, like a lightning round.

And there were, I don't know, I want
to say 10 people who present, you

had five minutes and you were one of
10 people and you could present on

anything and you had like 20 slides.

They had to be on an automatic timer.

That was kind of actually stressful.

So maybe don't do it that way.

But that format gave me a chance
to, like I said, get my feet wet

without the pressure of having
to prepare a full length session.

So, look into the options.

You might also look into state level
teacher association conferences.

So I presented this past year
at the Tennessee Art Educators

Conference for the first time.

I presented multiple times at
the Tennessee Council for the

Social Studies Conference.

So, there are other places you can present
other than your museum conferences.

The key is to start somewhere
that feels manageable.

Another great way to ease into
presenting is by co presenting.

And in fact, a lot of conferences
prefer panels or multiple presenters

on one session so that there are
multiple viewpoints presented.

So find a colleague who's also interested
in sharing an idea and work together

on a session and that way you can
lean on each other for support and

guidance and it really, especially if
you're feeling, you know, nervous about

presenting at a professional conference,
doing it in a group is always easier.

The second tip is to
focus on what you know.

So if you're feeling nervous about
your first presentation, remember

that the best presentations come
from sharing what you know best.

You don't need to be an expert
in everything, but you are an

expert in your own experiences.

Think about a project that you've worked
on, a program you've developed, or a

problem that you've solved in your museum.

Sharing your unique perspective and
the lessons you've learned will make

for a rich and authentic presentation.

And to be honest, in my experience,
that's what people who attend

conferences want to know.

That's what they want to hear.

They want to hear success stories.

They want to hear about your challenges.

They want to hear about your failures.

Because it both encourages
and inspires them.

So you never feel like you have
to have all of the answers.

Just focus on what you have
done, what worked and what you

would do differently next time.

Now I will say this, when you're
thinking about what it is specifically

that you want to share at a conference,
writing a compelling session

proposal does take some practice.

But I use a lot of the same techniques
that I developed for writing good

marketing copy, which I talked
about, I think it was on day three

of the 12 days of Christmas series,
but it was earlier in the series.

I talked about tips for writing good
copy, how to use action verbs and to

set clear expectations and to tell your
plans without giving everything away.

And also particularly calling
out focused takeaways.

That's really key.

So when you're writing a session proposal,
all of those same elements that you would

put into a program blurb, you want to
put those into your session proposal as

well, so that you can clearly show that
you have a good idea and that you were

able to articulate that to your audience.

My third tip is to plan, plan, plan.

One of the best ways to reduce
anxiety is to feel prepared.

Sometimes museum educators feel
a little bit, um, I don't know,

I was going to say ridiculous.

I don't know if that's the right word,
but maybe feel, maybe ridiculous is the

word, but they just feel so, conflicted
because they might give presentations

all of the time to students or to
families or to school groups, but then

presenting at a professional conference
feels like something they could never do.

And I just validate that feeling
and acknowledge that those are two

very different audiences and it is
intimidating to present in front of

people who are your peers, I think a
lot of, imposter syndrome where you

are thinking that the audience might
know more about this topic than you do.

Whereas when you're presenting to a
school group, you can feel usually pretty

confident that you know more than they do.

It feels like presenting at a conference
should be something every museum

educator feels comfortable doing.

And yet it is not.

So I want to validate that feeling,
but if you are interested in this and,

and want to try it, but then still feel
anxious, the, one of the best ways to

reduce that anxiety is to feel prepared.

So start by outlying the key points
that you want to cover and then build

your presentation around those points.

Just like when you were in middle school
and you were learning to write an essay

outline, you want to write yourself
an outline for your presentation.

And I would suggest you want to give
yourself probably a good 20 to 25

minutes for question and answer time.

There's no shame in having a
conference session that ends early.

People love to, you know, have
a little extra time to get

some water or a coffee break.

Um, that will also give you time if
you go over your talking points, you

have a little bit of a cushion, so give
yourself like, so do, do some math here.

So take your total session time.

Take out question time at the end, 20 to
25 minutes, and then whatever you have

left, that's the time that you have.

And if you've got multiple presenters,
divide the time amongst yourselves.

But when you're thinking about how
many points do you want to make, I

would encourage you to keep it simple.

Maybe have like three really strong
points that you want to make,

and then build out from there.

If you have more time, add more in.

If you think you're going to be crunched
for time, you can just hit the highlights.

But when you create a clear structure with
an introduction, some main content, and

a conclusion, people really appreciate
that well organized presentation.

So make sure that you take the time to
plan out what you're going to say and

the order that you're going to say it in.

I love to use Canva for
easy slideshow design.

They have a number of really
professional looking, fun looking

templates that you can just sort of
plug and play your information into.

So you don't have to also be
a graphic designer, but feel

like you've made a professional
statement with your slideshow.

