I'd like a LADIES PhD, for I am a LADY!

I've just gotten back from a three day workshop in Geelong for new PhD students. It was...interesting.

One session was on presentation skills. An expert on presentations gave a talk on what makes for a good PowerPoint slide, how to use body language, how loud to speak etc. It was very polished. However, it fell apart when she went to use me for a hypothetical example of a 'seated presentation'.

"For example," she starts, "if this lady here who uses a wheelchair were to make a presentation..."

I'm horrified and stunned. Did she just call me a lady?

"...I'm sorry...umm...gentleman?" she tries. A long awkward silence ensues as she stares at me questioningly.

"Hi" I eventually let out in as low a tone as I can muster, unsure of what else to say.

"Yes! Gentleman...ughh...well, the point is that presentations can be made while sitting as well!"

She continued the talk and avoided further eye contact.

What I find interesting is that there was one important presenting tip she failed to mention: while a dimly lit room may help the audience to see the PowerPoint projection, it makes it difficult to see the audience!

As for me, I'm planning on growing a beard.

Awkward Moment Insurance Tip #1 - Facebook Birthday Alerts

As someone with a talent for getting into awkward and embarrassing situations, I'm always on the look out for tips and tricks for avoiding, escaping, and preventing these occurrences.

Here's a good one I came across the other day: automated 'birthday alerts' using Facebook.

Forgetting someone's birthday can make for quite an awkward situation, particularly when:

1) the person always remembers your birthday,
2) the person usually gives you a thoughtful birthday present on your birthday,
3) everyone else has remembered the person's birthday and you're the only one in the room without a present, or
4) you share the same birthday with the person.

I've had the experience of being on the embarrassing end of a situation where all four of those conditions pertained. It was INCREDIBLY AWKWARD!

So I was very pleased to find this Facebook app (a third party plug-in of sorts) that monitors the birthday information on your Facebook friends' profiles and then emails you a reminder either on the day, or a week or month in advance (you can configure it in the settings panel).

See, Facebook isn't a complete waste of time.