Looking back at the two presentations which I did, I felt that I improved slightly. It could be due to the increased number of hours devoted to the preparation, partly due to the percentage distribution. Thus, I feel that being well prepared is a basic requirement for all presentations, noting especially the purpose, context and audience. Although there might still be some hiccups during the actual presentation, you will less likely enter in to a frenzy mode as compared to when you did no preparation. This is because you will know what to present for each of the slides that shows up. This actually happened during my presentation, sadly.
For the Oral Presentation, I think I did well in projecting my voice, though I thought I was a bit loud. Besides that, by constantly reminding myself to look at everyone also helped me in establishing eye contact with the audience. I felt more confident this time round as compared to the Peer Teaching presentation, although I was panicking madly when Nicholas' group was presenting. However, I was glad that I was able to suppress some of the nervousness during the presentation! Phew! Also, my tone varied slightly which I thought was quite an achievement!
Having said that, I feel that I still have a very large room for improvement. Firstly, I feel that more preparation could be done to make myself more familiar with the slides, so that the presentation will go on more smoothly. I still remember the slide which I forgot (the one on demand > supply for the printing facilities issue). That projected an impression that I was not fully prepared. Nonetheless, I would like to thank Ruo Yan for scheduling time from her very busy schedule, for rehearsals. And we did feedback each other's slides and script. I think we cooperated quite well mainly because there were two issues and it was quite easy to split the portions up.
Secondly, I could have stood further away from the screen so that I do not block Nicholas, Ryan and Puay Bing's view.
Also, I should have noted down things which I forget more easily on my notes instead of writing down my whole script. That would make it easier for me to locate my points. I realized that I gave up referring to my notes halfway through the presentation partly because my hands were occupied with the remote control and my notes. So, flipping the notes were not easy.
Therefore, I feel that preparation should be done at full gear so as to project a better impression for all. Not forgetting the most important aspect to prepare for presentations - Purpose, context and audience! I feel so relieved now. HAHA!
I hope I can do this one day.
hahaha.. no worries, you did not block the screen from me! I was able to see everything :) And I really like your presentation slides! They really look presentable and professional! Not the old boring ones which ms ppt provides!
ReplyDeleteAnd just fyi, you did not improved slightly, YOU IMPROVED A LOT! I still remember when I first heard you present, you were shy and looked uncomfortable in front of an audience. But clearly, you are no longer like that during OP, so GREAT JOB :D
Yes Mingwei, I agree with what Puay Bing said that you have improved alot! You had changed my first impression of you as someone who is quite shy to someone who looks confident and stable as a presenter.(although you may have butterflies in your stomach but yes we couldnt see them!)
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could write your speech (or the main points) on placards instead? Since they're smaller and easier to flip.
And I could not agree with you more how important preparation is. Every presentation will zap you of your time and energy in planning and rehearsing, but it will definitely pay off when you achieve that sense of satisfaction after you have done a good job. All the best to you ;)