The experience of OP yesterday was not a great one. Nevertheless, it was a valuable learning experience for me. In terms of overall organisation, I think my group did well. We met up a few times to discuss and to fine-tune our presentation. We also tried to induce humour and contextualise our presentation using the “Jimmy” story so that there would be greater impact on our audience. (By the way, was the story impactful? I mean, did you guys find the story distracting or actually helpful in understanding our proposal?) Plus, I think that all our photos and the cartoon bus to show progress on the slides were quite good! =)
In terms of delivery, I think my group should have practised more. All of us were confident of the content. But we had not practised with the slides; only timed ourselves together while rehearsing. We should have had internalised the script more thoroughly. Additionally, I think it would have been useful if we had put some text on the slides to “jog our memory” in case we forgot our lines. However, it was our first attempt at using “word-less” slides and I think it went pretty well despite the minor setbacks.
For myself in particular, I spoke too fast or rambled on without knowing what I was saying for certain parts of the presentation. I think this was because I was nervous and I wanted to get through the presentation as quickly as possible. However, at the same time, I wanted to make sure I explained things properly, which ended up in me forming nonsensical sentences sometimes. I feel that I if I had practised more and relaxed myself, I could have been more confident of the content. Plus, my pacing could have been better. My nervousness also made my eye contact with the audience "jerky" and inconsistent. I did not keep good eye contact, but merely swept through most of the times.
Looking back at the numerous presentations that I have done over the years, I believe that I can present the best when I am confident of the content and more importantly, in myself. There have been times when I have been able to put on my “game face” and go through with the presentation, and find that I can actually enjoy myself when I am doing so. The problem is trying to relive this same thing during EVERY presentation, which I still cannot seem to do. However, this module has been highly valuable in allowing me to gain greater awareness of my flaws during presentations and about how I can rectify them. Therefore, I hope that if I can sufficiently practise and overcome these deficiencies, I can relive those “good” presentations every single time and perhaps, even be almost as good as the presenters on TED one day!
Hi Priya,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the OP. I think that we all tend to be a bit too hard on ourselves so while you might think that it "was not a great one", I think that there were still many things that your group incorporated into your presentation that are commendable.
As you mentioned, your use of the story to contextualize the issue not only made the problem immediate but also served as the main backbone for your presentation. In doing so, it not only worked to draw the audience's attention but also provided a clear description of the problem.
As for delivery, I agree that practicing with the slides might have given you more familiarity with the material on your slides and allowed you to better anticipate the next slide or topic that you would be elaborating on.
As for the slides, I thought that they had a good balance of words and images. Furthermore, the use of actual pictures of the problem provided a sense of immediacy for the audience. I think that, in addition to having "sign posts" on your slides, you could have thought of a way to string your slides together...almost like how your group used "Jimmy" to string all the problems together.
With regard to your part of the presentation, I thought that you spoke rather well, in spite of your tendency to speed up at certain points and slow down at others. I understand what you mean when you talk about nerves because I felt it as well, so much so that I don't really remember what happened when I was presenting.
As for trying to find get your groove back in presenting, I think that it's more about forgetting that you're trying to find it at all. Just concentrate on doing it well and you'll naturally find yourself enjoying it. I'm not so sure how much I enjoy presentations myself but I've certainly learnt a few tips and tricks for me to deal with them. I don't think the nerves will ever truly go away but it's always about how we choose to deal with it I suppose.
I'm sure that after this module, we're all one step closer to being as good as those TED speakers :)
Thanks Jie Ying for the encouragement!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, half the fight in getting your groove back is to forget that you are trying to find one at all! I think it is hard to forget it in reality; but it's definitely something that all of us can work towards. =)