The oral presentation on Friday was the final assignment in what has been a very intense semester. The relief is tangible and it feels like the weight of the world is off my shoulders. However, before I continue on with this self-assessment, I think it would be appropriate to give due credit to my team mates on this presentation, Yuan Ru and Sheryl, who in my opinion, had to tackle the harder portions of our group's oral presentation and did extremely well. Kudos to the both of you and thank you for journeying with me through this module.
asd
Over the course of the week leading up to Friday's presentation, I had written up a speech I decided to use for the oral presentation. While the intention was not to memorise it, I was keen to make mental notes of the exact order of information I was to present, as well as the main points I was to highlight in my segment. Given that our group's presentation employed an extremely minimalist slide layout, I had to be very sure of the content. On Thursday night I rehearsed my portion a countless number of times, and at the same time edited words that I tended to stumble over or mispronounce with something simpler. After an unexpectedly long Thursday night, I still could not deliver a satisfactory presentation to my wall. However, I was keen to get enough rest for the big day so I went to sleep, albeit with a heavy heart.
asd
At 11am on Friday morning, the three of us met up for a final rehearsal before heading off to class. Standing infront of the class, I mentally reassured myself a final time, got the go-ahead signal from Brad and proceeded. The introduction went relatively smooth and the tension I was feeling from before started to ease up. However, the outline slide proved to be something of a challenge. I had to refer back to the screen to ensure the full content of the slide was being projected. I had not intended to refer back initially but I guess that "kiasu" syndrome that Signaporeans are so famous for got the better of me. On hindsight, that was probably a blessing in disguise as I may have missed displaying the full content had I not referred back such was my unfamiliarity with the remote.
asd
The next portion of the presentation required me to give a brief on the sources of data our group utilised for the project and it was at that point I started to get very tense and I was gripping the remote tightly, desperately trying to ensure my thoughts and speech were in accordance. I felt I rushed that portion a little. The final portion of my introduction was to deliver background information of SMS services to the audience. That went surprisingly smooth considering it was the portion I stumbled over the most during my self rehearsals. I was immensely relieved to hand over the time to Yuan Ru.
asd
My next involvement saw me make a blunder. Instead of throwing the tennis ball back to Sheryl, I had accidentally returned the ball to Yuan Ru who was unprepared for my action and the ball dropped to the floor. My heart sank, I felt the effect of this "creative" segment of our presentation was dampened by my mistake. I returned for the conclusion and I reemphasized our take home points. Unfortunately my train of thoughts was jumbled from the previous mistake and the final delivery of the conclusion was somewhat disjointed in my opinion.
The question and answer session went relatively smooth. I was glad the three of us were familiar with our project content such that we managed to answer the questions being directed towards us.
asd
In all, I think my voice projection was loud and clear during the delivery of my segments. Save for the conclusion, I think my portion was delivered relatively smoothly. With regards to eye contact, I made an effort to engage the entire audience. I should work on my body language and hand gestures during my next presentation however. I felt that I was stiff throughout most of the presentation (due to nervousness) as well as constantly gripping the remote control very tight whilst speaking. If you guys have realised any other flaws during the presentation, please inform so I can work on it. Feedback will be very much appreciated.
Hi Aldrich,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for the very interesting and visual presentation. It was a very refreshing presentation. I felt that you gave a very confident presentation except for the few moments where you seem “stuck”. Your presentation was clear and the pace was comfortable. However, I felt that you were conscientiously trying to pace your delivery. (It felt like you were taking extra effort in ensuring the time between each word was clearly defined) It somehow made your delivery slightly un-natural. (This is my personal feeling. Perhaps I am being too sensitive.)
Another distraction was the way you point the remote to the screen (which was already pointed out during the lesson). The way you bend your hand looked awkward and it made me feel awkward too.
One other point to note is the position you were standing when demonstrating the service using the tennis ball. I could see you and the paper you were holding clearly from my angle but I am not sure if it is visible to others as you were standing behind Yuan Ru. Perhaps you could have moved towards the center.
Overall it was a good presentation. I could not spot the tight grip you had on the remote and I definitely had not notice that you were so nervous. I appreciated the fact that you had changed the complex words with something simpler. It made understanding easier for me too. (Although the intention was to make your presentation smoother. But still, thanks!)
Good luck for your revisions and exams!
Chee Siang
Yo Aldrich!
ReplyDeleteDo not worry so much as I felt that you did a very good job for your presentation. You had good voice projection, sufficient eye contact and you did not fidget about. One thing you could look out for would be if the slides were blocked from the audience's view.
Honestly I did not notice the tennis ball mistake until you mentioned it. It was a very good effort to be creative on your group's part. I would think that all of us got your team's point on how good an sms system would be for NUS.
I agree that presentations are a tense affair and makes us a bundle of nerves. With more experience we would be closer to perfection! Cheers for the good work.
