I am accustomed to presenting in public lectures, seminars, and conferences. As I gained more experience, it became less challenging. However, what I did during the opening of the Teras Rektor at the Gebyar Inovasi Harmoni Nusantara event a while ago at Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana presented a unique challenge.
There were several factors that made it so. First, an opening speech must capture the audience’s attention and focus them on the main content that will follow. Second, the topic chosen must serve as a bridge to the main theme. Third, since the speakers at Teras Rektor were university leaders, the narrative used had to be very careful and precise. Fourth, as a neuroscientist, the content I presented had to reflect my field of expertise. The first four factors were manageable. However, the fifth factor, which required me to conduct several image training sessions, was the allotted time. I only had five minutes.
Can you imagine how challenging that was? Conveying all that information with a clear purpose in such a short duration was certainly not easy. It was an incredibly exciting experience.
Enjoy it!
