On Monday evening (4 Oct) I gave a presentation for the very first time. And the topic of this presentation? Well, it was creativity and design of course. The presentation was part of a series of seminars/workshops called Spark run by the Association for Qualitative Researchers (AQR).
The event took place on the 11th floor of an office block in Central London. Now, it doesn’t sound like the most exciting of venues but let me tell you… if I worked there everyday I would never get any work done. The view was incredible. The best 360 degree view of London that I have ever seen taking in all the major landmarks, and to top it all off it was an incredible sunset. I just wish I had had my camera with me!
I can’t even begin to explain how nervous I was before it started or during it! Standing in front of 30+ professional people constantly wondering… Would people enjoy it? Would they understand all of it? Would I get through the evening without any major cock-ups!?
Apart from being totally unable to pronounce the word appearance properly (kept saying apperiance) and accidentally scrolling ahead through five slides and having to reverse back, I enjoyed it and I think the audience did too. People appeared to be genuinely interested in the subject matter and seemed to really enjoy the hands-on session where they became the designer for 30 minutes.
So putting aside all the nerves and the stress of preparing the presentation there were a few things that really stood out for me during the evening.
1. How nice it was to be able to explain what it is I actually do for a living, and how I do it. Thereby explaining that design isn’t just something that takes five minutes but is a part of a much larger process.
2. After doing the ‘Left Brain vs Right Brain’ test on everyone, It was surprising just how many people were right brain dominant (perhaps understandable given they are all talented market researchers, an industry where a little bit of creativity is a necessity) I was expecting a more 50/50 split.
3. I was really impressed by the level of commitment and enthusiasm everyone put into the hands-on session. In a short space of time they generated some really interesting logo ideas for the Spark events branding.
Overall, it was an exciting yet nerve-racking experience and while not something I would like to do on a regular basis, it was certainly something I would consider doing again!
Here’s a few examples of the presentation slides…
