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First the daily blog roundup. Only one ... Bryce visited Jim in Texas and begins his European travel. Have an awesome time Bryce!

Today friends, I must tell the story of my French conference in the lovely city of Rennes. When last you read my blog, you'll recall that I was a little unsure of how I'd be able to give a 1.5 hour conference on SNGs, followed by a 4-hour masterclass, all in French.

Things did indeed start off quite rough. I didn't understand most of what super-nice Pokerennes president Jonathan said in his intro about me, it was just too quick. But I trounced up anyway and started my spiel. My plan was to begin with a joking story: during high school, we had to give weekly presentations on a topic of our choice. My friends would always choose ones like "Why I like my Car" or "What I did on the weekend," but instead I'd choose ones like "Gaussian mathematics" or "Quantum Mechanics" because the words were always the same as in English. Therefore I was pleased that the topic for the conference was poker because the vocabulary would be easier.

I deliver this little anecdote in French, and there's not a smile in the room. And I'm just like "Aww fuck what am I in for here?" Dude seriously, one enormous guy named Stefano in a leather jacket was staring at me so hostilely for the first 30 minutes, I thought he was about to jump the stage.

I don't really know how to explain this initial hostility (which my brother Jesse also noticed, definitely not just in my head). I thought I was actually speaking quite well -- French and content -- but maybe not, or maybe my laidback American vibe just wasn't sitting well with these guys. (There weren't more than like two chicks.)

But then something magical happened. I was talking about value betting and used a hand with Jennifer Tilly to illustrate the concept. When I gave her name, to make sure we were all on the same page, I mimicked having big breasts with my hands, and the entire audience burst into laughter.

Well friends and neighbors, that was the turning point. Then I began getting questions and smiles, and people were much more into my spiel. So the lesson here is that when addressing a big group of people who don't know you at all, and maybe come from a different culture, you've gotta build rapport somehow. For me and these French guys, it was a Jennifer Tilly tit joke. But depending on the topic and audience, I still think this is a very solid general idea in public speaking.

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The first 4-hour masterclass went very well. Jesse (my brother, here travelling with me) suggested that I play a bunch of $1 SNGs and go all-in every hand, insisting that this was indeed correct strategy. I thought this was a pretty funny idea that I might do until some annoying French guy who wasn't even part of the class (I think) announced that there was no internet. So instead of playing talked a lot about the math of the game (easy vocabulary!) and the much smaller crowd asked a bunch of questions, so that was fun and much easier.

On Monday or Tuesday I'll be a guest on Clubpoker Radio in Paris, and then I'll get to speak with Francois Montmirel (sp?), the 2+2 French translator. Hopefully afterward we'll able to check out the Aviation Club and hit the tables.

Alright guys peace it out.

[Discussion at:
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=77963#post77963]

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PS The entire conference was filmed, and I'll try to post excerpts if anyone's curious.