Going solo

Having barely recovered from IATEFL, I’m now preparing my next conference presentation. This time it’s a workshop at an EAP conference at the University of Potsdam on 10 May.

Almost all the conference presentations I’ve given before have been on behalf of publishers, but this time, I’m going solo. The workshop is based on the work I did for How to Write EAP Materials, but as that’s hardly a ‘commercial’ project, it doesn’t really count as a publisher’s product plug.

It seems a bit odd as someone who makes a living out of writing materials for publication to be talking to teachers about how to write their own stuff. But I know that however good published materials are, there are always going to be gaps that need filling. Either the students need something that's not in the book - extra practice or a specific skill/area of language that's not covered - or the teaching context demands something a bit different - specific institutional requirements or just the style and preferences of individual teachers. And if teachers are inevitably going to write materials, be it the odd handout for their own class or a whole course for their institution, then surely there should be some professional development available to point them in the right direction and to help them avoid some of the potential pitfalls. So I'm seeing this as complementary to my other work rather than in competition.

Preparing for the workshop – putting together my slides and a handout – has been a strangely liberating experience. There’s no publisher's PowerPoint template to use, no house style to stick to, nothing’s off-limits. I’ve got one slide which shows a whole range of EAP materials by different publishers, which feels quite wonderfully rebellious!

I did spend more than usual agonizing over what background to use for my slides. I kind of had a design in my head, but couldn’t find anything that quite matched, then realized I was too busy to keep farting around looking, so just plumped for a simple one that appealed. It was only later that I noticed the colour scheme matched the new sofa we’ve just bought!

The organizers have very kindly given me slot for a 90-minute workshop, so I’m planning a bit of proper audience participation, which is not really my usual style either. It should be fun, but I’m just hoping I’ve got the amount of material and timings right  … and that the audience are up for a bit of workshopping.

Anyway, I think I’m more-or-less ready, just got to get my handouts printed and copied, then decide what outfit to pack … Looking forward to seeing everyone in Berlin!

PS I’ll post my slides and handout here afterwards.