1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: Today's tip is that you can learn more from any 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,760 Speaker 1: experience when you plan to present what you've learned later. 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: On my other podcast Best of Both Worlds, a listener 6 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: wrote in asking for tips on how to do conference 7 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: as well. I know that a lot of people go 8 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: to conferences, get fired up, and then come home and 9 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: forget everything a day later. People don't even reach out 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: to useful connections or read the books they picked up. 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: And really that is too bad, because if you are 12 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: going to take several days out of your life and 13 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: travel somewhere and often pay hefty conference crisis, you might 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: hope that you would get some mileage out of the experience. 15 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: There are lots of ways to get a better return 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: on investment. Please do reach out to the people you 17 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: bothered to connect with, but beyond that, one of my 18 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: favorite practices is to set up a situation where you 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: present what you learned. The most obvious way to do 20 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: this is to schedule a lunch and learn type gathering 21 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: with colleagues who didn't attend the conference. You could do 22 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: this a few days after you return, you tell people 23 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: what was covered at the conference and any useful information 24 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: you learned. You share names that people should know and 25 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: tips for folks who might go next year. Now, your 26 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: colleagues may or may not find your presentation particularly useful, 27 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: but it will reinforce all the knowledge that you took 28 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: away from the conference as you think about how to 29 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: turn it into something that won't bore people to tears. 30 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: To make this lunch and learn even better, make sure 31 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: you schedule it before you go to the conference. That way, 32 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 1: you will be going into all conference sessions knowing that 33 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: you will need to present something useful later. You will 34 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: be far more mindful of writing down important points and 35 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: organizing your notes for later access. You might ask questions 36 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: that you know your colleagues will be interested in and 37 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: be sure to get responses. Planning to present what you've 38 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: learned changes what you learn. This technique can be useful 39 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: for things beyond conferences. When you are reading a book, 40 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: think about how you would describe the main points to 41 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: a friend. Then do it. You will probably retain more 42 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: information from the book. If you are taking a trip, 43 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: think about how you would write a short guide for 44 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: a friend who is considering the same trip. You'll pay 45 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: more attention to what's interesting and what's worth visiting and 46 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: the things that you learn there. Planning to present what 47 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: you learn makes you a more active consumer of whatever 48 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: you are learning. To put it simply, you pay more attention. 49 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: And since it is easy to sleep walk through much 50 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: of life, that little nudge toward mindfulness can go a 51 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: long way toward making any experience more useful. In the meantime, 52 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 53 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 54 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tip, your questions, 55 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 56 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number 57 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: four then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot 58 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at i heeart 59 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with 60 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,360 Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to 61 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I 62 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 63 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 64 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.