The amount of time I spent on preparing the powerpoint slides was equivalent to 3 full days. It was good that I prepared a speech text before designing the powerpoint slides as the speech text set the skeleton for my presentation delivery method, and also ensured I included my audience. At the initial preparation stage, I just transferred what was in my speech text onto the slides from prose to point form, which made the slides somewhat mundane. However when my group collated our slides, I realized more pictures and more captivating animations should be added to capture the audience’s attention. As what Ms. Lim told us, “seeing is believing”, so I made sure my important points are in the slides and not just verbally stressed upon.
For my oral presentation, I spent 2 days practicing, which is much longer than I expected. I guess it’s because I got more edgy the more I practiced, and started forgetting certain things I wish to say. I thought it’s bad to spend so much time practicing since I ended up being more nervous instead; but to my surprise, I actually felt exceptionally calm during my actual presentation. The large amount of time spent practicing was worthwhile as it allowed me to really internalize what I needed to say. Thankfully the audience was really encouraging too :) Then again, having not watched the video of my own presentation yet, I feel being too calm may not be good as probably I may give the impression that I’m too relaxed? I think my biggest problem is that I was not loud enough, which might lead to the misconception of not being confident. Also, I might have turned to look at my slides more often than I should. Hopefully my strengths are that I was quite fluent and injected appropriate gestures!
Having said all these, I still feel that the best presentation is when the presenter is sincere, and manages to let his or her audience feel it. He or she also has to be clear and easily understood. Being a good presenter certainly requires lots of practice!
P.S. A BIG THANK YOU to Yi Han, Charmian and Franson for being wonderful teammates! Saturday was memorable. Haha. (Please don't include this in the word count! =P)
Hello Wanqi!
ReplyDeleteI thought you presented quite well on Monday (: You were rather fluent, clear and answered politely during the Q&A session. Also, your speech flowed well with your presentation slides. Well done!
Good practice usually helps us relax on the actual presentation day. That's probably because we know our stuff and don't have anything huge to worry about. And I don't think you appeared too relaxed that day. You appeared confident and smart. The way you spoke also displayed your confidence. So all is well (:
You spoke a little softly at times though. Perhaps you could speak louder next time? Or you could stand closer to the audience if space permits (:
All in all, your group put up a good presentation. Well done!
Hi Puva! Thanks for your encouragement! =) Yupyup I should learn how to project my voice and will also stand closer to the audience when I have presentations in future. Best is there's microphone for me too haha. I think you presented really well for your group too. Confident, fluent and clear :) quite a big improvement from peer teaching! Good job too and hope to see you around in school! =)
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your very accurate reflection, Wanqi. I appreciate the great effort you make in preparing and delivering your Oral Presentation, as well as playing the part of the friendly, affable member of the audience that most of your classmates looked to during their presentations. Your warm smile and the very readily-available nods-of-the-head (yes, I observed that) gave confidence and strong support to your classmates, and I would like to thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteI could tell that much effort had been put in to prepare yourself for the presentation. You spoke self-assuredly (and this referenced your reflection, that a presenter has to be sincere) and I know that without preparation, a presenter would not be able to pull that off. I could also see the effort you made to try to speak louder, and again, this referenced your self-reflection. I agree that voice projection is one area you need to work on - try the breathing exercises I forwarded, I found them very useful. You were fluent, and the energy level was pretty good; although admittedly in comparison to the previous speaker, Franson, the energy level seemed to take a drastic drop, which didn’t work to your advantage.
What I would like to see in your future presentations would be greater effort to speak to your audience. You want your audience to feel your sincerity, and one way to do that would be to address them at all times. Have a conversation with them - yes, just you and them alone. They were the reason why you were presenting that day, so engage them and stimulate them. The last thing a presenter wants is for the audience to vote with their feet and make their way to the exits during the presentation.
In your presentation, there were instances when you were really speaking to your audience, and almost all of the instances when you did that were when you were asking them questions. The rest of the time (when you weren’t asking questions) you were merely delivering the presentation. Make more eye-contact with your audience, and less reference to the slides. If you really need to refer to your slides, try this technique: When you need to refer your audience to a point/phrase on the screen with a pointer --> pause --> turn to the screen and point at the word/phrase --> turn back to the audience --> before you continue. This will create a positive impression of you as a presenter, allowing maximum impact for the point/phrase.
All the best for your future presentations, Wanqi. It was a pleasure witnessing the efforts and the improvements you made over the course of 10,11 weeks.
Hi Ms Lim,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your very detailed feedback! Yes, I agree Franson's energy level was higher than mine. Maybe it could be due to him having a louder voice? I will also work on how I can really have a conversation with the audience instead of just delivering the presentation. Thanks again for your constructive comments.. I will certainly learn from what you said to improve for my future presentations.
Thank you Ms. Lim for being a personable and engaging teacher too. I truly enjoyed going for your classes!