Tips for Skype Author Visit: Be Prepared

More and more, librarians and teachers are using video conferencing software to connect with authors. Before I did my first Skype Author Visit today, with a school in Arlington, VA, I went through several fine-tunings of my setup. These are all small tweaks, but I felt like they were important to let me relax and enjoy the presentation.

Turn Your Office into a Video Studio

Lighting. My office is a dark attic, perfect for writing, but not good at all for a video studio. Looking around for tutorials on lighting for video shoots, I saw that it was important to have three types of lights.

Main light at about 2 o’clock to light one side of the face. It needs to be strong enough to light up your face without glare. Because I have an attic office, I just use a shop light and bounce it off the nearby ceiling.

The main light is about 2 o'clock from my face, bouncing off the ceiling.

The secondary light just bounced light onto the opposite cheek.

Camera. With the lights in place check the camera settings.

• Tilt. Is it capturing your full face? I also position the screen showing small shot of myself as near the camera as possible, so I am mostly looking at the camera.
• Reverse Image. I also found it better to reverse or flip the image that I’m seeing of myself. That way, if I reach up to touch my hair, it looks right to me.
• Zoom. Zoom in or out until you get a shoulder shot. I like it zoomed out enough so you can easily see my gestures, because I talk a lot with my hands. It also gives a small window into my office and sometimes, I got questions about my unabridged dictionary which is on a book shelf behind me.
• Color balance.
  • Set the white balance first.
    Click on Auto-focus on the white balance. Hold your foam core or other white object about where you’ll be seated. Let the auto-settings work. Then, click OFF the auto-focus, forcing it to stay at that setting. My office has windows, so I do this check each time I do a video, to allow for differences in light coming from the windows.
  • Then set brightness, contrast and color balance to your liking. I like to balance the color closer to the b/w side, so it’s not glaring.

Turn Yourself into a Movie Star

Make-up. With 3-4x the light, you’ll need makeup. I’m a minimal make-up person, but I’ve found that it helps to pay attention to my eyes and to add a bright red shade of lipstick. This helps make me stand out.
Also, if you tend to have dark circles under your eyes, adjust the lighting to avoid this, and use a yellow-toned concealer, or look for something like Ooh La Lift , which lightens this area. Use the screen capture function of the camera to take shots of yourself for comparison

Clothes. Test a couple colors and styles of clothing. Use the webcam to take a series of pictures for comparison.

Triple Check All Equipment

Once you have the lighting, makeup and clothes right, test your microphone using Skype’s call service. Finally, try a test call with a school a day or so before the real thing to make sure that all equipment is functioning on both sides. I like it if any face-tracking software is turned OFF during the visit. Face-tracking tries to find a face and focus on it; but with a classroom or even just a couple people, it tends to move from face to face and I find this distracting.

Lights, Camera, Action!

10 Minutes Before.

• Last equipment test. About ten minutes before, test your equipment one last time.
• Props. Gather all your books as props, and any other props you plan to use (I forgot to do this on the first Q&A, but made a beeline for the books before the second).


Make sure you have your props nearby. Water, too.

• Review purpose and audience. Make sure you know the age of the audience and what type presentation you are being asked to do and make sure you’re ready for that. For example, you might have sent ahead a handout for the kids, or perhaps a Powerpoint which they will show at the same time they show your video feed.
• Water. Also, if you need it, set a cup of water beside your computer/camera set up.
• Minimize disturbances. Turn your phone off or to vibrate and warn anyone else around that you’re doing a video, so they’ll stay out of your “video production room,” or at least enter quietly.
• Expect technical problems. Be read for technical difficulties by becoming familiar with the camera, microphone and Skype settings. For example, in my test visit, I talked only to the teacher. But in the real visit, she turned up the speakers so everyone in her library could hear, resulting in feedback. We had to play around with the sound on both sides to find a comfortable level which was easy to hear, but avoided feedback.

