On Tuesday I have to give an important talk. Instead of preparing for it, I thought I would write a blog instead. Procrastination is one of my more accomplished skills, anyway, so why not indulge myself.
Public speaking is supposed to one of peoples' biggest fears. I have never, thankfully, been put off by it. I have always given talks. When I lived in the UK I gave one for the Young Farmers, the Womens' Institute and at other venues. Here in Brazil I formed a support group and had to lead those meetings. And a couple of years ago I gave a talk to Residents at a veterinary hospital on handling injured birds of prey.
Preparation is key. You should go into the room the day before to check that its layout suits your purposes. If not, move the furniture around if you can.
Nowadays most people use PowerPoint. You need to familiarize yourself with it. Then compile your slides and know what you are going to say. You should know your content. Donn't think you are going to impress anybody by going in and reading from a sheet of paper. That is a poor performance. Learn your material. Oherwise you will appear unprofessional. Rehearse beforehand infront of a mirror and with somebody. Do a dress rehearsal.
If you follow these steps, then you will feel mentally prepared. Then go in to the venue telling yourself you know more than anybody else in that room at that time about that subject. Dress appropriately.
Body language. and voice tonality
Before entering the room, go to a cloakroom or private place and for five minutes do physical exercise that take up space and that maximize your physicality. This boosts your blood system's testosterone levels and will decrease stress and maximise performance. I have mentioned these activities before on this blog.
At the venue, keep your head up. Make eye contact with everybody in the room. But mainly look towards the back wall because this has the default effect of throwing your voice so that everybody can hear you. As to voice, tell everybody that they can ask questions throughout or only at the end. You need to tell them this. Or they will not know. To sound authoritative you should speak from your diaphragm and speak your sentences as you breathe out.
Good luck.
Saturday, 12 December 2015
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Studies of Cuiabá Basin Wildlife: the Undulated Tinamou/Jaó. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project (CBFP) Pages.
Welcome back to these species profiles. Today we talk about the Undulated Tinamou. It is a ground-dwelling bird that seems reluctant to fly when under threat. Rather, it skulks low on the ground. To this biologist it seems to fulfill the ecological niche that would be inhabited by Grey and Red-Legged Partridges in Britain.
They are not rare. Athough not seen very oftern, this is a behavioural trait rather than anything to do with their population density, population size or population distribution. They are grazers and feed on seeds which are crushed in the gizzard. Their size is 28 centimetres. They are heard very often in the undergrowth, but rarely seen.
The best plates can be found in Helmut Sick's 'Brazilian Ornithology' / Ornitologia Brasileira.
Taxonomically, it is classified as
They are not rare. Athough not seen very oftern, this is a behavioural trait rather than anything to do with their population density, population size or population distribution. They are grazers and feed on seeds which are crushed in the gizzard. Their size is 28 centimetres. They are heard very often in the undergrowth, but rarely seen.
The best plates can be found in Helmut Sick's 'Brazilian Ornithology' / Ornitologia Brasileira.
Taxonomically, it is classified as
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata - the chordates or animals possessing a spinal cord ie the vertebrates
- Class Aves - the birds
- Order Tinamiformes - quail, partridges and allies (23 species according to author Sick)
- Family Tinamidae
- Genus Crypturellus
- Species Crypturellus undulatus undulatus
Saturday, 5 December 2015
Some Challenges Faced by Mato Grossense Agribusiness.
I have just given an English class and it produced some fascinating insights into the difficulties farmers in Mato Grosso face. Such as water shortages. The problem is to increase productivity. There is very little land available for crop growing.
I have heard it said that some people have an issue with crops being grown as animal feed protein when they should be being planted to provide high-value protein (which soya is, if I am not mistaken) for human consumption. My class made an interesting point. We need high value- which means easily digestible or easily assimilated - protein. Whether or not the source of that protein comes from an animal or plant source is a question of economics.
Mato Grosso is good for crops. It has high levels of insolation, rain and humidity, and good topography. It is top for cotton, soya and beef production. It is third or fourth for cotton.
What does a farmer need to be successful in Mato Grosso? He needs knowledge and passion. He needs knowledge about the rains. He needs to be observant and needs leadership skills.
Why leadership slills? The farmer needs to leead a team. For example, if he produces 2500 sacks of soya, he needs to employ 8-10 people all year round and 5-6 temporary staff.
He needs to know a strategy for cultivating his crops. He needs a pest and weed control strategy. He needs to be intelligent and innovative to create these strategies. He needs to employ technology. For example, irrigation systems. He needs machinery to sow seed. He needs spraying machines and combine harvesters. He needs money for seeds and fertilizer. He incurs costs of R$2500 per hectare to produce a hectare of soya. A hectare produces a mean of 50 bags of soya. Each sack sells for R$55, according to my student. These values change yearly. Growers need managment skills.
What qualities does a person need to be a manager? Trustworthiness, a liking for other people; empathy; charisma. He needs to be an attentive listener. He needs to always be prepared. He needs to be able to develop people especially when that person has a problem.
How to develop somebody? My class's approach is to observe the person when working alongside him or her, especially when he or she is under pressure. My students pay attention to the employee's performance under pressure, then give the person feedback when the person does something wrong. When the person does something right he receives recognition in front of others. Feedback is done privately and with the objective of helping him or her make adjustments. Skills need to be maximised and negatives minimised.
I have heard it said that some people have an issue with crops being grown as animal feed protein when they should be being planted to provide high-value protein (which soya is, if I am not mistaken) for human consumption. My class made an interesting point. We need high value- which means easily digestible or easily assimilated - protein. Whether or not the source of that protein comes from an animal or plant source is a question of economics.
