Steven Trotter shares why he presents at NIRSA virtual events

Steven Trotter, ACSM-EP, is Associate Director of Wellness & Fitness at East Carolina University. His first virtual NIRSA presentation took place in October 2020 for the NoCRSA State Conference. The presentation was “Lead from Anywhere,” and focused on leading, working, and managing in a remote environment. The session received rave reviews and Steven was invited to present “Lead from Anywhere” again in February of 2021, during the NIRSA Virtual Conference.

Steven presents at NIRSA events because they align with his personal mission to “take people to a place they cannot get on their own.” He says that he uses his unique experiences both inside and outside of the collegiate recreation industry “to provide tangible nuggets of information that members can apply in their own environment to improve their engagement, productivity, impact, and ability to deliver a world-class experience.”

Benefits of presenting

“The interaction between the presenter and the participants is the largest difference between presenting virtually and in-person,” explains Steven. “When presenting in-person you can rely more on your ability to walk around the room, engage in conversation, and ask for audience participation.” Of course, reading the room in a virtual environment requires a very different approach.

“First,” says Steven, “I take in consideration whether I’m presenting in a synchronous or asynchronous manner. When presenting virtually I put a little bit more into the element of performance. There has to be a blend of edutainment.” He defines “edutainment” as a combination of education and entertainment. In Steven’s opinion, you can still engage with a synchronous audience by utilizing chat features, emojis, or integrating platforms such as PollEverywhere. However, when presenting asynchronously, it’s important to lean-in to the performative aspect even more. “Asynchronous presentations also give you the ability to do post-editing and add special effects and interactions to the session,” explains Steven.

To anyone considering submitting a proposal to present at a virtual NIRSA conference or online institute, Steven says, “Pick a topic that you know inside and out to present on. Being confident in your content will allow you to feel more present and authentic in the session. It’s also one less thing to worry about while utilizing technology.” He also recommends getting comfortable with technology in advance of actually undertaking a virtual presentation. “Test run your sessions to make sure any video, sound, screen shares, and added features will work the way you want them to,” he says. “Most importantly, have fun and remember the world is your stage!”

You can find Steven Trotter on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Proposals are due August 16

The thoughtful sharing of professionals and students at a local level plays a huge role in driving this profession forward. So wherever you’re at in your campus recreation career journey, we invite you to consider submitting a presentation proposal for the All Regions Virtual Conference!

Featuring a virtual Student Lead On on December 3 and combined All Regions Virtual Conference program happening December 7–9, the combined All Regions Virtual Conference will be open to campus recreation professionals and students across all NIRSA regions and will utilize the same platform that delivered the popular 2021 NIRSA Virtual Annual Conference.

The proposal form is available now and proposals will be due Monday, August 16. Resources for presenters are available online now.