Now I mentioned that you want
to give yourself some time

for questions at the end.

It's helpful to prepare your mind for
what those potential questions might be.

So if you were listening to this
conference session, what are the

questions that you would ask?

And in fact, if, if you want to go the
extra mile, you might even, show your

presentation or your outline to a friend
or a colleague and see if they can tell

you what, what questions they might ask.

So you want to be thinking like, you
want to be thinking, what is it that

the audience might want to know what
challenges or discussions might arise.

So if you're thinking through those
potential moments ahead of time,

you can go into your presentation,
feeling confident and ready and,

and less nervous that you're going
to be caught off guard in the end.

Now, the next tip kind of goes
along with plan, plan, plan, and

it is practice, practice, practice.

The key to feeling confident in
your delivery is to practice.

Every time I'm going to present at a
conference or present, even in my classes,

I all, it feels like every single one of
my classes, I have to do a presentation

in and even for those where I'm very
confident in my information, I still

practice the presentation beforehand,
just so that I can practice saying

the words out loud in a certain order.

It just makes me feel much more
confident and ready to go when I'm

standing in front of a group of people.

Remember, you're building your
confidence with every run through, so

give yourself time to practice and that
will also help you feel more prepared.

Now the next tip is when you're
actually doing the presentation

to engage your audience.

This is one of the ways to make
your presentation memorable.

It's just like when you're giving a
field trip or program and you want to

engage those kids, you want to engage
your peers at a professional conference.

You don't have to have all the
answers, but you don't want to

present it in a dry lecture style.

You want to be interactive, ask
questions, share stories, use

visuals that encourage participation.

Remember just like when you're giving
a field trip, when your audience is

actively involved, you will feel less
like you're giving a speech and more

like you're having a conversation and
that will help reduce your anxiety

and that will also raise the interest
and the engagement of your audience.

So it's a win-win for everybody.

That's what you're looking for.

And if you are afraid, and I do this,
this is a tip that I do all of the time.

If you're afraid that you're going to
slide into lecture mode, you can add

questions directly to your slide deck.

So have a slide that doesn't have
information, it has a question, a

question that you want the audience
to consider, ponder, or maybe you

want them to answer it out loud.

So build those questions, build
that interaction into your slide

deck to help keep you on track.

So you don't slide into lecture
mode and you stay in engagement

audience, interactive mode.

Now, lastly, remember
that you are not alone.

Lots of people are willing to help
and support you in your journey

to presenting at a conference.

Speaking as someone who presents at
conferences, at least two to three times

a year, I love to see people who've
never presented get up and present.

It's so rewarding for them.

It's so rewarding for me as an
audience member, and it is so

rewarding for the field in general.

It's good for us to share with each
other what's working, what's not working,

challenges and successes that builds
our field better than anything else.

I really believe it builds
our field better than almost

anything else that we can do.

So rely on that support network,
your coworkers, your colleagues,

they want to support you.

And if you feel like you don't have
someone in your work life that wants to

support you, just know that I support you.

And if you need to reach out
to me directly, reach out to,

seriously, I'm not even kidding you.

If you sent me an email and that
said, Hey, I listened to your

podcast and I'm going to present
at a conference for the first time.

And I'm a little bit nervous.

I, I guarantee you, I will send
you an email back and, and just

give you so much encouragement.

I might even pick up the phone and
give you so much encouragement.

That is, it's so exciting.

It's so exciting.

And it's so rewarding to
present at a conference.

If you've never done it, just take this
as your inspiration, find a conference

in your area nearby, maybe one that
you've gone to for years, and you've

never had the gumption to get up
and present and, find out what their

deadlines are for session proposals.

Put it in your calendar now,
so you're prepared and ready

to send in that submission

.
And I just wanted to end with saying
it is normal to feel nervous, but

remember that every step you take
from planning your topic to delivering

your talk, Is opportunity for growth.

And again, the museum field thrives
on collaboration and knowledge

sharing your perspective is valuable.

So whether your first presentation
is big or small, it doesn't matter.

It's a chance to contribute
and make connections with

others who share your passion.

So just take a deep
breath and start planning.

Embrace that process and you will be
amazed at how much you can learn from the

experience and you'll be amazed at how
much you inspire others along the way.

All right, that's it for today.

Thank you so much for joining
me, and I will see you back here

tomorrow for day 10 of the Museum
Education 12 Days of Christmas.

Thank you so much for joining us.

If this episode has been helpful to you
or interesting, please take a minute

to like subscribe and leave a review.

Which will help other museum
educators find this resource.

As always, if you would like to work with
me more directly, have any questions or

would like to be a guest on the podcast,
you can find links to all that and more

on my website, modernmuseumeducation.com.

I'll see you back here next time.

And in the meantime, please remember
that your work is not childish,

just because you work with children.