Reflection on Oral Presentation
Hi
everyone, I would like to thank all of you for your attention and insights on
our presentation today.
I will break down my reflection on the oral presentation into the following two components.
I will break down my reflection on the oral presentation into the following two components.
Presentation:
We
decided to make our slides simple and abstract because we want our audience to
keep their focus on our presentation instead of being distracted by the slides.
Furthermore, we do not want to load them with large amount of information.
Instead we chose to leave them with a few key points like the problem of overcrowding
and bunching and our key solutions. We told a story through a 3rd
person (Jimmy) and used him to further emphasize our point. We thought that
would be an innovative way to capture the audience attention. Also, we took
relevant photos to fit our storyline which we hoped to help our audience relate
better to the story. Personally, I do not think that we oversimplified our
slides. The only drawback to this approach is our inability to fully
internalize our content and to cope under pressure.
Delivery:
I am
glad that I was able to present the content I aimed to deliver to my audience.
Despite going through the main framework of my content for so many times,
thinking that I had internalized the content, I still stumbled over one point (when
I was discussing the implication of the overcrowding problem). I almost
panicked because I did not prepare any proper notes ahead of the presentation
and my slides do not provide me any “clues”. Thankfully, I managed to carry on
and finish my presentation. While I was presenting, this is the very first time
I was trying to be aware of what I was saying and looking (trying to prevent
any filler words and maintain eye-contact). Most of the time, I am focusing on
the right side of the audience (Zhi Qin’s area). However, I may not be
effective enough to engage their attention fully as they are looking at my
slides instead of me. As for the left side, I gave a very partial eye contact
which I feel I should improve on that. Furthermore, I tried not to “look up”
but I still made that mistake. I am a little disheartened because I think these
areas could have been improved. Despite
this, I think there is no point crying over spilt milk. There is nothing I can
do about my delivery in the presentation at this moment. All I can think of is
how I am going to improve and rectify these flaws in my delivery the next time
round. As long as I keep trying and don’t give up, I believe I will succeed one
day.
Thank you for your time reading this! Have a good rest everyone J
Hi Yi Qun
ReplyDeleteGood job on your presentation! I really liked the 'feel' of your slides as well as the cute bus to chart the progression of your presentation.
As the first speaker for your group, you started off the presentation really well. The use of the question help to engage the audience and clearly introduce the problem of the buses. It was only towards the middle that you stumbled a little.
One thing that I noted during the presentation, and this is similar to EB's comment, is that for some parts, you would talk for a bit, while your slides remained at the same picture for example. Perhaps, a suggestion is to give yourself small 'signposts' on your powerpoint slides itself so that you would be able to catch your train of thoughts if you ever lose it! I find that this works for me.
Overall, I feel that you should not be too disheartened as I would still say that it was an effective presentation. All the small habits that were pointed out in class was definitely being over critical. It does not take 3 presentations to change a habit that we have developed over so many years! However, as long as you are aware and keep trying to reduce them, like you said, you will succeed one day. (:
Dear Priscilla,
DeleteThank you for your feedback. I think by putting 'signpost' on my slides is a very good suggestion. In this way, I can remember my points better and have greater assurance while presenting (since I have a back-up in placed).
Furthermore, I am glad to hear from you that our presentation was effective and interesting. Thank you for your time reading and commenting :) Cheers!
Hi Yi Qun,
ReplyDeleteI remember how interested I was in your presentation and how intently I was listening to everyone's part.
As far as the presentation is concerned, I liked the simplicity of the slides. You had a nice balance of words and images that served to complement each other. As mentioned in class, that you had actual pictures about the overcrowding and bunching made the situation more immediate and conveyed the urgency of the situation. I think that we've all picked up a lot of things throughout the semester because we all have that little timeline of sorts which we use to mark out the segments of the presentation.
As for delivery, I thought that you did quite a good job overall other than the stumbling. You were clear, confident and concise, although I personally thought you were projecting your voice really loudly. I thought that at the very least, you recovered your demeanor after your stumble and continued professionally, which in itself, was very commendable. As far as body language went, you were quite confident and grounded. You also had appropriate hand gestures and were not flailing them everywhere. As Brad mentioned, there were some issues with eye contact (same as myself). I noticed that you sustained it in certain directions but that overall you were looking up when you were recalling something and when you looked over to our side, it never really seemed like you were looking at any one of us.
Overall though, it was a good presentation and you did well in making a convincing and clear start to the proposal. :)
As Priscilla mentioned, you could give yourself hints within the presentation itself or maybe even on the timeline that you had so that you could better anticipate what would come after. For my part, I tried to link everything in the form of a story. So the idea would be, I'm telling you this part because it's going to lead into the next part etc. Hope the suggestion helps :)
Dear Jie Ying,
DeleteThanks for your kind words. In fact, I am quite happy that you still remembered the points on overcrowding and bunching for my presentation.
I think your idea of forming a story to remember what I need to present is really useful. This reminds me of how I learn numbers in my french lesson. I will come up with a story linking all the points together. Thank you for sharing with me your method. I think I will incorporate it in my future presentation to come :)
Thank you for your time. I really appreciate your inputs. Cheers!
Hi Yi Qun,
ReplyDeleteI admire your optimism which shows especially in your last line, 'As long as I keep trying and don't give up, I will succeed one day'. Although you may feel that you have not presented as how you would like to or have performed up to your expectations, I really think you did a good job!
There are a few things I like about your presentation such as your confidence, your smile and the energy and vibes you transmitted to the audience. I like that your presentation reflects your personality. Truly, i enjoyed listening to your presentation very much.
I really like the story of Jimmy, however I feel that it would be better if you could weave it into your points because the constant switching from the story to your points was distracting. Or maybe have a clearer indication either through the slides or spoken verbally to show a break from the story and into the points. I feel that the distinction was not clearly made, hence it came across slightly disorganized.
Well, here's some final thoughts.
Even the best presenters still have lots to learn about themselves and how to fine tune their presentation skills. So just wanna say that let's all work hard together! :)
Dear Carol,
DeleteThank you for your kind words. I think you are really a very good speaker. You can articulate your thoughts in a very persuasive and convincing manner. Furthermore, I think you strong command of English makes your presentation very fluent and cohesive.
I appreciate and agree with your inputs. I hope to take note of them in my future presentation. Lastly, I wish you all the best in your future :) Cheers!