TexMoot 2021: My First Conference Presentation

Today has been a pretty cool day. I got to give my first conference talk thanks to the wonderful people at Signum University who hosted TexMoot 2021 virtually. My talk was entitled “I Can Carry You!” and used the obvious reference to The Lord of the Rings as a way to discuss disability, trust, and autonomy.

I have certainly given plenty of presentations in various times and places. I have been on panels discussing disability and employment, recorded videos with friends like some of the ones you have seen on this website, and spoke at both my high school and undergraduate graduations to hundreds of people. I’m not one to get nervous speaking in front of people as a general rule.

I will admit that I was a little bit nervous before giving my talk today. I’m not necessarily sure what the difference was, but I think that part of my trepidation came from the fact that I actually had to submit my topic and have it approved in order to have the privilege of being able to speak. In most other contexts, people have given me a platform and have asked me to share my opinions. It was not me suggesting I had something interesting to say and then having to deliver on the promise I made in my proposal. The difference may seem subtle, but I do think it is real.

The talk itself went off without a hitch, although perhaps the audience may beg to differ. The technology held up well, and I’m glad that my studio lighting made me look decent. I was working from a script I had written, so I was confident in what I was saying, and while I did deviate a little bit, I had no fear of forgetting what I was going to say. Also, the format of the presentation itself was interesting. We were supposed to give a five minute opening presentation and then engage in a fifteen minute facilitated discussion with the audience. Five minutes goes by very quickly, especially if you don’t have a plan. I am not typically one for working from scripts, but I knew that I would very quickly use up my five minutes if I did not choose every word and sentence carefully. I think I made the right decision, and I think I was pretty close to on time, so that worked out well.

The audience responses to questions I laid out at the end of my presentation were engaging and enjoyable. Not knowing what thoughts might come up always leads to an interesting dynamic, but I was so happy to have an audience that wanted to ponder these difficult issues. The quality of the questions was excellent, and I think that it helps humanize the audience and the presenter both. It is easy to forget that the other exists, especially when you are presenting online, so I loved being able to hear the voices of those who are listening.

All things considered, this was a great first academic conference experience. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to share my thoughts with those who came to listen, and I hope everyone was at least able to relate to what I expressed and took something useful away from it.

On April 10, I will be presenting a paper at Tolkien in Vermont. I will share more details about that as they become clear and we get closer to that event. I was supposed to present this paper last year, but because of pandemic postponement, I get the opportunity to virtually present it now.