Talking About Bees: Handy Tips for New and Experienced Speakers.

Winter just arrived bearing cold winds and frosts, and there’s snow on the high ground. Storm Arwen raged through a few days ago felling trees along the way causing mayhem, and leaving destruction in its wake. Sadly, there have been some lives lost, and thousands of people in Scotland are still without power for the 5th day running. It makes me wonder what will happen if everyone is forced to run electric cars! I feel so fortunate not to have to go out to work any more on these severe weather days.

After the storm, the spider, who hangs out on my clothes line, rebuilt its intricate web and caught a few small flies that ventured out the other day when it was a balmy 10 degrees C and the the bees were flying.

Webinars and Zoom Presentations.

I’ve just given my last Zoom presentation till next year and I’m taking a break. It’s time to finish knitting the socks I started in 4ply wool a few weeks ago before the moths attack them. My new beekeeping assistants, Kayleigh and Kyra, are coming over with their big sister Natasha to learn how to knit on Saturday, then the following week we’re making beeswax candles for Christmas.

I think that it will be a long time before we get back on the road to deliver presentations and that webinars are here to stay. Reflecting on my recent experiences, I realise that the success of these events hinges largely on the organisers and I wonder if audiences fully appreciate just what goes on in the background. So much planning is involved, and time spent communicating with the speaker before the event. Then there’s time spent practicing a few nights before it with screen sharing, and briefing the speaker. During the presentation there are the questions to scan and filter and present to the speaker: and liasing with the treasurer over payments. So, the host and assistants probably don’t ever have time to listen fully to a talk. I’m full of admiration for the friendly and competent hosts who have helped put me at my ease during these last few presentations.

Things have truly changed since I wrote a version of this article for Scottish Beekeeper Magazine to encourage new speakers to get out on the platform. We need them even more now and I’ve updated my hints on how to get started.

Testing The Water.

This piece is about helping people improve their beekeeping presentation skills, and encouraging potential new speakers to step forward and give it a go—talking about bees. It doesn’t claim to be an exhaustive “how to” manual. Many of you will have already developed your own styles and have your own good tips, but if this article prompts you to review them and pass on your skills to others then so much the better.

We beekeepers– we can all talk about bees, can’t we? Back in the days before Covid you just had to listen to the conversations at an association meeting after the main presentation, you couldn’t even hear the teacups chink in the kitchen for the chat.

So, if you are new to giving talks how should you get started? One of the best ways is to volunteer to talk to a group that has very little previous knowledge of bees so that you can be confident of having much more information than they are likely to have. Current media publicity and an increased awareness of the challenges to pollinators means that many groups are actively searching for someone to talk to them about bees.

Here are examples of some of the groups that are worth approaching here in Scotland:

• SWI (Scottish Women’s Institute)
• Church Women’s Guilds
• Probus Groups, Rotary etc
• Gardening clubs
• Retirement Clubs
• Schools
• Rainbows (pre- Brownie girls), Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts etc.
• Literary groups

Planning.

During the first contact with the club programme convenor is the time to find out about the group, and you need to know their age range, their interests, and the average number of people expected to attend your presentation. You also need to know what they want to hear about, and for how long they want you to speak. If you have an hour then it is best to speak for around 40-45 minutes leaving time for questions at the end. Non- beekeeping groups are likely to want you to speak for around 30 minutes. It is really important not to allow yourself to run overtime due to disorganisation, or because you get carried away in the excitement of talking about your favourite subject. It is respectful to your audience to finish on time. If you’ve retired with all the time in the world, it can be easy to forget that many people are listening to you at the end of a long challenging working day.

Before committing to a date, if you have to travel to the venue find out if your mileage will be reimbursed if that is important to you. Also, you may want to ask for a donation to be made to your favourite charity since most groups are keen to acknowledge and reward your time and effort. Many groups are small and cannot pay the speaker but these are the best groups to practice on and you can regard it as a kind of apprenticeship till you are more experienced.

Make sure that you’re happy to travel the distance required to the venue if you are not presenting via Zoom etc. You may need to consider driving at night in winter so be comfortable with the plans and be prepared to negotiate. It is easy in summer to agree to give a talk several months ahead, but the reality is that the winter comes along quickly and so does that speaking date. You may regret it and wish that your talk was to be in the spring.

Find out if the venue has a projector, screen, and laser pointer. You may wish to bring all your own equipment– just in case. Don’t leave batteries in the laser pointer and always carry spares. Projector bulbs are very expensive so if you don’t carry spares then always handle the projector with extra great care.

If you are talking to a beekeeping group, find out if you are to be the only speaker of the evening remembering that people usually come out at night for enjoyment and more than one speaker may be overkill. This happened to me once and I’d traveled a long way to give the talk but had not been left enough time to present it. I felt very sorry for the audience some of whom needed to catch busses. Don’t ever believe that another beekeeper scheduled to speak for only ten minutes before you will stick to time. Have you ever heard a beekeeper speak for only ten minutes?

