This week marked the end of one of the most demanding module assignments I have taken up in my undergraduate life. Our Group Proposal concluded with an Oral Presentation (OP) last Thursday and overall, I was happy with what my group (TEAM PLASTIC BAG!!) had produced. I was, however, quite disappointed with my own presentation performance.Preparation for the OP was hectic. We faced several constraints with time, but we helped each other out in getting everything done. In retrospect, there were indeed several areas where we could have spent more time on, which could have resulted in a more thorough preparation for the Q & A section or increased co-ordination in our slide timings and speech. However, given the circumstances, I am proud of the effort we put in, especially with how we were concerned about each other's parts as much as we were with our own.
We were extremely deliberate in the preparation of our slides and we were very satisfied with how it turned out. We wanted to utilize more visuals (photos, diagrams, animations) to retain attention from the audience and paid attention to finer details, from the size of our fonts to the quality of our pictures.
Despite these positives, I was unhappy with my 5 minutes of the OP, mostly with my over-reliance on my speech text. Despite being intimately familiar with the content I was covering, I was obsessed with flawlessly delivering the speech I had prepared in my cue cards. And the more I deviated from the speech I prepared, the more nervous I grew, and this was evident in the OP. I slipped up early on and that set the tone for the rest of my 5 minutes. Basically, I lost sight of the fact that, in a presentation, you are supposed to deliver a message and not a speech text.
Reflecting on this, I realized that there are two aspects I can improve on for future presentations. 1) Relying on my personal understanding and knowledge of the content rather than on cue cards (but still preparing them, nonetheless). 2) Being more calm and comfortable about deviating from speech texts, knowing that if I deliver my message right, it won't matter if my speech wasn't delivered perfectly.
All in all, this OP experience was enriching, providing many lessons that would be critical in the future. Aspects in which I fell short would definitely be improved and worked on, thanks to this experience.
I would also like to take this opportunity to give a small shout out to my Team Plastic Bag. They have reinforced my opinion that, in a project, if you learned, had fun and sincerely enjoyed each other's company then your experience would forever be of value, no matter what the outcome. Thank you very much guys and I hope that this experience was as good for you as it was for me! =]
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ReplyDeleteHey Zabir,
ReplyDeleteI bet you should be feeling a huge sense of relief having all your group projects done for this semester. Congratulations man! I hope I can cope as well as you did if I were in your shoes.
I think you started out great by having a loud and impactful introduction. However, like me, I felt you were referring at the cue cards frequently. Personally, this could be avoided by practicing more, or writing just keywords on the cue cards. This is a good reminder for me as well.
I saw the great effort in utilizing quotes and pictures in your presentation slides. I was attracted by some of it. However, there was one particular slide with a quote which I felt was too wordy. I felt that you could have highlighted only the main parts of the quote in order to be concise.
I felt you handled the Q & A session very well. You paid careful attention to the audience's questions and were very courteous in answering their questions. Well done on that part!
It is good that you have personally analyzed areas for improvement in your presentation. I can suggest watching charismatic people such as Steve Jobs or Barack Obama giving their presentations to try and emulate them too.
Overall, good job man! See you tomorrow!
Hey Ikhsan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback! It will be very useful for me in future presentations.
I did realize, though, that some of the quotes were a bit wordy. I had a very hard time trying to reduce the number of words while trying to keep the overall feel of the message. But it would be something I would consider more thoroughly in the future.
And I like your suggestion on watching charismatic speakers! I do follow a few and I can only dream of speaking the way they do. But they do provide valuable pointers that would be useful for most of us.
Thanks once again for your comments man!
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ReplyDeleteHi Zab,
ReplyDeleteI think that you set a strong start for you team's presentation. However, like what you have mentioned, you referred to your cue cards a lot and it did affect the flow of your presentation. Maybe you would consider refining your speech text and testing it out in more rehearsals so that it can be effectively delivered in 5 minutes.
Apart from that, I think that you used an appropriate volume and pace to deliver your part. You made good eye contact with the audience. You showed great confidence and energy when introducing your team and presenting your part. Through your presentation, I could feel your passion for your project and I think that it is very important especially when you're trying to convince the audience. I think that you have done a good job as the first presenter! :)
I think that you were very polite by responding appropriately with a smile during the Q&A session. You showed due respect to your team mates by actively listening when your they were answering the questions. You remained calm and composed even when faced with difficult questions from the audience. That's a commendable feat.
Overall, good job Zab! :D