I have an interview tomorrow at 2 for a team lead position. They called me around 4 this afternoon to invite me for the interview. And said I needed to give a 5-10 minute presentation on any topic, with visual aids. Was that enough time to prepare?

Um..yeah, sure.

Topic is one of my choosing, she specifically said about anything. The position is a trainer type position so I'm thinking it should be somewhat instructional.

I do not think I should do something job-related. But I'm at a loss for a topic. Geez, less than 24 hours to prepare for this--do the whole presentation PLUS practice it. I need help.

I'm thinking I might do something on Internet Dating.

So far that's the only interesting topic I've been able to come up with--especially since I can relate personal experience.

Any other suggestions? My night is sooooooooo going to bite the big one.

Please please help!!!!


PS I don't really have a lot of hobbies. I love to read and play around on the computer, don't really do much else. I love to bake but there's no time to prepare any kind of presentation like that.

thanks sooooooo much if you can help!

UMMM, MBers?? The board.
It's a positive site, and who knows if someone might be listening that it would benefit!
Just a thought.

I'm so not the queen of anything that has to do with presentations!

Best of Luck to you! I wish you very well tomorrow.

Karona

Thought about that, Karona...marriage building...but thought it might be a little heavy...especially with everything I've gone through.

Thanks for the luck! I'll need it! It's tempting to just not do the interview...

less than 24 hours...geeeezzzzz....mind you...this is probably a less than $15.00/hr job. Better than what I've got, but certainly not wall street.

Instructional is good.

You could put different examples of dating sites in your presentation.

Have a list of do's and don'ts

Have a list of Internet dating etiquette

Tell your audience what to expect/not expect

Making your audience laugh is always good-- maybe one or two internet dating jokes? or an internet dating cartoon at the end of your presentation?

Everyone love rewards... you could have a Q&A at the end and give away little items... stationery, candy... stuff that people would keep and remember your training. I love erasers.

You could also make your audience participative by giving out noisy plastic toys/gadgets... make noise for anything agreeable. It's fun... but I'm diverting, that wouldn't be in a training that's instructional.

Who is your audience? Do you think they have already tried internet dating? Would your material be new...something they didn't know before? I think this topic is more interesting to women than men. But with men, you could always use lots of beautiful pictures!!

And give your presentation a good, interesting title... something like "Internet Dating for Dummies" or "Internet Dating for Aliens" something that will perk your audience up on the first slide.

Good luck!

Thanks for the ideas, Ruffled!

Actually, I will only have an audience of two.

I thought I'd have an intro, an "advantages and pitfalls" and a "do's and dont's" w/some personal experiences in there.

one of the reasons I thought of this subject is because it's something people tend to snicker about, but always want to know more.

Ah yes, you can make comparisons: internet dating vs speed dating, for example.

I don't think you should mix dating with an interview, they might wonder about your focus. I'd stick with a work related topic. There's likely something you think can be improved at work, perhaps you can do something on that.

So what did you decide to do? How did it go?

cm

Thanks for asking, country mama!

I did it on internet dating.

I don't think it went well, but not because of the topic. I stayed up so late the night before that I was just discombobulated the next day. Very tired, not confident, etc (which I am usually pretty confident).

I'm almost ALWAYS in a genuinely good mood. But my smile felt fake and I don't feel my personality came through. Personality was really the most important part because the interview was for a trainer position.

Shrug...I had less than 24 hours to prepare...really only about 4-5 hours to think of a topic, prepare the presentation, practice it, PLUS try to be prepared for the interview portion. I really did the best I could, but don't think my star was shining that day!

It's a learning experience, though. At least I can say I've done that type of interview before!

Well, you gave it your all, and that's all any of us can anytime. When will you hear something back?

cm

Hi

Keep your spirits up.. you don't know if you scored better than other interviewees. Keep us updated of the outcome!