Giving a talk, and I need some help

[TSandM]

I volunteered to give a talk on cave diving to our local dive club next month. I've been putting it together in my head, but the other day, Peter asked me what I was going to say, and when I started to tell him, he yanked on the reins and said I needed to think more about what my audience would want to hear than what I wanted to say.

So, I'm asking for help: If you were attending a dive club meeting with a talk on cave diving, as NON CAVE DIVERS, what would you want to hear or see?

(Please, those of you who already do this, I don't need your input . . . we all know that we'll sit for ANYTHING that involves caves.)

 

[HenrikBP]

I would make sure to start and end with some good reasons for cave diving such as a beautiful and unspoiled diving environment etc. Pictures and video clips of different cave environments would be a good "appetizer".

Henrik

 

[knotical]

Benefits.
Any societal benefits, such as scientific.
Risks, including statistics.
Tools and techniques for amelioration of risks.
Levels and examples of training.
And of course pictures, videos, physical training aids, and anecdotes can all be nice.

 

[iztok]

My wife gave me OK to dive as long as it is not in overhead environment. If I were to try to convince her to let me do it I would want to know answer to two questions:

1. What is it so inviting to do cave diving?

2. What does it take to make it safe?

 

[crosing]

I'd want to know why you would want to go into a cave with scuba.

The idea freaks me out. I once saw this vid of a guy doing a record dive in Mexico and they showed him a mile or two in and there was a restriction lasting 100 yards where he was just squeezing through on his belly. :nailbiter:

That was enough for me to realize that I would never want to do that.

I agree whith Henrik, show some beautiful pics or videos to show the environment eace2:

 

[wrybosome]

As a non cave diver who has seen a couple of presentations like this what I enjoyed most was the sense that actual exploration takes place in caves. There aren't many places left in the world where a person without major funding can be the first to see and describe what is there for the rest of us. That sort of thing really gets to me. Video is a plus.

Secondarily I like to hear about why the person speaking likes the caves so much. Why do you cave dive? What's it like? What is the training and teamwork like? What's it like to follow the line down into the Earth? What were the most amazing moments of wonder/awe/fear you've had in the caves?

Take me there with you and I'll sit still no matter how long your presentation is.

Did I mention video is a plus?

Best of luck Lynne.

Tim

 

[Cave Diver]

(Please, those of you who already do this, I don't need your input . . . we all know that we'll sit for ANYTHING that involves caves.)

(I don't always follow directions well, so disregard if you wish)

1) Why I do it. What makes caves unique, challenging, beautiful to me. I've written a few descriptions of why for people that I'll share if you're interested.

2) Importance of conservation, historical preservation of fossils and artifacts and land owner relations.

3) Diversity of caves - Mexico vs. Florida. Sumps, springs, siphons.

4) Scientific discovery - connecting water sources, unique animals, plants, etc.

5) Exploration - pushing the boundaries making new discoveries.

6) Hazards and dangers - remoteness, access, environmental.

7) Need for proper training and equipment.

8) Maybe end with video: A deceptively easy way to die.

 

[wrybosome]

1) Why I do it. What makes caves unique, challenging, beautiful to me. I've written a few descriptions of why for people that I'll share if you're interested.

Make it a thread, I'd read that.

 

[miketsp]

It might sound grisly but to grab your audience you start with some statistics about deaths.
This is basic human nature. (People will tell you they go to a race track to watch the race but deep down most of them want to see the crashes).
Then you can lead in to what are the motivations to run these risks (nice pics, exploration, setting records etc) and how can the risks be mitigated (training, redundancy, team work).

 

[diver_doug]

Pictures. I think just about any diver who sees the beauty caves have to offer wants to dive in one...but obviously there's a lot of training and equipment that goes into being able to safely do so. I think really all you need to do is show pictures that make the enticement of cave diving obvious, and then explain what one needs to do in order to be a qualified/safe cave diver as well as explaining why the additional training/equipment is necessary (i.e. why it is much more dangerous than standard open water scuba diving).