Presentations on Amateur Radio
I think this is a neat poll question the ARRL asked "Have you ever been asked to give a presentation about Amateur Radio to a school class?"
Presentations, regardless of where - at a school, a church, a club, an organization, what have you - is a great way to let people in on the world of Ham Radio.
I have been lucky enough to give three such presentations. The first one was a video for a communications course I took through the Technology Education program as part of my major. The second was a presentation for a digital electronics course, again through the Technology Education program. The last and latest one I did was a presentation for the Mountaineers Club.
Of all the presentations I did, the one that impacted me the most, and I think impacted other people the most, was the presentation I did for the Mountaineers Club. I really took the opportunity head on and put some real effort in to it. My effort payed off and I am happy with the results.
As with any presentation, no matter how much you prepare, you will always leave something out and my presentation was certainly no exception. Though, I don't think I could have made the presentation much better.
I am not one who is usually a good speaker. I have a bit of stage-fright. The biggest issue I have is being knowledgeable and projecting that image to the audience. When I have given class presentations in the past I really never put a whole lot of effort in to it and my knowledge level, especially about topics I was not interested in to begin with, wasn't the greatest. I would always get hung up, say something wrong, or skip a lot of stuff just to get the presentation "over and done with". This is not what I wanted to have happen.
So for the Mountaineers Club I really put forth some effort. I wanted to cross all my t's and dot all my i's with this. I typed up my slides, organized them, edited them, re-wrote things, changed things around, and above all - I had OTHERS review the slides, multiple people, so I could have several perspectives to compare and see how I could make my presentation better. Those of you who were generous enough to spare the time to give me some real helpful tips know who you are and I really appreciate it!
To make the presentation just that much better I brought in gear. I didn't just bring in an HT or a mobile with a mag-mount, I brought in everything I could get my hands on. Because of the circumstances, I left some items in my truck - I couldn't physically get it all there in time. However, my display included, but was not limited to: a TS-2000, two HT's, a fox (hidden transmitter box), an FT-817nd, Elecraft KX-1, FT-857D (set up as my Go-Kit in the pelican case), a pack of GMRS radios (to make a point during the presentation), a mag-mount dual band antenna, and a 12ah SLA, among various other things. I wanted the "wow" factor. I wanted people to see real gear - and as wide a range as I could get - so they weren't left with a simple image of an HT and talking on a repeater. There is a LOT to Amateur Radio and what you can do with it. I wanted to share that and make an impression, hopefully enough to spark some interest.
What happened with the presentation is I used the slides as a guide - common sense, right? That is, after all, what a power-point based presentation should be. What I was able to discuss and talk about went above and beyond the information that I put on the original slides. Since I had done so much preparation before hand I had everything I needed to have up in my head already and I wasn't searching for what I was trying to say - a rare circumstance for myself.
One aspect I think really made the presentation go so well for me is the way I compiled it. I was not following any certain requirements. The presentation was on Amateur Radio and how it can be used in the wilderness, and I tossed in some other devices - Personal Locator Beacons, the SPOT messenger, and Satellite phones, as well as a couple other radio options. I wasn't trying to satisfy requirements for a grade. I just wrote what I wanted to write and talked about what I wanted to talk about - Amateur Radio!
Hardly anyone in the audience knew anything about Amateur Radio, so that was a big bonus right there. My presentation was all new. No one knew this even existed. It was really neat to be able to talk about HF and how we can talk all over the world. It isn't just something out of a movie, Amateur Radio operators are talking to each other, crossing the oceans and continents, every minute - without the Internet or telephones.
In the beginning I was a bit nervous, but I quickly got in my groove and presented. All said and done I think it was about 40 minutes, if I remember right. It was the first presentation I gave where I had people ask good questions, intelligent questions, and was applauded at the end. Pretty cool!
If you are an Amateur Radio operator and ever get a chance to do a presentation on the subject I would encourage you to do so. The more awareness people have the more people we can bring in to the hobby. With technology advancing as quick as it does, along side the Internet age and cell phones, people forget that radio communication is still there. Some view Amateur Radio to be old technology. Looking at it from the early days, the pioneering days, "Amateur Radio" is "old". However, the technology used now vs. the early days is a world of difference - Digital Modes, DSP, SDR's, the list goes on and on. It may not be the Internet or the latest cell phone gizmo that gets people to pay an extra $15 a month service, but when all else fails... Amateur Radio is still there! Spread the word, share what there is with our great hobby/service, have fun doing it, and lets hope Amateur Radio stays around so we can pass it on to the next generations.
