Topic or Speaker ideas for a Presentation?

[Blissful_in_TX]

I’m part of a group of women who meet once a month to have dinner at somebody’s house. The main thing we have in common is that all of our husband’s work together. However the new woman in charge now wants whoever is hosting the event that month to also get a speaker to give a presentation on any self-improvement topic, I guess for us to get more out of it??? The last presentation was on Strengthening Your Marriage, and I think someone is having one on Financial Planning.

But I have no idea what to do for my turn!! I guess I could come up with some ideas (Beauty Tips, Managing Stress, Getting Organized, Healthy Cooking, etc.) ....but how on earth do I find a speaker without turning into a sales presentation? :confused: :confused: The people in this group are practically the only ones I know in this town, and we can’t give the presentation ourselves. I guess if worse comes to worse, I could come up with something myself and have my mom fly in to present it. :rolleyes:

[Kay Henderson]

That's a challenge! The only meeting I attend with a monthly speaker is my AAUW general monthly meeting. Most years we have a lot of different topics ranging from lightweight to heavier-duty. Some years we have had a theme, which sounds like what your gal in charge has in mind.

The topics you have come up with sound good to me. In terms of avoiding a sales presentation, you just have to try. Tell the speaker ahead of time the type of presentation you have in mind. Just speaking before a group gets a person's name "out there" and is useful by itself. (For example, a retired lawyer in town spoke to us about estate planning. The only time he discussed the fact that he was running for city council was when members asked him about it.)

Other ideas might include getting someone from a local library to share with you what is new in your library system (often organized by county), or someone familiar with educational resources in your community talking about what is available.

The one piece of advice I would have is to let the speaker know that you want a the presentation to be quite short -- from a half hour to an absolute maximum of an hour. There are several reasons for this. First, people are tired at the end of the day. Second, there is time for questions. (Note: If questions start to drag, you can cut things off and note that the speaker will stay to answer any other questions.) Lastly, but very important, a key purpose of such a group is to get better acquainted with people, laying the basis for friendship. You don't want to be so busy that members don't have time to visit with each other.

Good luck!

Kay

[leebee]

My husband has been working at history museums for many, many years, and he does presentations. He had some standard presentations: fashion, community history, collecting family history, etc. You may see if a local historical society or museum has an education program. He really enjoyed doing these, and hasn't had the opportunity in the last couple of years. He's spoken to very small (1/2 dozen or so) to very large groups, and has always been able to tailor the talk to the group. Depending on the group, you may be able to find a speaker from community education at a hospital or thru the Red Cross to talk about women's health issues. Or how about a law-enforcement presentation to keep safe while travelling or something? I know a fire station in a town I lived in had people to come in & give a presentation on family fire-safety issues. I'm sure your community has a lot of resources!

[colleency]

Does the speaker get paid?

[Blissful_in_TX]

Originally posted by colleency
Does the speaker get paid?

No, the speaker doesn't get paid unless it comes out of my own pockets....pretty unlikely!

Thanks for all the great ideas! I never thought about seeing what resources were available in the community; I was just thinking of people I knew personally.

[leebee]

Just FYI, when DH was doing most of these, he was a city employee & couldn't accept a payment or gift worth more than $5. He did often make a play for volunteers--they always needed more people to help out, but that was the only "salesy" thing he did. So there probably are some cheap alternatives out there! Good luck!

[cchhbb]

One of the things my OB/GYN group does is offer to speak about women's health to groups for free. Obviously they are looking for new patients, but they did a great job when they talked to my newcomers group on educating women on the latest in contraceptives, breast cancer, and hormone therapy.

Cheryl

[Gecko]

My first thought was that maybe someone from a local gym could come and do a presentation on the importance of exercise and nutrition. They might do it free of charge if they thought it might drum up some business.

[lakelady1]

How about a representative of a community project/social service group for women -- health (as mentioned above), domestic abuse, women and children homeless advocacy, Girl Scouts, a church coalition . . . or call the HR department of the husbands' company and see if someone could come out and explain the company's health benefits (no one ever understands them!) or, if the company has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), perhaps they would be willing to provide a speaker on a good topic.

[cher48603]

You may be able to get someome from the local sheriff's or police department to talk about personal safety, or the fire department to do a presentation on safety in the home.
Editing to say as I reread this I see this suggestion was already made:o

[sharon]

I just have to say, your get togethers with your husband's coworker's wives is starting to sound like "work." Personally, I get enough of these type of presentations in the rest of my life, I sure wouldn't want to have to plan one for people that I am getting together with on a social basis. IMHO. Maybe if the purpose of the group is other than social, that would be a different matter. Otherwise, this sounds like a group I would be dropping out of if I had the choice.:o

[Melman]

Lakelady exactly hit one of the suggestions I was going to make. One suggestion for finding someone like she suggested is to contact the United Way in your area. They should have a list of available speakers who would come out to talk about their specific organization. They may at least be able to give you some names and let you do the phone calling.

