Giving a talk

RE: Giving a talk

Hi Footwizard (great name!),

I'm assuming that you are a student member of the AOR? If you are then you can log into the members area and get loads of info to help you with your talk. I'm sure that they also do a help leaflet about giving a talk aswell. If you do get stuck, you could always ask your tutour for some help and guidance.

Hope this helps.
Good Luck

Kate x

RE: Giving a talk

Thank you Kate, much appreciated.

Kindest regards

Chris

RE: Giving a talk

My pleasure Chris.

I would like to be able to give you alot more info, but i have never given a talk on Reflexology before (or a talk on anything for that matter!) and i really wouldn't know where to start.

I do however have one suggestion, you could ask one of your audience members to be your 'model' so that you can demonstrate the techniques used by reflexologists. This will also make your talk alot more interesting for your audience. You may even get a few clients from it....you never know!

Good luck with the talk and your studies, i'm sure you will make a great Reflexologist!:D

Kate x

RE: Giving a talk

Hello there

I agree with Kate about getting your hands on someone's feet. I'm particularly pleased you've been asked to talk to the MIND group. When I was training I made regular visits to a day centre run by a mental health trust, giving reflexology treatments on a voluntary basis. People enjoyed the 'me time' and relaxation, and I'm sure it had many other positive benefits. Mental illness has a certain stigma attached to it I'm afraid, so for someone with a mental health problem having some time with a caring person touching your feet in a therapeutic way can be marvellous - not to mention that fact they are being listened to in a caring and supportive way! Have a think about the challenges people with mental health problems may face eg sadness, feelings of not coping, loneliness, tiredness, stress, anxiety, not to mention the possibility of being on long term medication. You can try to tailor your talk to the sort of people who may be attending. Carers could also benefit from reflexology.

There, here are a few thoughts for you. I hope they are useful. Let us know how you get on.

RE: Giving a talk

You may find this helpful.

[link= http://www.health-concern.com/Free_Training/presentation_skills.htm ]http://www.health-concern.com/Free_Training/presentation_skills.htm[/link]

Lesley

RE: Giving a talk

Hi,

Prepare well - include an intro about yourself, reflexology - a brief history - how it can help people holistically. Have some visual aids (that always helps - a good poster of the feet and you can take the attention away from you to the feet for a while. Do some flyers or handouts that they can look at later (self publicise as well).

Having a model is a good idea and you can demo on them the technique.

Leave time at the end for questions.

Planning roughly how long each section will take is very helpful - keep the plan in front of you and have a watch.

Hope this helps
Luv Binah
x

RE: Giving a talk

Hi Footwizard,

I do quite a few talks, and apart from recomendations, this is where I get nearly all my client from (it's great free advertising!)
I agree with everything that has been said, but I would add two things -
1 keep the talk light hearted - people go to these talks to be educated AND entertained
2 Offer to do a demo on a couple of people from the audiance - the ones that volunteer (in my experience) nearly allways book an appointment later
Ohh, and one more thing.... (sorry)
Take a diary with you - you never know, someone might want to book with you there and then 🙂

Good luck!

Waywood

RE: Giving a talk

Many thanks to you all for your comments, all really helpfull. I have to say I am really impressed by the way people help here. One of the reasons I am doing the talk is that I was a regular visitor there last year, that's how I found Reflexology. Like the idea about a volunteer!

RE: Giving a talk

Hi Wizard!
Don't want to scare you, but just to share some experience, I once gave a talk to some students, and there was a deathly silence when I asked for someone to volunteer their feet! Eventually, someone half put their hand up and I almost pulled them out of their seat, but it would've been a bit embarrassing otherwise. I also had one occasion when the volunteer came up very cheerily, but then realized she was wearing tights, and so it was embarrassing for HER to take them off in front of other people - there were only two men in the room, but even so!

I think in the first case, perhaps because they were young, they might have been a bit self-conscious in front of friends. I'm assuming your audience is middle-aged and you'll have no problems finding your feet! (Sorry!) I don't know how easy other talkers have found it to get volunteers up? You could put a "plant" in the audience if you think it'll be a problem - anyone done that?

Let us know how you get on,
Janet x

RE: Giving a talk

Well I did it, many thanks to you all for your helpful comments and kind words. Siobhan, your comments were extremely useful and intuitive, the reason I gave my talk there was because I was a regular visitor last year, and as you say, people can be suffering with various llnesses and emotions. With that in mind I did try to keep it light-hearted, even got a laugh or two, and I stressed that people need to be happy with their therapist, if they are not comfortable for whatever reason they should find another one. I will be going in on a voluntary basis so that people can get used to me being around. It has also been suggested to me that I should start with hands as it is less personal and intrusive, which makes sense.

To anyone who is thinking about doing a talk, do it, write your talk, condense it on to cards, and you will find yourself not even referring to them. Thanks again

Chris

RE: Giving a talk

Excellent stuff Chris! Did you give a demonstration or not then?! Well done again,
Janet x

RE: Giving a talk

Thanks Janet, I didn't give a demonstration because of the nature of the venue. Anywhere else, WI, workplace for instance then I would. what is nice though is that 3 people saw the manager afterwards and told her they would like to see me. x