Giving a talk, and I need some help

[BabyDuck]

if you get 20 min, you really need to pick a narrow topic. things i would have liked -

'this is why i love cave diving'
or 'this is cave diving gear & how it's different from ow gear'
or 'here are some beauty shots of caves & how they are so different & look at the creatures'
or a mini review of 'blueprint for survival' & the rules.

 

[Sask Diver]

Being new, I would like to know what kind of training I would need first, I have seen lots of pictures of cave diving so I have a pretty good idea of what I might see.
I would also like to know about what gear I might need, can I cave dive with my bcd or do I have to go out and get a wing, dive with doubles ect. Someone mentioned earlier about talking about the deaths in cavediving because people are blood thirsty, not somthing I would want to hear about.
Having said that I would definitly what to know what the risks are.
Good luck on your presentation

 

[TSandM]

Well, I talked to the person responsible for these sessions last night, and asked her how much time I have, and her reply was, "As long as you want." But I seriously doubt most people will want more than 20 to 30 minutes of talking about cave diving. The idea of bringing in gear is a good one, and I really like the idea of having somebody play with line following. We did that in the dive shop during my wreck class, and it's pretty funny watching people try to follow a line blind. It's also very interactive, so I'll see if I can fit it in.

Thanks to everybody who has offered ideas, and I'm going to keep checking this thread as the day gets closer.

 

[rollerboi]

20 minutes? Excitement! Adventure! Passion! We want to hear about these things.

When we think of caves, we think of dark, dank dripping things. Not the most appealing of environments. Show us beauty, show us variety, and show us the zen-like grace that most cave divers have as they navigate them. Give us something to aspire to.

Keep it simple, hook us on YOUR passion. You're not training them. Your goal should be to get them interested in learning more, to infect them with the bug. Once duly infected, they can then seek out the proper training that will teach them about equipment and protocol, etc.

I'd close by touching on the importance of training. For me, when I go to a free presentation, I want to enjoy myself. I want to see this aspect of the world through the eyes of someone who truly cares, an ambassador of the dark.

Don't overburden yourself by feeling you have to explain EVERYTHING about the caves. As long as they leave with three things, you've done good:
1. Caves are friggin' awesome and not as scary as I thought.
2. If I don't get further training, I'm a damn fool and liable to die.
3. I want a taste.

 

[GDI]

Lynn

While I have been absent from the board I have most certainbly not been away from diving or public speaking. I have given many presentations of which I hope I can help you out here. Mike Ferrara, Cave Diver, Retourner have all given you some great ideas.

I would recommend talking about the differences of OW to cave, the fascination of caves and the impact cave diving has on the global diving community, how caves are formed and their place in our environment.
For the differences you could talk about training, equipment, communications (touch, line, light and hand), and Gas management.

I have a power point on Accident Analysis (Jeff Bozanic's) and a Safety Brochure you can have if you like. Both are to big to upload here on SB. Just send me your e-mail and I will happy to forward copies to you, In the end good luck

 

[TSandM]

Thanks, Rick, and PM will be coming with e-mail address.

One of the angles I want to use is to talk a little bit about how some of the ideas and techniques of cave diving are very useful for people diving in low light, low viz, silty environments -- in other words, what parts of cave diving technique would be useful to the Puget Sound diver.

But mostly, I want to show people beauty and try to inspire a little of the excitement I felt when I first saw Andrew's video!

And Rick, good to see you here again. GDI and Mike Ferrara on the same day; my cup runneth over. Now if Doc Intrepid shows up, I'll feel like I'm in a ScubaBoard time warp!

 

[Blue982]

You could say that you are the cenote speaker.

 

[Madacub]

So, I'm asking for help: If you were attending a dive club meeting with a talk on cave diving, as NON CAVE DIVERS, what would you want to hear or see?

I dive to see animals and plants and corals. I do appreciate the beauty of rock formations (stalagmites, etc.), but beyond that I just don't really "get" the appeal that caves - on the surface or underwater - have for some people.

So, as a non-cave diver, what I would most like to hear and see is - Why do you love caves? What is the attraction? What am I missing?

Exactly what I was thinking, as a non cave diver. Specifically: If I'm a diver with less than 500 dives (so maybe not too jaded yet) and if I had a week or two of vacation, why should I forsake my warm water exotic locale (or basic quick trip to the Carribbean) for cave diving? I like to see colorful fish, mantas, amazing coral, eagle rays, whale sharks, macro life, wrecks etc. The equipment and training and cross training into Puget Sound and all that can come later. First get me enthused about it. That may be an uphill battle for many, since you are competing with turtles etc. Haloclines are really really neat. Stalagmites, rock formations... well, okay, but only if they are really special - some may show really well with lighting. The odd fossil perhaps? One way of getting people excited might be to talk about specific caves that have attractions that would make one want to go there. Else, why go cave diving? Anything good in your local area?

Another point to consider might be to spend a few minutes dispelling myths, unfounded danger concerns, allaying groundless fears etc.

Good luck.

 

[gcbryan]

I would keep the lights up as much as possible and just talk to everyone with a few pictures in the background. Nothing puts me to sleep more than turning the lights down and clicking through a long queue of pictures.

You should show some pictures however so that people can see why they would possibly want to go in a cave.

I'd forget about showing the equipment. You're talking to divers already. Talk about the aspects of caves that the audience might not know about. Talk about the various flow systems...water flowing out of caves, sink hole entrances, how wide or narrow are most caves you go into. How much effort does it take, how far do you go in a cave. Why caves since there are none in Puget Sound.

I'd show a slide of you in your gear on the surface just about to go to the entrance sink hole, another just after you've submerged looking up at the light coming in from the entrance and then a few slides of the cave itself. That's all you need as far as pictures.

Tell a few stories and answer a few questions. After the presentation people should have a feel for what it's like to complete a cave dive.

That's about all you can accomplish in one general presentation. I'd forget the training, practice, equipment, how it applies to Puget Sound unless those are questions people ask you after the presentation.

Your enthusiasm will make the presentation work whatever you do but also keep in mind that the audience doesn't necessarily have your enthusiasm for caves and will be more interested in the bigger picture rather than with the details.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

If the slides are not going to be distributed to the audience (normally true for public sessions) and there is is going to be a Q&A session then I normally include at the end of the presentation a fairly large backup section with slides on all the expected topics.
So when you get a question from the audience and can immediately pull up a relevant slide it makes you look competent and prepared.

A neat Powerpoint trick that very few people know is that, at any point during the presentation, you can jump directly to a certain slide by typing in the number of that slide followed by hitting the enter/return key. This is a very powerful tool to use when you have the foresight to include a "backup section" of slides that help answer anticipated questions (like miketsp describes). I print out a cheat-sheet listing of the extra slides in my "backup section" on a piece of paper, which I consult to recall the appropriate slide number.

This is also a great way to skip a bunch of slides without having to flash the "skipped" slides to the audience. Very helpful if you're running short on time.

My other Powerpoint tip is to not use any of the animated, creative slide transitions. Most people find them distracting. The focus should be the content of the presentation (the story) rather than gimmicky transitions.

I think it's a wonderful idea to discuss what cave techniques might help enhance Puget Sound diving.