Preparing for it.

When you present via Zoom learn how open your presentation before you log into the webinar and close your email up behind you before joining it, otherwise you might be in the embarrassing situation where new emails ping through and the audience reads more than you want to share with them.

When I first started presenting via Zoom, I had difficulties screen sharing because I hadn’t worked how to and it caused stress each time. Luckily my good friend Lynne Ingram talked me through the process and this greatly reduced the stress levels before my presentations.

I have a check list to follow before logging on:

• Switch off all phones
• Tidy away the ironing board and rubbish behind me
• Fetch a glass of water
• Plug in ethernet cable
• Lock the front door
• Bring the clock to my desk
• Have any notes to hand

Delivering.

Most speakers use PowerPoint to enhance talks but some talented beekeepers give excellent talks using cleverly planned visual aids, and the voice of experience. There is such a thing as “death by PowerPoint” so beware of filling up the slides with text (which you then read) and boring the audience rigid.

Photographs are a great tool to use along with a smattering of text to remind you of what you will tell the audience. An artist friend advised me to use a grey background to give more contrast than a shiny white one. Be wary of using too many colours for the text on the same slide as this may be distracting.

Don’t try to include too much material. If you’re talking to children, perhaps focus on getting one main concept across such as pollination.

Prepare the subject well regardless of the audience. For beekeeping groups, it is advisable to have to hand the references for any research that you quote. You can’t practice often enough, and if you have friends who owe you something invite them to be your first audience. You will find it much easier to talk to a group that you don’t know so well when the time comes, so make use of your friends for obtaining constructive criticism and building your confidence.

When it comes to the night, do as Susan Jeffries advises in her book (of the same name as her advice) and “feel the fear and do it anyway”. If you have got your equipment set up and you still feel a bit nervous go somewhere quiet and breathe deeply for a few seconds reminding yourself that at this point you know more about your chosen subject than anyone in the audience.

You will probably feel more comfortable if you give a brief introduction before you start, perhaps telling your audience how long you have been caring for bees etc., and what you plan to tell them during the evening. Decide beforehand if you will ask them to wait till the end to ask questions, or take them throughout your talk bearing in mind that if someone doesn’t understand a concept waiting till the end may ruin the evening for them. If you are presenting via Zoom, questions are usually posed at the end but you can negotiate a break in the middle to check if the audience is following you.

Find out who the new folks are and try to cater for their needs through the language that you use. For example, if you talk about nucs without an explanation the baffled beginner may think that you are on about world politics.

If you engage with a group of non-beekeepers you can ask if anyone has had previous beekeeping experience, or connections to beekeepers as it will break the ice and help you establish the level of depth that you should go into. If you keep explanations fairly general and simple initially you may find that some people ask more complicated questions later which can make it more interesting for everyone.

Sweeping your gaze across a room and trying not to focus on any one person as you are talking is good advice, but not possible via Zoom where it can be somewhat disconcerting not to be engaging so directly. If you are present in the room, it’s tempting to keep looking at the smiley interested looking person but you may make them feel uncomfortable. If you think that a particular question will distract the audience and side-track you it is ok to say that you will answer that at the end. If you cannot answer a question without further research, it is ok too to ask the person to email you and you will reply later. Having some beekeeping business cards on the night is helpful.

Don’t be put off if you notice a couple of people nodding off for it may have nothing to do with your presentation. Some people just feel tired at the end of the day and the dark warm environment sends them to sleep. This is more noticeable via Zoom where folks are in the comfort of their own homes and it’s just like being in front of the telly for some. If it distracts you then hide everything apart from your slide show during the presentation.

Pace yourself and don’t rush through the presentation. Allow the audience time to read the slides before you explain them in more detail if there is a lot of information there. If you have a list of things to discuss it is good to use the animation tool and have each item on the list appear as you discuss it so that the audience is not studying the list ahead as you are explaining the first item.

If you engage the audience and ask them a question, give them time to think before they reply. A good tool is counting to ten in your head then giving an answer if none is forthcoming.

Reviewing Your Performance.

Being asked questions at the end (if you left enough time) usually indicates interest in your talk and you can self-evaluate and make any adjustments to your presentation for next time. All good speakers update their talks on a regular basis, and I do this before every one so that I can meet the needs of each group that I speak to.

Go out and listen to other speakers to get a feel for what constitutes a good presentation, and don’t be afraid to copy someone else’s style.

The Scottish Government and the SBA (Scottish Beekeepers’ Association) used to fund NDB (National Diploma in Beekeeping) short courses called “Teaching for Beekeepers” which is also great preparation for speaking to any group. Keep a look out for any such courses.

I hope that this article inspires you to share your knowledge with the public and with fellow beekeepers, and that you will seriously think about preparing and delivering a talk about bees and beekeeping in the near future.