After co- presenting to a too-large-group in a too-small-space with too-little, I mean none-at-all-air-conditioning, my colleague and I read the evaluations. Comments ranged from "presenters did a great job" to "uncomfortable chairs" to "too hot in here to learn", all of which were likely true, in part.
Despite the over 120-person decent feedback we received, one person wrote, "Presenters were rather dry". What? I wanted to scream. We weren't dry. We were sweating with the rest of you!! Oh, I suppose that isn't what they meant. Nevertheless, I kept waking up the entire next night, thinking about that comment. I have been accused a time or two of being overly passionate about my subject. I have been accused of being a tad too optimistic about life, in general. But I can't say anyone has ever accused me of being dry. I took it hard. Logical, reasonable Dave kept reminding me, "That person didn't want to be there anyway, the day before school started ---in a hot, overcrowded cafeteria with stinky seating". Right, but they said I was dry. *Sigh* was Dave's reply. Why must I focus on the one negative in a sea of good feedback? Hmmmm....I suppose it is because, no matter how hard I pray to not do this, I strive for perfection in much of everything I do. Just for today, I am going to pray a bit harder for the serenity to know I've done a good job, even when someone may not believe that to be true. And just for today, I pledge to pay attention to the masses, instead of losing sleep over the outliers. Promise. Happy Communicating! Shelly
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