Action.
Once the Skype visits starts:

• RELAX. Just have fun. You’ve done all the setup work, so you don’t stress in the middle of the session, so now be confident, relaxed. If kids are coming into the room, wave at them and say, “Hi.” Do whatever kinds of interaction you would normally do before and during an author visit.
• Consider the Technology. Talk slowly, allowing for the slight lag time of Skype.
• Focus on audience. Focus on the students and meeting their needs: If a student has a question, ask that they come up close to the camera to ask their question. Answer questions simply and clearly. Ask them for follow-up questions. It’s all about the kids.
• Look at the camera. Remember to look AT THE CAMERA, not down at the computer screen where your image and their image are displayed. Looking at the camera will make it appear that you are making eye contact and that’s important for any speaker. To make this more natural, it helps to maximize their video feed, making it fill the screen. If possible, move the smaller image of yourself near the camera, so you can see it from the corner of your eye. But whatever you do, make yourself look AT THE CAMERA. It was one of the hardest things to do today.
• Multiple presentations on one day. If you are doing several presentations, common for short Q&A sessions, hang up and have them call back in between. This allows you time to take a bathroom break, reapply lipstick, check email, Twitter just once (Okay, twice – it’s short), and just relax a few minutes. But be sure you’re back in the room, ready for the next session.
• Very Important: Touch NOTHING on the camera or Skype settings in between sessions. This is NOT the time to tweak things, unless you absolutely have to. If you DO tweak, call back five minutes early to reconfirm that everything is working right. I looked at possible Avatars and either I did something or the librarian did something to settings and somehow, I missed the second call.
• Tip: You’ll get an Orange Pop-up Box from Skype to tell you when the other party is Online. You can expect the call shortly after that. If you don’t get the call on time, call them: there may be some technical difficulty going on.

I’m a fast learner. The first Q&A, I felt too stiff; the second Q&A lasted only a few minutes because of technical difficulties. But by the third, I was starting to feel comfortable and like this method of connecting with readers. I hope to do it again, soon.

To the students at SMS: Thanks! You had some great questions!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Yo-Yos v. Author

When I first started doing school visits, I was uncertain, trying to figure out what to do and why. That’s when I had a near encounter with a yo-yo.

I went to a rural elementary school a week after a yo-yo company had performed at the school. The yo-yo people had charged the school $1000 to perform, and then got to sell yo-yos, too. The school paid me nothing as an author to visit the school and present my children’s picture book. Author v. yo-yos and the Yo-yos won. Heck, I even had to pay for my lunch that day.

I thought about that many times since then.
Yo-yos educational value: entertainment.
The educational value of my presentation: literature, literacy, writing, reading.

Yesterday, I did a school visit and I’ll be doing another next week. When I go to schools, I’m aware that I must be entertaining, but I’ve also refined some of my goals

Goals for School Visits

Foster reading and writing by making it fun, easy, accessible. I often do small group writing sessions with students. My favorite is when the students are some of the most discouraged about writing.

This month, I got to teach a class of mostly discouraged writers. We drew a map, wrote specific name places, and imagined the setting. Then, students put a finger on the map and moved around the map while telling a partner a story. Then they put their finger on a different place on the map and told the story a different way (revision in the oral stage!). Finally, they wrote their story. At the last, I asked for a volunteer to read and one girl immediately responded and read a great story. Yes, there were misspellings and a few grammar mistakes she needed to correct later; but the story was great. Teachers later told me they were astounded that this particular girl volunteered to read, because she was so shy. Confidence and joy in her writing, that’s what the girl gained that day.

Yes, it’s easy for me to come in and do a one-shot boost for a kid like that. It’s harder to do the day-to-day grind of preparing her for testing. But maybe, that one day of confidence and joy will carry her through the testing.

Help teachers enjoy reading and writing with kids even more. Teachers enjoy the enthusiasm that students have for books in the preparation for my visit, during my visit and in the aftermath. It’s a time to break the mold and have fun.

