I gave an Ignite-style presentation, and I liked it!

Last month, at the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (a collection of people who do cool things with data at the hyper-local level) meeting in Detroit, I gave an Ignite-style presentation.

I was nervous.

I procrastinated.

I declined showing anyone my slides.

Or letting anyone watch me practice.

I perspired. A lot.

And when presentation time came...

I had so much fun!

But, after the post-presentation high wore off, I got shy about showing the video of my talk to people. Enough! Here it is. Fast-forward to 44:00 in the video to watch:



You can also download my slides [ppt] (some of the formatting is off because I created them on a Mac).


Preparing for my ignite experience was painful in the way that it's always painful for me to sit down and start writing a story. And it's painful for the same reason -- giving a presentation in this style, just like refining your ideas into a 500-word article, forces you to identify the big ideas and cut away the chaff. I think it's an experience everyone should try. It doesn't have to be at a large, city-wide Ignite event. Why not grab a few friends and give Ignite presentations in someone's living room? You may not get the rush of speaking in front of a crowd, but the beer would be cheaper and closer at hand...

Jordan's Polar Plunge

A friend (and loyal follower of this blog, woot!) just alerted me to something great. Every time he searches for my blog, this pops up:

JORDAN'S POLAR PLUNGE

It's a polar plunge. It's in Plymouth, Mass. It benefits a hospital. And it's very, very real.

I feel compelled to participate in this event, but I'll have to wait until March 2012 -- just nine short months! Anyone want to join me?