Prior to our oral presentation on Monday, the team dedicated their time on Sunday to rehearse and practise. For myself, I literally ran the presentation through my head every time I took the train. While such effort may appear commendable, it failed to fully prepare myself to speak with equanimity in front of the class, especially with the roles handed out just before our presentation. Unfortunately for myself, I’ve neglected preparation to speak before “stakeholders in CDTL”, and the “vice deans” of a few faculties. While this did not throw me off completely, I was in fact made more nervous (despite countless rehearsals) by having a real audience right before me. Looking back, it would have been more ideal to simulate the presentation scenario during rehearsals with more people (sorry Tanisha and Joel, two people weren’t enough to make up a sizeable audience):!).
Despite the rather positive feedback gathered from the class on delivery, I feel that the lack of preparation (and thus anticipation) led to an initial fumble just after our presentation commenced. I was immensely nervous because the presentation meant a lot to me, more than just in terms of assessment. I viewed it as a chance to surpass previous standards of oral presentation, and I wanted it to be flawless. Perhaps it was this attitude (zero tolerance for mistakes i.e. must say everything I’ve prepared) that contributed to the anxiety experienced, and therefore the initial hiccup; once you have realised you forgot to mention something, you’ll immediately be thrown off guard. Other than this, I think audibility and articulation were not issues for me (since I stood quite near the audience and spoke at a moderate pace).
As for the presentation slides, I think the use of pictures to communicate ideas across worked rather well. We tried to use as few words as possible in our slides so that they would not turn out too wordy. Nonetheless, when words were utilised amongst the several picture-themed slides, the large font size could have been rather overwhelming for some.
Overall, the journey from brainstorming for a proposal idea, to finally presenting it and garnering acceptance and support from stakeholders, was fulfilling (:!
All the best to Ariele, Gladys, Jian Min, Mercia, Pamela, Shi Min & Zi Hao for their presentation on Monday!
Happy Easter Sunday to all yo!
11 comments:
Hey Senior!
I thought you did very well in your presentation! I didn't really feel that there was a hiccup in the beginning at all. In fact I think that you were using your slides to your advantage throughout the presentation!
I completely understand how you would want a presentation to be flawless, because I do too. But I guess that we are all humans and are prone to mistakes. Our conception of "flawless" can instead inhibit our presentation and make it mechanical instead of making it as fluid as it should.
Instead, the presentation should be about engaging the audience and scoring with them, not yourself - as I discovered the hard way right before you. A very good presentation which I feel definitely warrants a compliment, an applause, and a pat on the back to keep up the good work!
All the best Senior!
Hey Jr, thanks for the compliment! I do agree with you about trying to suppress that notion of prefection but I guess we all have expectations for ourselves. Striving to meet them is only natural so yups.
Hello Kristyn!
Yeah I thought you did well for your presentation! (: You probably did not think that you did a good job because you were too hard on yourself, and you were stressing yourself. Remember I saw you on the bus and before I could continue talking, you were like, "Don't talk to me. I'm super nervous right now.'. Haha.
I thought that you did a good job with the tone of presentation, and the way you speak. However, you might want to stand a little further back from the audience. I was sitting in the second row, and because you were standing so close to the audience, you were actually blocked by the people in the first row so I couldn't really see your face throughout the presentation. And standing too close to a complete stranger may seem to be invading their personal space!
But overall, I enjoyed your group's presentation, and I felt that I learnt quite act just by watching your group present! (:
Hi Gladys!
Oh thanks for your feedback! I thought standing closer would indicate a rather high level of interest. Yeah, come to think of it, it may not be too appropriate afterall. And yeah, sorry for shutting myself up on the bus! Hahas.
hello dog.
I'm sorry i'm only commenting on this now! All in all,I felt that you gave an impressive performance.
The way you delivered your script was so smooth and yet not detached. The impression that I get is that you are a warm speaker with a very natural charm to you.
As a student, I felt that the way you spoke made me want to listen to you. As a stakeholder I think I would have felt compelled by your sincerity.
I actually kind of agree with Gladys. I get that you were trying to be more personal by standing nearer to the audience.
However, in a real situation, I think it might make the people in the first few rows feel a little uneasy and the the people in the other rows might feel left out and tune out.
Yeah haha, thanks for the compliment! All the best for the 1-QN quiz tmr! <3
Hi Kristyn! I feel that you did very well for both your mock and final OP, you managed to convey your group’s problem very systematically and clearly. However, personally I feel that there were times when you had too many hand movements. So, for these moments, I would have preferred your lifted hands to remain stationary. Other than that, I think you gave a sincere presentation ;)
Hi Kristyn,
We should have presented in front of Tanisha’s parents, siblings and her dad’s friend. Maybe that way we would be forced to present outside of our comfort zone (I think we were quite comfortable presenting to each other then). Haha.
I admire your drive to want to surpass previous standards. It’s good to keep seeking improvements. With that, I have faith you’ll be an outstanding engineer. However, I feel that having slight hiccups (delivery wise) now and then might have made your presentation seem more natural? If delivery is too perfect, perhaps it might seem a bit scripted? Brad mentioned that your presentation felt like you were talking to the class. Our words don’t always come out perfectly when we talk right? So yup, it’s ok to not be perfect (I think).
Don’t be so modest: “I think audibility and articulation were not issues for me (since I stood quite near the audience and spoke at a moderate pace)”. As the class mentioned, presenting is definitely one of your strengths.
Finally, I would like to thank you for the effort and hard work you put into the research project. It was a pleasure to work with you and Tanisha. Thank you!
Sorry, may I ask, why are you "dog"? Our class is really interesting. Tanisha is "Gladys" and now you are "dog".
Hello Kristyn!
Aww don't be so hard on yourself! I think your presentation was brilliant! I'm not too sure what are the stuffs that you may have forgotten to mention during the OP, but I thought you were very comprehensive in giving an overview of your proposal! I'm amazed that you managed to be professional showing sincerity and 'closeness' like you were talking a friend at the same time. How on earth did you do it?!
I really enjoyed your presentation and it's probably so cliche for me to say this, but - it's the imperfections that make you perfect, Kristyn.
@ SM
Thanks for that. Haha I'll take note of it!
@ Joel
Haha, 'dog' is an inside secret. It's kinda crude so ya. Not appropriate to be mentioned here /: & thanks for the compliment. I think you're right about the hiccups. It never once occurred to me that hiccups are actually 'good', in that sense.
@ Ms TDH
Aww, you're too kind. Thanks though my dear! There's still quite a bit to improve upon (: Cheers!
Post a Comment