# You have to do a 45 minute presentation with no preparation right now. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521 "2017-09-28T14:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/21 "2017-09-28T17:35:12Z")
Ohio Administrative Law. Of course, even for an audience of lawyers it need only be five minutes long. There is a very small number of people who will stay awake longer than that. I could probably BS my way through several areas of American history, science fiction, science fiction in American history, and space exploration. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/22 "2017-09-28T17:36:16Z")
Wildlife of California. Easy. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/23 "2017-09-28T17:36:43Z")
> [@howye](#): > > Ohio Administrative Law. Of course, even for an audience of lawyers it need only be five minutes long. There is a very small number of people who will stay awake longer than that. The key is _to digress_. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/24 "2017-09-28T17:40:00Z")
Scuba diving from beginner’s to technical advanced diving. The basics of small boat sailing and how to get from point A to point B under sail power. Genetic patterns of inheritance. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/25 "2017-09-28T17:44:30Z")
I could go on for a couple hours on the topic of greyhound adoption. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/26 "2017-09-28T17:50:36Z")
Andrew Lloyd Webber. I know more about him than he does. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/27 "2017-09-28T18:23:04Z")
The Iditarod; Innovations and strategies throughout the years. Running Restaurants: Dives to White Linen. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/28 "2017-09-28T18:28:03Z")
In depth reasons why Liara T’Soni is actually the real hero and best squadmate in the entire Mass Effect (original) series. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/29 "2017-09-28T18:33:43Z")
I could do a few reasonably well, I think: 1. Interesting features of the solar system. 2. History of the Great Houses of Westeros (or other ASOIAF minutiae). 3. Administratively processing Logistics Technical Documentation for US Navy Submarines. 4. Morality without religion. 5. History of the New Orleans Saints, 1987 to present. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/30 "2017-09-28T18:44:27Z")
Basic double-entry accounting, in my natural somnolent voice. I just have to talk for five minutes and the audience will sleep through the remaining 40. They’ll wake up feeling refreshed and like I did a great job! But seriously, I could make up simple examples and T accounts that would fill 45 minutes. With digressions. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/31 "2017-09-28T18:45:29Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The way my mind works, I can start talking about the main topic of my class… then come upon an interesting sidebar and start talking about that… and then be reminded of a funny related anecdote… where was I? Okay, back to the main topic, until I hit another sidebar, or get a question that reminds me of another topic… That sounds like a recipe for some of the best teaching, _and_ some of the worst. > [@snoe](#): > > OldGuy’s comment makes me think that teachers and the like don’t find this question very challenging. > [@Bayard](#): > > I could also pretty easily do 45 minutes on a topic in scope of one of the classes I teach Yeah. I don’t think I’m particularly good at extemporizing (whether in ordinary conversation or if I have to do a presentation about something), so I wouldn’t follow **astorian** ’s approach; but there are enough things I have talked about before (and prepared for then) that I could easily fill 45 minutes talking about them now. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/32 "2017-09-28T18:49:15Z")
45 minutes without prep work? I think I would have to talk about Middle Earth & Tolkien with some references to Mythology, Faerie Tales and the like. Maybe Yankee baseball. I’m sure I could fill 45 minutes. I have actually spent 45 minutes teaching 3 new hirers about the software our company used at the time, especially the strange old school green screen ERP system we used. But I’m in a different company now and people rarely need as much help with MS Office products these days. Oh, I could do 45 minutes of Theodore Roosevelt with ease. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/33 "2017-09-28T18:51:00Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The key is _to digress_. Oh, I can digress. I do have tales of literal lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/34 "2017-09-28T19:25:41Z")
> [@howye](#): > > Oh, I can digress. I do have tales of literal lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) See, that’s why I think the key to this whole question is the ability to take the topic and then use it as jumping off point to go off on long and winding tangents. Related tangents, but tangents nonetheless. A few instances of, “Now, where were we? Ahh, yes!..” If you do that, it’s easy to eat up 45 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/35 "2017-09-28T19:49:16Z")
Various Cannabis-Infused Edibles and How to Make Them At Home. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/36 "2017-09-28T20:11:25Z")
Silvics of select conifer species in the Pacific Northwest ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/37 "2017-09-28T20:15:08Z")
Probably bees, my current obsession. The trick is getting me to _stop_. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/38 "2017-09-28T20:25:10Z")
I’d give a presentation on the National Parks and Monuments of the West. (45 minutes isn’t enough time though) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/39 "2017-09-28T20:25:37Z")
Arms acquisition by various countries, or the Dallas Cowboys, or politics of some countries in East Asia or the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521/40 "2017-09-28T20:29:06Z")
I’ve had to do that on multiple occasions _without picking the subjects_. Often for much more than 45 minutes. Okay, they were topics that the organisers knew I could be expected to know something about, but still. Right now? Completely cold? Probably Julius and Ethel Rosenberg would be easiest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-do-a-45-minute-presentation-with-no-preparation-right-now/797521.md?page=3)