Help school community celebrate literature, something too seldom done! Several years ago, I was asked to speak at a fall reading kick-off at an elementary school. The theme for the school’s fall reading was travel and my book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was perfect way to start the excitement. The librarian was amazing! When I walked into the school auditorium, every kid was waving a tiny American flag. They sang patriotic songs and were already studying large US map displayed in the library.

Now, I’ve been to sports pep rallies and they are fun. But a pep rally for reading? This was fantastic. The entire school – led by a librarian, par excellence, supported by enthusiastic staff and administration – was building a culture around a celebration of literature, reading, writing, literacy. Amazing. And still too seldom seen.

I’m no longer bashful about charging for school visits. Yo-yos are fun for a day and quite entertaining, no doubt. But as a writing teacher and author, I remind myself that I also have something of value to bring to a school. I take it seriously and work harder during a school visit than I do any other time. Why? Because one shy girl volunteered to read her story. And at the end of an hour of playing with words, she smiled.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I just finished a great school visit. Driving home, I realized there were some keys to making it great.

Communication.

It’s essential to communicate with the venue effectively right from the first contact through the actual event. I try to respond within 24 hours to requests for school visits, weekend retreats, speaking at conferences, or any other speaking requests.

I’m often asked how many times a year I do events. Basically, I try accommodate requests as often as I can. So, if I’m asked, I usually go.

During the Initial communication, I try to find out these things:

What type of event is being planned?
How can my participation add to, complement or enhance the event?
Dates?
Type, length and content of presentation?
Type of audience (grade levels, reading levels, adult, etc.)?
Preferred date and alternate dates?
Compensation rates?

Clear expectations result from clear communication and is the backbone of a great event.

Providing materials for advance preparation.

School author visits are most successful when students are prepared. I provide a free downloadable pdf file of lesson plans for all my books, which helps teachers introduce my books. For adult presentations, it’s often necessary to send bios, descriptions of presentations, and suggested copy to advertise the event when appropriate.

Oliver is available to visit your school.

Another area of preparation is providing order forms, so books can be purchased at the event. I have a pdf file that I modify to fit the needs of the event. For example, I often give discounts to books bought when I speak and I adjust this as needed.

Speaking is great fun. I’ve had whirlwind events! And I’ve met fascinating people in CA, LA (Louisiana, not Los Angeles), WA (Washington state, not D.C.), and many other places around the US.

Being Prepared Myself!

The day before my school visit this week, I checked my bag to make sure everything was there. Well, let me back up. I keep a bag packed with things I’ll likely need at a school event: foldable wire frame to hold a book upright; copy of book inter-leaved with overhead projector sheets for each page (back-up only these days); CD burned with Powerpoints of each of my books (MOST useful); a miniature Oliver K. Woodman, samples of each of my books to show while I talk; a snack bar just in case I get hungry; common medicines I might need in case I get a headache or something. I usually add bottled water the morning when I leave.

OK, I go overboard. But I’ve been places where I got a headache and didn’t have medicine and I don’t like it. I go prepared!

This time, I checked my bag and the Powerpoint CD was missing. I searched, but ultimately had to burn a new CD. Had I not checked, the school visit would have been disastrous.

I also do MapQuest or Google Maps and PRINT IT OUT. I’m direction-challenged and follow these type maps to the letter, so it’s essential when I’m driving to have this.

If I’m flying somewhere, I double check reservations a week ahead. I try to have contact numbers while traveling; a school number isn’t enough, since travel may be after or before hours. I usually like a cell phone number of the person in charge of the event; likewise, I give them my number, so they can contact me for any reason.

If I’m speaking at a conference, I try to have handouts ready a couple weeks early. Which means my presentations are ready ahead of time and I can go over it. Often I read mss from writers attending. I read these carefully, make notes, and often re-read on the plane to an event, as well as referring to them privately in-between sessions. I want to be helpful to the writers and that means I need to be familiar with their work.

Most events go well because I try to communicate early, often and clearly, I try to help the organizers to prepare the audience ahead of the event, and I try to be prepared myself. I love to travel and speak.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win