Presentations, regardless of where - at a school, a church, a club, an organization, what have you - is a great way to let people in on the world of Ham Radio.
I have been lucky enough to give three such presentations. The first one was a video for a communications course I took through the Technology Education program as part of my major. The second was a presentation for a digital electronics course, again through the Technology Education program. The last and latest one I did was a presentation for the Mountaineers Club.
Of all the presentations I did, the one that impacted me the most, and I think impacted other people the most, was the presentation I did for the Mountaineers Club. I really took the opportunity head on and put some real effort in to it. My effort payed off and I am happy with the results.
As with any presentation, no matter how much you prepare, you will always leave something out and my presentation was certainly no exception. Though, I don't think I could have made the presentation much better.
I am not one who is usually a good speaker. I have a bit of stage-fright. The biggest issue I have is being knowledgeable and projecting that image to the audience. When I have given class presentations in the past I really never put a whole lot of effort in to it and my knowledge level, especially about topics I was not interested in to begin with, wasn't the greatest. I would always get hung up, say something wrong, or skip a lot of stuff just to get the presentation "over and done with". This is not what I wanted to have happen.
So for the Mountaineers Club I really put forth some effort. I wanted to cross all my t's and dot all my i's with this. I typed up my slides, organized them, edited them, re-wrote things, changed things around, and above all - I had OTHERS review the slides, multiple people, so I could have several perspectives to compare and see how I could make my presentation better. Those of you who were generous enough to spare the time to give me some real helpful tips know who you are and I really appreciate it!
To make the presentation just that much better I brought in gear. I didn't just bring in an HT or a mobile with a mag-mount, I brought in everything I could get my hands on. Because of the circumstances, I left some items in my truck - I couldn't physically get it all there in time. However, my display included, but was not limited to: a TS-2000, two HT's, a fox (hidden transmitter box), an FT-817nd, Elecraft KX-1, FT-857D (set up as my Go-Kit in the pelican case), a pack of GMRS radios (to make a point during the presentation), a mag-mount dual band antenna, and a 12ah SLA, among various other things. I wanted the "wow" factor. I wanted people to see real gear - and as wide a range as I could get - so they weren't left with a simple image of an HT and talking on a repeater. There is a LOT to Amateur Radio and what you can do with it. I wanted to share that and make an impression, hopefully enough to spark some interest.
What happened with the presentation is I used the slides as a guide - common sense, right? That is, after all, what a power-point based presentation should be. What I was able to discuss and talk about went above and beyond the information that I put on the original slides. Since I had done so much preparation before hand I had everything I needed to have up in my head already and I wasn't searching for what I was trying to say - a rare circumstance for myself.
One aspect I think really made the presentation go so well for me is the way I compiled it. I was not following any certain requirements. The presentation was on Amateur Radio and how it can be used in the wilderness, and I tossed in some other devices - Personal Locator Beacons, the SPOT messenger, and Satellite phones, as well as a couple other radio options. I wasn't trying to satisfy requirements for a grade. I just wrote what I wanted to write and talked about what I wanted to talk about - Amateur Radio!
Hardly anyone in the audience knew anything about Amateur Radio, so that was a big bonus right there. My presentation was all new. No one knew this even existed. It was really neat to be able to talk about HF and how we can talk all over the world. It isn't just something out of a movie, Amateur Radio operators are talking to each other, crossing the oceans and continents, every minute - without the Internet or telephones.
In the beginning I was a bit nervous, but I quickly got in my groove and presented. All said and done I think it was about 40 minutes, if I remember right. It was the first presentation I gave where I had people ask good questions, intelligent questions, and was applauded at the end. Pretty cool!
If you are an Amateur Radio operator and ever get a chance to do a presentation on the subject I would encourage you to do so. The more awareness people have the more people we can bring in to the hobby. With technology advancing as quick as it does, along side the Internet age and cell phones, people forget that radio communication is still there. Some view Amateur Radio to be old technology. Looking at it from the early days, the pioneering days, "Amateur Radio" is "old". However, the technology used now vs. the early days is a world of difference - Digital Modes, DSP, SDR's, the list goes on and on. It may not be the Internet or the latest cell phone gizmo that gets people to pay an extra $15 a month service, but when all else fails... Amateur Radio is still there! Spread the word, share what there is with our great hobby/service, have fun doing it, and lets hope Amateur Radio stays around so we can pass it on to the next generations.
posted by Steve at
10:21 PM
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