Blog #3

Savita Joshi

4811 Telegraph Ave. #511 Oakland, CA 94609

January 29, 13

Contact

Contact’s address

Dear Ms. Smith:

I hope you will give me the opportunity to interview you in order to learn what it is like to write trail guides for teenagers.

I have always loved hiking, backpacking, and going outside in general.  I love your hiking guidebooks and really admire how you include both facts about each trail but also illustrations and photos of the different attractions.  I love how you make your books accessible to teens and young adults because most trail guides are more adult oriented.  I would love to be able to talk to you in person about your experiences and job.

During this second semester of my senior year I am participating in something called “senior project”, which is where I craft an essential question that interests me and answer it through research and independent work.  I have chosen to create an online trail guide for teenagers, and specifically for those that attend my school.  I think that talking with you about your techniques and tips  will really help me create a fun interactive web site that is attractive to teenagers like myself.

I am very excited to have the change to meet with you and talk about what you do.  If you would like contact me, please call me at 510-919-3703.  Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Savita Joshi

Outline Call

Hello my name is Savita and I was wondering if I could talk to you about a possible interview.  I go to Drew School in San Francisco and am participating in a senior project, which is a student created project that explores a central question.  My question revolves around motivating teens to get outside into nature and since you write teen oriented trail guides I was wondering if we could meet and talk about your work. This would be a great opportunity for me to get some ideas for the online trail guide I am creating at the end of this project. 

I think my main weakness in public speaking is that I have the tendency to talk to fast because I am so nervous.  My strengths are that I can look people in the eye, not fidget, and usually present everything I planned on (don't forget things).  

Things I can do:

1. Remind myself to slow down. Maybe even take a few sips of water or have slides that have pictures and no text to create breaks in my presentation.

2. Practice a lot before hand in front of people I know and people I am not so close with.

3. Ask others for tips that can help me slow down and give a calm presentation.

4. Don't read off a card, memorize most.

5. Don't have too much text on the screen (don't read off screen).