Living in a society that requires professional communication skills, presentation skills becomes an essential tool in the working life.
This oral presentation is a good learning experience for me as I have clearly identified my weaknesses in this area and I have learnt good presentation skills from my fellow classmates.
Despite drafting and practicing my speech the day before, I did not perform as well as expected. When I was standing in front of the audience, the only word that came to my mind was ‘NERVOUS!’, and my mind went blank instantaneously! In order to carry on with my presentation, I had to rely on my notes, but it was a fatal move. I had completely forgotten all the little details that I had planned for the presentation. I became over reliant on the notes and my actions were distracting the audiences as I repeatedly refer to the notes. From this experience, I have learnt that it is not wise to memorize the presentation speech. Also, if one were to bring along notes for reference, it should be written in point form instead of an essayed speech as point form notes will prevent the presenter from reading off the essayed speech.
During the presentation, I tried my best to maintain eye contact with the audiences and to speak with appropriate volume and speed. Also, I attempted to engage with the audience, asking them for their views whenever possible. As the presentation went on, I began to cool down as the audiences acknowledge my speech with a nod or a smile, especially the ladies in the front row! Thanks! However, I felt that I could have done better as I had planned for more questions and to ask for different views.
Despite the blunders, I am glad that I had made these mistakes here in class and not in my future working place. This presentation has given me the opportunity to improve on my presentation skills and I will treasure this valuable experience.
UCS1001 MME Tri2 2023-24 Dynamic Thinkers
1 week ago
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI felt that you managed to answer questions during Q & A well, reflecting that you understand your content well. Also, you made your presentation interactive by asking your audience their views on the points you just shared. Good job!
To help you in your future presentations, there are a few things which I feel that you can improve on.
Firstly, I feel that your speed was good but you could increase your volume because I felt that you were slightly too soft therefore I could not hear you clearly. If your audience is unable to hear you clearly, you would not be able to convey yourmessage effectively.
Secondly, I feel that it may be better if you did not hold any notes with you during the presentation because you might tend to keep referring to it once you get nervous, which would be quite distracting to the audience. However, if you feel more secure having some notes with you, you should keep your points short so that it would make it easier for you to refer to it.
Thirdly, I could not really see the eye contact that you were making with the audience during your presentation and that could be because you were referring to your notes quite a fair bit.
These were the main points during your presentation which I feel that you can improve on. Looking on the evaluations you have made on yourself, I am sure that your future presentations will be good because you know where your mistakes are and therefore can improve on them. I hope my comments would be able to help you in improving your presentation skills.
Thank you for your presentation and good effort=)
Our group feels that your group have presented the overall summary on your recommendations well during the presentation and added appropriate pictures which are eye-catching and prominent. This helped in illustrating your points well.
ReplyDeleteAlso, our group liked where each of the group members stood during presentations as it did not block the slides and it was an appropriate distance from the audience. It was also good that your group asked questions to get the audience involved and the presentation was more dynamic.
However, we have picked out some points which your group could improve on in your presentation. Firstly, your group could have avoided looking at your scripts during the presentation as it would cause you to have lesser eye contact with the audience and it may give the impression that your group did not know your content well.
Secondly, the presentation of your slides could be improved by using a darker background to avoid your slides from blending into the background. This can create a better contrast and grab one’s attention.
Lastly, during Q & A, our group felt that it could be improved by providing more team support to each other. There were certain times when one group member was answering and another group member seemed distracted.
hi Michelle :D
ReplyDeleteCongrats on having finished your oral presentation and I know it wasn't easy to stand in front of the class and talk. Here's some of my comments about your OP and hope they will help you in the future.
Firstly, i think you have a nice voice and your tone was friendly throughout the presentation so it was such a pity that you lacked volume when delivering your speech. At times I cannot hear you clearly and your voice actually became softer towards the end of each of your slides. Your speed was very good though!
Secondly, I felt that you were too overly reliant on the printed speech. I know sometimes our mind tend to go blank when we are NERVOUS so I suggest you use queue cards in future presentations instead if you don't have enough time to internalize the content of the slides. You can write the points that you need to cover for each slide on each queue cards and flipping through your queue cards before the presentation can help give you a quick overview/recap of what you will be covering. This helps to calm my nerves so hope it works for you too!
And lastly, I think your presentation will have been much more lively and interactive if you maintained more eye contact with the audience and gestured a bit appropriately. Take Grace for example, she used her hand gestures from time to time during her presentation which I felt helped her to engage the audience better.
Ok that's all and I still think that overall you did a good job! Just be more confident in your next presentation or interview!
Dear Hui Xia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments.
Seriously, I had all along thought that I was speaking with the appropriate volume during the presentation. Now that you and Jing Yang have pointed out, I will be more careful with the voice loudness in future. Yup, I agree that it is really important to speak with the appropriate loudness, else we will not be able to convey the message effectively. Or perhaps, it was due to my nervousness that made me loose confidence and speak softer and softer. This is really a good point to take note!
I know that my fatal mistake was to be too dependent on my notes. Looking back at all the presenters, I am feeling so inferior. Felt that I was the worst presenter in class as I was the only one that relied so much on the notes. I promise that I will not bring along any notes with me for future presentation. GOSH!
This oral presentation was a good experience for me to identify my weaknesses in this area. And I am sure, with all the comments from you guys and Brad, I will improve on my mistakes and excel in future presentations.
Thanks Hui Xia! Cheers!
Dear Jing Yang,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments on my performance for the oral presentation.
Seems like my volume is a big problem! Laughs! Yup, I will be more careful with the loudness of my voice for future presentations. I think that nervousness is the root to all evil when it comes to presentations! I hope that with more practice and experience in future, I will be able to rectify this problem and excel in presentations.
I agree that I should have included more gestures so as to engage the audience better. Therefore, the more I should throw away the notes so that my hands are free to make gestures and to refrain myself from being over reliant on the notes!
Thank you Jing Yang for your comments. I will bear these comments in mind and make sure that I will not repeat them again. Cheers!
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteHaha it's me again but this time is my group's comment on your team's presentation as a whole. Hope it helps :D
Overall, we think you guys did a good job! The presentation was very organized and timely. The opening was rather good, you introduced each other and the topic was stated appropriately. Like Brad mentioned, we felt more emphasis could be given to the content page to show an even clearer macrostructure.
We liked the fact that you guys alternated the findings with their respective recommendations. It showcased originality in your presentation. We thought the aesthetics of the slides could be improved upon. We also found your slides slightly cluttered, and certain figures could have been emphasized.
As for your Q&A section, we felt that the questions were answered professionally and it was impressive to see that you guys managed to maintain your composure even when the posted questions were tough to handle.
Once again, job well done! Cheers