speak your voice

Making presentations, despite the amount of preparation, can be nerve wracking. I admit that sometimes I zone out a little in the interaction part - you know, the moment at the end of a presentation when we as presenters are supposed to be listening to our audience for questions and clarification. That part.

In the heat of the moment, I sometimes lose it a wee bit. I can concentrate so hard on the moment that I don't provide enough directionto my brain to store the information in anything resembling the original. Yes, I recall the flavour of the questions - and sometimes even the flavour of my responses - but I often don't have the mental agility to recall specifics. After spending that much time focusing on presenting to the audience in a way that they will be receptive, it can be difficult to switch gears and become the sponge.

The last post here was about a presentation I did for the BC Standing Committee on Finance in response to a request for consultation on the 2010 budget for our province. I spent a lot of time thinking about my audience, hunching their interests and crafting language that I thought would resonate a bit - while getting my main points across in my own voice. It's a challenge.

Now that a few weeks have passed, I realize that I don't entirely recall (with much clarity) the questions posed to me at the end of my presentation - or how I answered them. Sure, I remember the flavour of each question and how my emotions were triggered. But the analytical side of things seemed to shut down.

Fortunately, our taxpayer dollars have been hard at work these past few weeks. The transcript of the session in Kelowna (where I participated) can be found here. Skim down, not too far, and you'll find me. I was the first presenter. Yep. Do I need to mention the challenges that come with presenting first?

There were some good questions asked, and I think I responded with fair answers. But, don't let me tell you about it - go ahead and find out for yourself. I know you couldn't all be there with me, so here's your little glimpse into that fateful day. And yes, this is a draft transcript - as was stamped all over the internet version. Please keep that in mind.

~ Jeannette


[DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
Questions from anyone?

M. Mungall: Thanks very much, Jeanette. You state that health care, education, economic stability and arts and culture aren't exclusive — that, in fact, they're often very interconnected. There's plenty of research that shows, for instance, how art therapy can benefit people who have been marginalized in our society or children with FASD and so on.

Recognizing that and recognizing that one of the reasons we have the deficit that we do is actually because of declining revenue due to tax cuts for corporations, would you rather see the province of British Columbia retain that revenue source — the taxes from corporations — than, for instance, this year giving oil and gas a $120 million cut to their royalties? Would you rather see us retain that revenue and make sure that things like health, education and the arts are funded?

J. Montgomery: That is a very difficult question for me to answer without any additional information on my part. I am a small voice who represents one of a million small voices.

I do believe that our elected officials and our government have the information in front of them to make informed decisions. I don't know if that's an informed decision that I can particularly speak to. I would speak from my heart rather than my mind, and I would like to have both present to be able to make that kind of decision right now.

I would like to see continued support on an equitable scale to as many places as possible. I do know that's very difficult. I really don't have enough information to be able to answer that. I'm sorry.

D. Donaldson (Deputy Chair): Hi, Jeanette. Thanks for the very eloquent presentation. You bring up lots of big ideas, and it's nice to have the zooming out and the zooming in.

As far as one aspect you touched on, on your second page, about often being asked to choose between supporting one thing or the other — arts or businesses…. You talk about this being an adversarial approach in what, in fact, is a multiple-bottom-line economic model. Can you just comment on that or expand on that thought a little bit more?

J. Montgomery: I think there's a lot more progression towards thinking of a multiple-bottom-line model. It is not just asking people to choose between supporting one area or the other. It's like asking to choose between industry or theatre. I like to think that we have made more progress in addressing ethical and sustainable decisions financially without just saying: "What is our net gain at the end of the day?"

I think that's becoming a little more prevalent in financial management, and I'd like to think that it's becoming a little more prevalent in our provincial government's financial management as well. I include it there to ask people to remember that there is more than just one vision or version of wealth.

J. Rustad: Jeanette, thank you very much for the passion you brought with your presentation. It's never easy to come and present, but obviously, in your heart, your belief in the arts and support of the arts…. It's great to see that come through.

I myself have spent a great deal of time in and around the arts. I know the value, the importance of that to community and to the overall health within a community. I just want to make one comment and ask a question around the same thing that Doug just asked about — the choices between industry or arts, those sorts of things.

I actually look at it more as that we have some very difficult challenges around budgets in health and budgets in education. Revenue source, of course, is one question. But I do also believe there's a balance.

The question I have for you is: what is the revenue that the organizations that you've been involved with are getting from government, and their sources — gaming grants or other types of grants?

J. Montgomery: One I know of was through gaming grants.

I'm not as well versed or have the information in front of me to be able to address it. I would be happy to carry on the conversation and find out more information after this and get back to you.

J. Rustad: If you could e-mail us the details on that and where those funding sources are, it gives us a chance to be able to look and be a little more focused.

J. Montgomery: Certainly.

[DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]