Presentation to Our Local Rape Crisis Centre
Presented on: Monday, April 18, 2005
Feedback & Comments
The feedback was all
positive. No one said I alienated them at any point. They didn't suggest taking anything
out of the talk. They said they had no problem with any of the technical
terms I used. One major thing I forgot to include, however, was what services CATCH provides, so
that they know what to tell people when they refer them.
They found the technical harassment stuff confusing.
They suggested I talk to them like 4-year-olds when it comes to non-lethal weapons (NLWs) because
they knew nothing whatsoever about them. In other words spell it out. One woman said she didn't
know where I was going with the technical stuff until the end of my talk.
They suggested the following would help:
- Put the technical definitions first.
- Talk more about HOW it is being done - i.e. more about the technology itself.
- More visuals/pictures. I showed them
some pictures of low-tech NLWs, which they liked and wanted more of. They said that the visuals
helped make it more real for them. [Phasor Blast Wave Pistol, High-Tech Harassment]
- Give more concrete examples - they were unclear. The examples might be OK if they
came after the explanation about the technology.
- Talk more about how it affects a person's life.
- Move the revenge piece (i.e. WHO is doing it and WHY) closer to the beginning. In other words,
I shouldn't have split the technical up with the gangstalking in the middle. (I knew that...)
Eleanor felt that the legislative stuff at the end was very powerful.
As far as the gangstalking, no comments about it except that one worker said
she was familiar with it. That's good news! No one found it confusing or made any suggestions
about changing that part of the talk.
Our advocate liked my use of a couple of little 8.5x11 "posters" I put up behind
me and pointed at a few times. [Poster 1, Poster 2]
Limiting it to 15 minutes was tough. I wanted to quote David Lawson but didn't have time,
so I gave them a handout of quotations from his book. I also gave them a
feedback sheet if they wanted to use it or fill in something later.
Eleanor came up with the idea of making a presentation and putting it on CD
to give to people. I think I will work on doing that. It will help to
polish and refine the presenation. A few people said they liked my
tone during the presentation, but I kind of lost them a bit during the
times I was reading directly from my notes. They liked the eye contact when I wasn't reading.
So obviously I need to practice more before a "real" presentation so I can do it mostly without the notes. Taping will help with that as well.
Back to the presentation
www.c-a-t-c-h.ca