Ken Jie
Hello Aldrich,
ReplyDeleteStop being a worrywart! I think you did fine for the presentation. You seemed calm and composed and you definitely knew the contents well. Who would have guessed that you were nervous? You managed to achieve good voice projection and established eye contact with the audience, which definitely made you come across as being confident.
And, don't worry about the tennis ball blunder yeah? I could have handled the the situation better too ): But anyway, am glad that the entire presentation went okay! You handled the Q&A session well too, you go man!
Cheers,
Yuan Ru
Hi Aldrich,
ReplyDeleteYes, stop being a worrywart! Haha I thought you did amazing, the tennis ball blunder was really not as big as a deal as you make it out to be! I bet everyone hardly noticed the mistake, so do not worry about it any more! The audience ultimately got the message (I think) that we were trying to put across, and that is all that matters!
Your introduction was impeccable in my opinion. I also felt that you captured the audience's attention well, and the transition from you to Yuanru was flawless.
So thank you for the effort you put into the presentation, and for the entire project for that matter. It has been a pleasure working with you both. =)
Hi Aldrich,
ReplyDeleteDon't be so negative about your performance! Your practices the night before, definitely paid off. I think you did well.
As for reference to the slides, i think it's acceptable. Afterall, you are presenting with slides, it's rather difficult to present as if the slides aren't there. However, i feel that you've done a good job bringing across your points with minimal referencing. You also had good volume and speech pace. The tone used was approachable and speech was easy to understand.
The tennis ball incident didn't minus points off your presentation. Instead, i feel that it added points to group teamwork as it appeared that your group did make the effort to discuss and come up with creative methods of illustrating the ideas.
Be more optimistic next time, you are doing fine!
Hi Aldrich,
ReplyDeleteI was really impressed by your presentation. You are among the most fluent and proficient presenters in our class. As far as I could tell, your speech was grammatically sound. Your voice was also calm and the pace of your speech was steady.
Also, your eye contact was good. Your gaze was confident and as a result, your presentation really grasped my attention.
However, I did detect some tension in you while you were presenting. In particular, your facial expression seemed a little stiff. But admittedly, it was obvious to me only because I was seated rather close to where you stood. If you were to present to a large audience, it would not be a problem at all as most of the audience probably can't see your face clearly.
Other than the small problem with your tense facial expression, your tone of voice and speech were really good. Overall, an excellent effort. Kudos!
Thank you very much, Aldrich, for all your work on the project, in the OP and in doing this reflection. I really appreciate the detail you've given here, and the commitment you've shown all term in your conscientious work.
ReplyDeleteI'll wrote more later.
Yo Aldrich! Good job on your presentation! Your group was the first to present and I was guilty of not being able to take down many notes for your group presentation. However, I will try my best to recollect some points from your presentation.
ReplyDeleteHonestly speaking, I agree with Wen Jun that you are one or the best, or even the best presenter in the whole of group 9. Your voice projection was clear, you managed to capture and also distribute eye contact with all on the floor. Moreover, your occasional hand gestures allowed me to pay extra attention to you while you’re presenting. I like the way you spoke and also the way you presented yourself. Frankly speaking, you’re like a role model for me to follow, seriously! =)
However, even superman has his kryptonite. The only glitches to your almost perfect presentation would be the slight stumbling in the mid of the presentation and maybe the position you stood happened to be within the dark region. I discovered that as a problem since teams Visionaires and Venomous carried out their presentations. However, the darkness was not much of a problem to me since I was sitting so near to you such that I could even see your sparkling white teeth!
On a footnote, the ball passing was not a screw-up! As mentioned in my responses to Sheryl and Yuan Ru’s blog posts, I found that so-called ‘screw-up’ a rather amusing act and I would rather you say that it was pre-planned to inject humor into a formal presentation. Other than that, don’t be too discouraged! You did well and trust me, if you need something to cheer you up, take a look at my blog post for my reflections. The number of mistakes pointed out would definitely give you a good sigh of relief. =)
All the best for revision and good luck to you, Yuan Ru and I for Pharmacology! Haha!
Regards,
Ivan
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteThanks Chee Siang for the feedback on my position, I will have to take note of that the next time I give a presentation. Good luck for your revision too.
Thanks Ken Jie and Evonne for the encouraging feedback!
Dear Yuan Ru and Sheryl, point taken about the worrywart issue. Thanks for everything and great job on your performances as well!
@Wen Jun: Thanks for the heads up on the stiffness I had during the presentation. Will take note of it the next time I have to give a presentation.
@Ivan: Thanks again for the usual comprehensive feedback. It strikes me as amazing with your level of effort and commitment everytime you reply to a comment. I think you did awesome on your performance by the way. Good luck for pharmaco revision too!
regards,
aldrich