After a lot of deliberations our group decided to do
a project on "Viability of solar energy in Singapore." I must
honestly say, that this was one of the best teams I have ever worked with. All
of them gave their heart and soul towards this project which resulted in coming
up with a good oral presentation.
I was really disappointed after the peer teaching,
since I felt I didn't give my best. So I took this as an opportunity to give my
best and finish off this module on a high. This thought constantly motivated me
to do well in this oral presentation. So the first thing that I did before preparing
for this presentation was to watch the video of my peer teaching and note down
the mistakes that I made.
Then I noted down the points that I am going to speak
on a piece of paper and verified that there was logical flow. Since my part of
the presentation was only for 5 minutes, I made sure that I had minimal
contents on the slide so that I was the centre of focus. Then I repeatedly practiced in front of a mirror to ensure that my gestures were also in place.
However the toughest part was to imagine my own classmates as government
officials and present it in a formal way.
Despite all these measures when the actual day of
the presentation came, I started becoming a bit nervous. To add to my anxiety I
had another exam right after my presentation. I was the second speaker in my
team and once Tobi (my teammate) finished off his part, my heart started
pounding harder. But once I started off I felt a lot more relaxed and the
things that I wanted to convey just started to flow. Once I became settled I
started using pauses and reiteration to my advantage to convey our ideas to the
audience effectively and finally when I ended I was quite satisfied with the
way the presentation went.
As a team we were able to tackle the questions that
was posted to us since we had done a lot of background research while doing our
proposal. Now, it was the time for the moment of truth - feedback time. I was
extremely happy to get positive comments. I was glad that my hard work paid off. However, many noticed that I was
holding on to my hands while presenting. Even though it was unintentional, it might
have been due to my nervousness. Also I found myself a bit nervous to present
in front of a small audience whom I already knew. So I just can't really imagine
how it would have been if I were to present in front of a huge audience. So I
need to work on these things in order to improve my presentation skills.
Overall the oral presentation was a great experience
and I was quite content by the way I presented. It was definitely way better
than my peer teaching, but of course there is always scope to improve.
Hi Edwin!
ReplyDeleteWow! I couldnt tell that you had an exam right before your presentation! It appeared to me that you were very well prepared for your OP, and you knew your topic inside out.
I didn't think that you were nervous at all. I liked your pauses because it made me internalize whatever you have said and allowed me to keep up with your presentation.
Keep up the good work! (:
Hi Edwin! You held on to your hands? Now that you mentioned it, I remember. But I didn’t find it so unnatural that it was distracting. For me, it was a posture that conveyed “formality” rather than nervousness.
ReplyDeleteYou were a brilliant speaker. You projection, intonation, body movement were all in sync with what you had to say. Honestly, you’re a natural speaker!
I was particularly impressed by your team’s Q&A session. Your team cohesion showed and your postures remained formal. For us, I think we sort of thought we’re off the hook, so we relaxed. I wish we were more like you!