Mato Grosso is good for crops. It has high levels of insolation, rain and humidity, and good topography. It is top for cotton, soya and beef production. It is third or fourth for cotton.
What does a farmer need to be successful in Mato Grosso? He needs knowledge and passion. He needs knowledge about the rains. He needs to be observant and needs leadership skills.
Why leadership slills? The farmer needs to leead a team. For example, if he produces 2500 sacks of soya, he needs to employ 8-10 people all year round and 5-6 temporary staff.
He needs to know a strategy for cultivating his crops. He needs a pest and weed control strategy. He needs to be intelligent and innovative to create these strategies. He needs to employ technology. For example, irrigation systems. He needs machinery to sow seed. He needs spraying machines and combine harvesters. He needs money for seeds and fertilizer. He incurs costs of R$2500 per hectare to produce a hectare of soya. A hectare produces a mean of 50 bags of soya. Each sack sells for R$55, according to my student. These values change yearly. Growers need managment skills.
What qualities does a person need to be a manager? Trustworthiness, a liking for other people; empathy; charisma. He needs to be an attentive listener. He needs to always be prepared. He needs to be able to develop people especially when that person has a problem.
How to develop somebody? My class's approach is to observe the person when working alongside him or her, especially when he or she is under pressure. My students pay attention to the employee's performance under pressure, then give the person feedback when the person does something wrong. When the person does something right he receives recognition in front of others. Feedback is done privately and with the objective of helping him or her make adjustments. Skills need to be maximised and negatives minimised.
How to Develop Your Mindset to Face Challenges
When I look back on the past few years here in Brazil the things I have achieved barely seem possible. What is for certain is that the young man who came out here with two suitcases of books and one of clothes no longer exists. The challenges of being out here and solving problems has been performance-enhancing beyond belief.
I think I was the first person to bring falconry and hawking to the Central-Westen state of Mato Grosso. That is now practiced by two people. One, Miguel, flies a female aplomado falcon and a plumbeous kite. The other, Emerson, flies a male aplomado.
I am also about to be the first Briton to qualify as a Veterinary Surgeon in Mato Grosso. And if you thought veterinary medicine is about animals, think again. It is about people.
The reason I started this blog, in fact, was to think through the problems I was facing on my clinical rotations as a person older than the rest of my team, from a different culture, speaking a different language, and with different interests (wildlife). I also learned what narcissism meant, as I had to work with somebody displaying narcissistic tendencies.
I considered giving up twice: in the third semester and at the start of the ninth. That is, at the start of the clinical rotations when I had to work with this person. I suppose you could say I was bullied, though at my age and status in life I don't recognise myself as having been a victim of bullying.
Instead, I felt angry. Angry that having to deal with some difficult characters really detracted from my full enjoyment of the clinical rotations. Secondly, it made me a stronger person. This 'bullying' made me sit down back in March and come up with a strategy on how to deal with the situation. It was a valuable experience. It taught me to think in terms of 'mindset'. That is, mental atitude and fortitude. I remember I used to arrive early and do some body language exercises to pump up the testosterone and decrease my blood cortisol so that stress was reduced and I felt stimulated and ready to face the World. Or rather, my clinical team. Yes, performance is all to do with hormones. Serotonin, oxytocin and testosterone are the ones you need, and I discovered useful exercises via a Vanessa Van Edwards vídeo on boosting your performance. It is also helpful to the PUA guys to get into the zone.
Now the course is all but finished and I face the decision of returning to Britain or staying in Brazil. What an enormous cop-out it would be to not practice veterinary medicine if I returned now to my home country. If I say, I can at least practice. So if anybody in Brazil wants a bilingual vet with a passion for surgery amd fish farming and international business.... I qualify in January.
I think I was the first person to bring falconry and hawking to the Central-Westen state of Mato Grosso. That is now practiced by two people. One, Miguel, flies a female aplomado falcon and a plumbeous kite. The other, Emerson, flies a male aplomado.
I am also about to be the first Briton to qualify as a Veterinary Surgeon in Mato Grosso. And if you thought veterinary medicine is about animals, think again. It is about people.
The reason I started this blog, in fact, was to think through the problems I was facing on my clinical rotations as a person older than the rest of my team, from a different culture, speaking a different language, and with different interests (wildlife). I also learned what narcissism meant, as I had to work with somebody displaying narcissistic tendencies.
I considered giving up twice: in the third semester and at the start of the ninth. That is, at the start of the clinical rotations when I had to work with this person. I suppose you could say I was bullied, though at my age and status in life I don't recognise myself as having been a victim of bullying.
Instead, I felt angry. Angry that having to deal with some difficult characters really detracted from my full enjoyment of the clinical rotations. Secondly, it made me a stronger person. This 'bullying' made me sit down back in March and come up with a strategy on how to deal with the situation. It was a valuable experience. It taught me to think in terms of 'mindset'. That is, mental atitude and fortitude. I remember I used to arrive early and do some body language exercises to pump up the testosterone and decrease my blood cortisol so that stress was reduced and I felt stimulated and ready to face the World. Or rather, my clinical team. Yes, performance is all to do with hormones. Serotonin, oxytocin and testosterone are the ones you need, and I discovered useful exercises via a Vanessa Van Edwards vídeo on boosting your performance. It is also helpful to the PUA guys to get into the zone.
Now the course is all but finished and I face the decision of returning to Britain or staying in Brazil. What an enormous cop-out it would be to not practice veterinary medicine if I returned now to my home country. If I say, I can at least practice. So if anybody in Brazil wants a bilingual vet with a passion for surgery amd fish farming and international business.... I qualify in January.
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