But to finish a long winded response to your question--it takes me about 30 seconds to get into my topic...at first I feel nervous and that may reflect itself as I start, but I warm up to what I am doing, and "hit my stride"--then I am fine. I think it helps to pay attention to how people that you think are effective speakers deliver their talks...again, a range of styles can be effective. I think that eye contact with the audience, clarity of presentation with beginning, middle, end ( as obvious as that sounds) and taking a few pauses to just make eye contact with the audience, take in the room, gather your thoughts as you go is helpful.

Its really disrespectful of the audience and other speakers to run over time. I have got this down to a fine art, where if I have x number of minutes, I go that long, and no less and no more. But you will develop your own feel for how to do that--I mark my notes in 5 minute segments, so I know if I am keeping up with the alloted time.

In the US you get a whole 50-60 minute slot to yourself, so, learning to condense material and still have an effective presentation has been a learning challenge for me. If you have Power point, plan on a back up plan in case it does not work ( because invariably at some point technology will fail you). Some people read their papers, others present from fairly sterile Power point slides, others have more dynamic presentations. Do what is comfortable for you!!!!! I have longed to retreat to the safety of reading a paper, but always opt for a PP when I can. I also like to speak from just a bare outline of notes, as for myself, I am a better speaker "on my feet" and delivering the topic in that style. The other thing is KEEP to time and know how much time you have left, etc. as you go.

I think everyone's conference experience is very individual and how you react to presenting is very different for each person--except that at a recent conference I was at, nearly everyone from new PhD students to experienced senior academics expressed nerves at presenting and relief when their talk was done. So I think having some nerves about it is just part of the way it is.

For myself, the comfort level really varies based on what I am presenting and who I am presenting to. That said, I usually enjoy being up in front of people speaking, yet, can find the conference presenting nerve producing. I think its hard to condense information into a 20 minute slot--that is the challenge for me. It really is not much time to talk.

Making sure to get some sort of human contact is important, though this can be hard when doing a PhD! Even if its a brief chat with someone, it can help--so I think getting to student events, seminars, or the like is important, but equally, you can find community events, local guided walks, etc. that are also relatively cost free and a good way to change your pace and get out and mingle for awhile with new faces and new places.

The key to managing stress, I think, is to make sure you get enough sleep as a starter. The lack of sleep can really make stressful situations feel worse--and your brain does not cope as well with information when you are stressed, making it hard to take on board information or to be productive--which can itself lead to stress! Next, I think is making sure to have a healthy diet and to get moderate amounts of exercise, even just a walk around the block is a good start. Getting enough healthy carbs is good for the brain, as carbs fuel the brain, so whole grains, brown rice, whole grain pasta, etc. are good ( and affordable on a student budget).

Plus I just read something in the news about new research showing cancer links between highly processed foods and certain types of cancer...

I think that is an excellent idea to attend to get the "feel" for it, and you can see the different styles in which people present, how they organise their information, handle questions, how they dress, etc.

I think that during periods of high stress it is important to make sure that you are getting healthy meals, and of course, exercise is very key to managing stress and keeping focus. Cooking need be no more complicated than boiling a pot of water for rice or pasta, or spending about 5 minutes stir-frying some chicken on the stove top. Ready made meals are loaded with horrible chemicals and high amounts of sodium, etc...you can do fine with a few minutes of boiling--put a pot on to boil, and sit and read nearby if you want, so you do not feel as if you are taking away from studying. Cooking need not mean huge elaborate preparations.

Just over the moon at another Hidden Rooseters fan on this forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurry and post back SRS292, how did you choose that for your name and is that your fav Hidden Roosters song? You know all about the symbolism of it of course, or surely you would not have chosen it. It goes so well with the whole of the PhD thing!!!! Down at the beach house....Xavier's Barbeque...

SRE292--MORE HIDDEN ROOSTERS LYRICS!!! Wow, I never thought I would run into another Hidden Roosters fan on here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you hear their gig in Baltimore? That of course was the classic one, but I think their taped performance at the People's Fair in Taos is a classic as well. Do you have a fav??!!!

A friendly suggestion SRE292 ( that actually is one of my favourite songs by the Hidden Roosters!!! THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!!! Them and Little Feat! You are not a Hidden Roosters fan are you?) if you are going to post comments of this sort that try to be amusing, it might help if they actually were. Its an art form. Perhaps a good listen to some more of the Hidden Roosters would elevate your cynicism and sarcasm! "OOOH...down at the beach house....Xavier's Barbeque..those were the days....trout in the river...it makes you shiver...those were the days...!!!!" ( fav. lyrics from the Hidden Roosters. Actually, the Hidden Roosters used to have trout receipes on the sleeve of their LPs and that is where I first learnt to love trout!

It occurs to me that I have not thought of McDonalds in weeks. I have not gone there, have not even wanted to go there, have not thought of it, yearned for it, craved it...even when having moments or periods of stress! HOORAY!!!! That means I am getting settled into my new country and my new programme of study, and not in need of those familiar things from "home" ( even though I never ate McDonalds in the US!).

My dad did not go really grey until his late 60's, and so I am figuring since I inherited his hair, that is what is likely what is going to happen to me. And I think aging in your 30s is really the most traumatic, because you compare yourself to being 18 or 21 or 25 so it seems "old" but its really just about moving past youth/young adulthood. Then nothing significant happens until you are about 100 and you get a telegram from the Queen.

For the longest time, I looked way younger than I was--so I really was not bothered about aging, as I just sorted of went into deep denial in my head and decided I was really 10 years younger than my chronological age! HAH! Figured I was getting some years back from the universe from being married about that long or some kind of positive karmic payment! Now I am not sure if I look my age or not--probably more than I have at any point in my life--but I am too busy to get bothered. On the other hand, I have not grown a single grey hair since moving to the UK and doing the PhD full time--as opposed to working and doing the PhD--so I think the reduction in stress has halted the grey hairs!