Hello everyone and happy new year! (does that still work as we get close to February?) As we begin the year, we´re updating the content of packs we´re supporting our conferences with. Join us at the next conference closest to you and you´ll receive: Now that I have your attention, I also wanted to remind you about a recent project recruitment announcement for the newest sphere project: "Pick-and-go Seminars". You can read more about this in the original announcement or in the project [...]
Category: Conference Presenters
Storytelling 3: The Journey
Welcome to the third and final instalment of the article series on Storytelling. In Part 1 and Part 2 we delved into the Hero and Mentor present in our stories. If you remember, the hero is your audience and every great story has a hero who is central to the plot as well as a mentor, or the presenter in this case, who guides the hero throughout their adventures. It is now time to focus on the journey which the hero embarks on, having the mentor as a guide. We will learn how establishing a [...]
Overcoming Performance Anxiety
Giving a ruling to a couple of players? No problem! Handle an appeal? Sure! Disqualifying an angry player? I can deal with that. Now, please, don't put me in the spotlight in front of a lot of people, that is not for me. At least not until I get to read this article.
Storytelling 2: The Mentor
In the previous article on Storytelling, we spent time getting into your heroes’ hearts and minds, it’s time to look at your role as mentor. Even though mentors are not supposed to think about themselves, it does help to do that in the context of how we can be useful to the audience. Your role as a mentor is to influence the hero to take action and change things. The mentor’s appearance in the journey is essential to moving the hero past difficult obstacles. Mentors thus have the major responsibility [...]
Storytelling 1: The Hero
Can a presentation be truly captivating and hold the audience’s attention like nothing else matters in the world? Just think about how a great story makes us feel; there are a handful of key elements always present within a truly great story. Every great story has a hero who is central to the plot and a mentor who guides the hero throughout their adventures. In this first instalment of the article series on Storytelling, we will have the pleasure to meet our hero! Proven Elements of Great Storytelling [...]
The No-Distraction Rule
As a facilitator, distractions are a fact of life. Because they keep attendees from fully appreciating your seminar, we’re here to share some ways to cut down on them.
The Meet’n’Greet Of Public Speaking
The first few things you say in front of an audience can make or break their engagement for rest of the hour. When you’re about to give a talk at a Judge Conference, or with any other public speaking opportunity, put yourself in the audience’s shoes. Who are they?
The 10 Steps to Take Towards a Bad PowerPoint Presentation
We’ve all been in THAT presentation. The presentation where it only takes two slides before our eyes roll back into our head and start to bleed. Perhaps it was the one where you got a handout, which was then projected above, and then every single word was read aloud. It may have even been the presentation in which someone discovered transitions and animations, and made sure to make use of every single one. Presentations like the above are certainly memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. No [...]
There’s a “we” in “weapon”! – Part 2
Focus Groups at Judge Conferences Oh great! If you got this far, you may be now eager to volunteer and bring an incredible focus group experience to your fellow Magic judges at the next Conference. Last time we introduced some general guidelines behind setting up such an infrastructure, and I hopefully convinced you how it can be done, and why it can be great. It is now time to delve into what is actually going to happen during this session… Three is the Magic™ number In order to [...]
An Article: The Backbone of a Great Seminar
Writing, reading and sharing articles is a cornerstone of the international judge program. The very fact you are reading this article is proof. Articles are great. They give projects and individual judges an opportunity to share an idea with a large group of people across the globe. They give the reader a chance to hear from those who live in different countries and continents. They are easily stored and archived and can be shared via a simple link. They can be printed, reposted, tweeted, copied, [...]