How to love public speaking!

The opening of Graphically Speaking at Atlantic Gallery was an absolute blast! There was quite a turnout and it’s a sign that comic art is being taken more seriously by the larger fancier art world.

It was very inspiring seeing all the art, meeting fellow artists, and reconnecting with friends! To the far left is Kofi Bazzell-Smith, who creates his own epic and quirky manga. Ellen wasn’t in the exhibit, but it’s more proof that we are not the same person.

Miss the opening? There’s an Artist Talk this Saturday, July 11th, from 2-4pm! It’s the last day of the show so the FOMO is real!

I was super excited to see that I’m first in line for the Artist Talk! YAAAY! If you want to catch me, come on the early end around 2p! The gallery is open during regular hours, so if you want to READ all the comics, I recommend going even earlier to take in all the art before a huge crowd shows up.

Artist talks can range from very casual (like at Honey Badger) to more formal (when Pilar Newton-Katz interviewed me for my solo show “Storyboard to Stars,” we had lots of chairs set up, it was recorded, and an hour long [I still need to post that video eek! It’s been like a year!])

At Atlantic, each artist gets 5 minutes to talk about their art. While the vibe is sure to be casual, I want to make those 5 minutes count!

That’s probably my best advice for any public speaking. You definitely don’t want to ramble and then kick yourself for not getting to the main point in time. A few days before your event,

• Think for a few minutes about what you want to say

• Jot down main ideas

• Practice speaking out loud!

If you do these things, you will feel much more confident about speaking publicly! I literally did those 3 things in a few minutes just now. Even though I love talking about my work all the time, the points above helped me organize my thoughts.

Having an outgoing personality helps too, but I didn’t always used to be that way! I was actually very shy as a child. Typical art nerd that sat quietly and drew on the back of homework in class. Over the years, as I grew in my art skills, I realized that other kids thought that my drawings were cool, particularly in high school. I was still kind of shy in college (University of Michigan Art School: Go Blue!), but new experiences helped me break out of my shell. I was the host of our senior animation & film show, titled “Visions,” probably my first public speaking experience.

Fast forward to exhibiting at comic conventions in the tri-state area. Whenever there was an opportunity to give a presentation or talk, I jumped at the opportunity. At a small toy show in Jersey, I gave a presentation about breaking into comics. There were only a few people in the room, but one of them was David Brenner, executive director of the FD Foundation. Meeting him lead to my work making a comic strip for the foundation, titled “No Tears: Life With FD,” that ran for 7 years. I still do graphic design for the foundation to this day.

David and I gave a short presentation at the Graphic Medicine conference in 2014 at Johns Hopkins University titled “Comic Strip as Connection, Identification, and Education.” One year I was a speaker on the Papercutz Women In Comics panel at New York Comic Con. A few years ago I gave some zoom presentations about my work for my Alma Mater and The New School. Now I’m going down a rabbit hole!

All that is to say the more you do something, the better you get at it! Practice makes perfect. I went from being shy to loving talking about my art! My art skills building went hand-in-hand with my confidence building. It took many years of seeking out different opportunities in the comics world, and lots of them involved speaking (TEACHING was the biggest ongoing one!). I didn’t do it alone either! Making great connections at events and having the support of family and friends has gone a long way in my artist’s journey.

I hope you’ll join me for the Artist Talk at Graphically Speaking!

Saturday July 11th, 2-4pm

Atlantic Gallery in the Landmark Arts Building

548 W 28th St #540, New York, NY 10001