2. Know our audience. An excellent proposal is nothing but a booklet of paper if we are unable to understand how our audience will react to our presentation and adjust our tone and information to what they will appreciate and be interested in.
3. Be concise and selective with information which we like to impress onto our audience. Choose what is necessary and omit the fillers.
4. Be a good team member by knowing what each other is presentating and provide support for each other even during the presentation itself.
The above are the main learning points for me after going through the oral presentation. I'm usually a confident person when it comes to giving a presentation however I felt slightly less confident this time as compared to before. This is puzzling because being extremely clear about the proposal's content and having the chance to present our ideas to Brad as well as our peer group, I should have been extremely confident. Looking back, perhaps the lack of confidence stems from the fact that I recognized at that point of time that this was the presentation that will really matter. The mood and atmosphere then also exacerbated my nervousness.
From the feedback received from my peers and Brad, I overused the word "hence" during my presentation. I agree that the use of "hence" will give an impression that my presentation was scripted (although it wasn't). The overuse of "hence" was mainly due to my attempt to be systematic in order to alleviate my nervousness. I thought that being systematic will greatly reduced the possibility of stumbling and tripping over my words, which I have a high tendency for. Reflecting on my presentation, I think I should have cut myself some slack and loosen up! This is evident from the Q&A session. After presenting my part of the presentation, I felt very calm and relieved. This, coupled with a good clarity of our team's ideas and proposal contributed to a smooth delivery by myself and my team mates during Q&A.
I will like to conclude this post by giving credits to my team mates for an excellent job. No matter how awesome a person or team is at generating ideas, nothing will be produced if no action or hard work was put into it. Team Titus is the best project team I've ever been in. Everyone cooperated and put in our heart and soul for the project, the team dynamics is so awesome that as I stood in front of the class, I knew I was not alone. Thank you team.
Hey Jacq!
ReplyDeleteI think that overusing "hence" does not constitute to a bad presentation. In fact I think you did very well! You remained composed - in fact you let the material speak for itself! I like the fact that you really intended to be systematic in your presentation! I think that every presenter should have a logical flow of thought in his presentation.
I do think you are a very good presenter Jacq and really that's why I wanted you as the last presenter to anchor the presentation and to wrap things up (which you did really well in peer teaching). Indeed you did not disappoint! I think you should really be proud of yourself!
Of course you are not alone, what are teams for? Sadly I think this is our last chance of ever working together for any academic project.
Jiayou for the rest of the semesters okay!
Thanks Titus for always showering me and the rest of the team with encouragements. See you around in YIH! :)
DeleteHi Jacq,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I felt that your confidence and level of enthusiasm was slightly lower than usual. However, I thought that I got to see the 'milder' side of you, which was more soothing. Haha, you're normally very happening! :p I didn't think at all that you did poorly. On the contrary, your tone and pace was comfortable for me, and I thought you managed to nail the main points in your part of the presentation. It was nice seeing a 'different' you. Cheers!
Hello Kristyn,
DeleteThanks Kristyn, glad to hear that you found the more mellow side of me appealing :P I'll work on being confident yet milder in future presentations. :)
Cheers!
Jacq
Hi Jaq..
ReplyDeleteYeah, I do realize the "hence" part. The problem was not with the word (hence) itself, but the repetition of it. I would consider your "hence" as a filler rather than scripted tho'. Your presentation improved from your OP and I especially like how you answered the questions. The way you answered was natural and strong. One thing I notice (which I wrote down in my little green notebook) was, you fixed your shirt once. Although it was not very obvious, it might signal for being nervous, so it should be prevented. Overall, a very good OP with a very good speed, volume and confidence. I love Team Titus too :)
Hi Mercia,
DeleteYea, I admit I tend to repeat words quite a lot without realizing it during the point of the presentation. I'll work on it for future presentation. Wow, you are really observant! Often people start pulling their skirt and adjusting their clothes when they are nervous, I guess I was! I didn't even realized that I did. :) Thanks Mercia. :) I think I managed to do better in Q&A because I was very clear with the proposal my team was proposing and there was no need to remember any sequence or anything (like during the presentation where I have to align what I say with the whole presentation sequence) so it was much easier for me and I tend to do better in a spontaneous situation/presentation as well, not sure why. :)
Once again, Thank Mercia!
Cheers!
Jacq
Hello Jacq!
ReplyDeleteNot too sure if I wasn't observant enough or what, but I honestly did not realize that you kept using "hence", so that wasn't a problem for me. Yup, like what Kristyn said, your confidence seemed to be lower this time (as compared to the usual and mock presentation). I'd expected your part to be delivered with a super enthusiastic spirit after seeing how you delivered your lesson in the peer teaching. Although it may seemed to be a lack of confident to us, I actually felt that the tone that you used during OP was appropriate for a presentation. In addition, I felt that the pace of your presentation was good- it didn't felt rush like the peer teaching.
All in all, I think you did a good job, especially in the conclusion, unlike the mock presentation which you ended abruptly. Titus was right in choosing you to conclude (:
Thanks Gladys!
DeleteI will be more enthusiastic the next time I've a presentation! I was wondering if being over energetic was appropriate for a formal presentation!
Hello Jacq!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great presentation from you but like the others mentioned, you did not exude the enthusiasm that the class had identified you with given your previous presentation performances. Perhaps it could be due to nervousness or the fact that some professionalism is required when presenting the proposal in front of faculty deans?
I did not actually feel your lack of confidence as I was very much engaged and felt your sincerity in your presentation. I felt that your performance in Q&A was especially outstanding as you were able to articulate your answers on the spot and deliver it so smoothly with a smile :) I really hope to learn this from you!
Overall it was a great presentation from you as well as your teammates! Really enjoyed your unity and smooth presentation as a team.
Thanks! :)
DeleteI was quite amazed by my own performance during Q&A too but I always do better during Q&A for presentations, somehow. :/
Jacq
Hello Jacq!
ReplyDeleteI know this post is really late but in all honesty, I remember your presentation very well. I think you presentation was really good. As many of us have pointed out, you repeatedly said 'hence' and it was rather obvious because not only did you say it so many times, it was in the exact same tone (think it was the fourth tone in han yu pin yin, haha). Ofcourse you are not alone, I think we both need to work on our fillers.
That aside, the only thing I realised, which has also already been pointed out, was the slight dip in energy level. In the peer teaching session, you were incredibly outspoken and naturally so and I admired that about you. This time around, your spirit seemed slightly 'dampened' but I can understand that you were either trying to appear more solemn (in view of the distinguished audience) or you were tired (yeah, the project has taken a toll on all of us and I can relate!) or both.
Nevertheless, I was very impressed by the Q and A session. I thought that was the most enjoyable part of your presentation. I could see that not only were you well-versed in the subject matter, you were involved in different aspects of it. You always had an answer to add on to all the queries, which I felt was very commendable.
Thank you for your great presentation! I can tell that you worked very hard on it!
Thanks Ariel, my han yu pin yin is very horrible so I have no idea what that sounds like! Sometimes I just say things repeatedly subconsciously. Must be part of my naggy habits!
DeleteThank you. I think the Q&A was smooth because there isn't any script to it! :)
Jacq