50 years old and struggling with academic work

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I have nc because I feel ashamed of this. I am retraining. Soon I will have to give a presentation where I need to link theory to experience. As if giving a presentation wasn't nerve racking enough, I am realising how little information I retain in my brain. I understand everything, no issues there, but I am incapable of recalling it, certainly not capable of explaining it to someone else.

What can I do to be less crap at this?

To add insult to injury, I have started having night sweats, putting on weight, and feel really self conscious.

Help

Which bit do you feel most confident with? Build on that.

Talk to your tutor asap.... you are retaining to learn. This is part of the learning process.

Cue cards will help. As will practice. And Yy to talking to your tutor. That's what theyre there for.

Good luck

Mind mapping can be helpful. Practice and over learning your presentation script. I’m sending good vibes.

With presentations it's a case of practice practice practice and then practice a bit more!
Present it to yourself in the mirror several times and to a trusted partner / family member / friend.

I totally understand how hard it is, I'm 51 now and retrained for a new career last year, talk about stress! And yes I have all the menopause symptoms too.

HRT

Will cure the night sweats and bring your memory back.

Go over the presentation again and again until it really sinks in. Also, record it, and then listen back to it several times - this is also a good way to check for errors, or changes you can make. And on the day cue cards with bullet points to jog your memory.

I'm 50 too and in peri-menopause. The mental part of it was driving me crazy until I got onto HRT. The combination of memory loss, night sweats and weight gain, coupled with your age, really sounds like Peri to me.

There's some really helpful advice over on the menopause boards.

Write out exactly what you want to say and read it again and again and practice. Eventually you'll be able to deliver it without needing much from your notes.

I do a lot of presenting and lecturing for my job and this is exactly what I do almost everytime. If it's something I know well enough to not need it written out, fine, but most of the time, I just read it until it's second nature and then I can present it confidently. You may also find that in the moment on the day, it all comes to you under pressure.

Sounds like menopause. I would speak to the doctor about HRT. May not be right for you but worth exploring.

Thank you all.
Yes, I guess it's a job for hrt. Still have periods so was thinking that I needed to wait for those to end, but reading about it, it sounds like I could request to have it now based on current symptoms.

You can get a combined HRT to allow you to continue with your natural periods. It just enhances the hormone you have left.
This has transformed me. Comes in two strengths so you can supplement your natural levels with a lower dose to start with.

Menopause and academic stress combined is pretty tough!

Surely you don’t need to ‘retain’ anything for your presentation. Will you not be using PowerPoint and speaking from notes? No-one in my academic world learns presentations by heart; who has the time?

Thank you everyone
I have an appointment next week and will ask about HRT
Will it help me lose weight?