Another idea might be to check with a local soup kitchen or food bank. Around here, most of those places are usually associated with a church. You might find out about needy people in your community and possibly do something as a group to donate money or whatever is needed.

How about contacting someone who works with Habitat for Humanities?

Good luck!!!

[rosie_one]

How about turning the tables on these ladies... make them the "guest speaker panel" and ask them fun questions. How did you meet your husband? Tell us your most embarassing moment? What is your favorite holiday tradition? etc... Most people love to talk about themselves and you would learn fun stuff about the others in the room.

Otherwise the local red cross would be a good place to ask too. A friend of mine is the director of ours and I know he does a fair amount of "gigs" in hopes of raising awareness.

[Blissful_in_TX]

Originally posted by sharon
I just have to say, your get togethers with your husband's coworker's wives is starting to sound like "work." Personally, I get enough of these type of presentations in the rest of my life, I sure wouldn't want to have to plan one for people that I am getting together with on a social basis. IMHO. Maybe if the purpose of the group is other than social, that would be a different matter. Otherwise, this sounds like a group I would be dropping out of if I had the choice.:o

I know what your saying....these get-togethers used to be so much fun, but the new woman in charge has implemented a lot of changes (I suppose with good intentions), but the results have been less than fun to say the least.:( There’s not much we can do about it b/c her DH is the guy in charge at work. And unfortunately, if I don’t participate or go by her rules, it will be negatively reflected on my DH at work. :rolleyes: Personally, I already think the line between me and his work is too thin.....like when his boss asks me to buy Christmas gifts for their department the last three years. Hello??? I don't work there! (This year I finally respectfully declined….which he later announced to everyone in a department meeting. :mad: )


Thanks so much for everyone’s ideas!! I’ve got a great list to make calls from now!

[Kathy B]

Originally posted by rosie_one
How about turning the tables on these ladies... make them the "guest speaker panel" and ask them fun questions. How did you meet your husband? Tell us your most embarassing moment? What is your favorite holiday tradition? etc... Most people love to talk about themselves and you would learn fun stuff about the others in the room.



You have gotten a lot of great ideas, but I really like this one. It would bring back a little fun and spontaneity to the group, if only for the one meeting. If you don't tell people ahead of time, they can't really overrule it, and most will probably think it was great!

You could present it as a "mystery guest", then tell them the guest speaker for today is........"YOU!" Set up a panel or divide them into small groups with a list of questions that everyone has to answer. Could be really fun!

[cminmd]

Is "Real Live Preacher" in El Paso? He is a blogger from Texas- has a new book. He is facinating! Don't be scared by the preacher part, he is a minister, but not fire and brimstone. Check out his blog. Though he seems to mostly go where the frisbe golf is, maybe he would like a dinner party.
www.reallivepreacher.com

Another idea would be a book party.
Do you have any local authors in your area?
My mom had a dinner party and invited local author Lee Smith. It was FANTASTIC! Lee was funny, engaging, and very personable. She did it out of the goodness of her heart, no financial motive at all. My mom just wrote her a letter telling her about her group of friends and how she loved her books and that she wanted to throw a party in her honor. Lee Smith accepted. (this was years ago, so maybe she is too big a star now?)
My mom gave Ms. Smith a giftbasket of bath stuff as an "honorarium" and sent her home with a cheesecake. She also bought each guest a paperback copy of her book. About 75 bucks in all for the speaker related fees, but people still talk about that night even now- 15 years later!

[Goin' Coastal]

How about contacting a local florist shop and see if they have someone who will talk about decorating with florals? Lots of places would probably do it in exchage for the exposure.

[Canice]

I'm surprised I'm the only one who thinks that if the theme is "self-improvement" a frank discussion of personal identity and worth would be well in order here.
Oh well.

[crlykat]

Holy moly, Blissful, sounds like your new woman in charge fancies herself to be the hostess of a salon in the 1700s or something. Can we say Enlightenment? And they have the gall to ask you to get the presents for the department? Wow. You're a very patient person!!

Out of all these great suggestions, I think the Red Cross, women's health, and fire department are great ideas that won't have you worrying about them selling anything, and I know they are free.

Good luck with this woman!:eek: