Yesterday (8th November 2010) was a day of presentations for me. I had three presentations in total, with two of them back to back.
So, in total, I had:
- 9.00 - 11.00 am: Project Management presentation
- 12:00 - 1.00 pm: ES2007S presentation
- 6.00 - 7.00 pm: Human Factors Engineering presentation
Preparation:
I felt that I did it well. I knew my material inside and out. I designed my slides to aid me in recalling the necessary contents of my presentation. However, I felt that what I lacked was not the content preparation but the mental preparation, which leads me to my next point...
Delivery:
I felt that I did the best I could at that moment in time. However, there were a few things that I am unsatisfied with, that are definite areas to improve on. Firstly, (and it might sound silly) I was a bit thrown off by the view of the class. In the Project Management presentation prior to this, I presented in a bigger tutorial room. The lights in that room was also dimmer and just the general feel of it was different. So, when I was suddenly standing in front of a completely different looking classroom, with a completely different vibe, I have to admit it made me a bit flustered. Because of that, I may have rushed through my material a bit. My apologies for that.
This actually reminded me of what Brad told us earlier (if I recalled correctly): that it is much harder to "perform" in front of a smaller, more intimate group than a bigger group of people. Therefore, this is definitely something that I need to prepare myself mentally in the future. The lack of adequate sleep also factored into the performance of my presentation. If I had enough rest, I would have been able to think on my feet better and make the presentation more natural and fluid. Four hours of sleep before a day of presentations is NOT the way to go.
In terms of eye contact, I think I did maintain eye contact with a few people. And hopefully it is enough to create an impression. As for non-verbals, I would have to depend on all of you to give me feedback or watch the recording.
Visual aids/slides:
I tried my best to make them easy to read and easy to understand. I figured that simple and informative was the key to go, as that is what I look for personally in PowerPoint slides. As a whole, I felt that my group's PowerPoint slides are aesthetically pleasing and served its purpose well.
My takeaway from this experience is to not let myself be flustered by my surroundings. It is much easier said than done, but hopefully I would be able to do it with enough mental preparation and practice.
My group (7 Eleven) is sincere in our proposal in establishing a 24 hour study area in school, and hopefully we have all of you convinced with our presentation. :)
EDITED to add this picture of us working hard.
Yong Chean - for your focus and spirit of excellence
Weiping - for always making me laugh with your easy-going nature
Stanley - for putting up with me in every assignment & being so good-natured
HI MAY!! =D
ReplyDeleteOh no!! Three presentations in a day!! I only had two that day! The next one was at 6pm!! :p You must have been really polished and ready for the third one. :)
Firstly I think you guys did a fantastic job presenting your proposal yesterday. It was clear, concise and very comprehensive. Flow was smooth from speaker to speaker and there wasn’t much hiccups to speak of. My only criticism for the group would be a little more unity would be nice. Not that you guys didn’t look like a team, it was just that during the answer and questions, it felt like there were some point that the entire group did not agree with. So I felt. :) I of course could have been mistaken.
Secondly, you did look like you were going to break down and cry though. Okay. Maybe not that bad, but you did look really nervous. You also tended to rush your speech the more nervous you got. Maybe consciously slowing down your pace would be good if you get nervous? That way you’ll also be giving yourself time to think what you need to say and therefore make fewer mistakes. Your voice projection was good; there was eye contact to establish a connection with your audience.
Okayy can’t really remember anything else as of now. Haha.. If I remember anything else I’ll add it in later!! Ahaha! But all in all, it was an excellent presentation!! Well done!! =D
oh and i just realized that your blog kinda looks like mine now!! ahaha!!! :) excellent choice!! AHAHA!!!
ReplyDeleteI just changed again, so it no longer looks like yours. Heh. :P
ReplyDeleteOh no, seriously?! Haha. I did not know that I looked that nervous. I did not feel that nervous, just a bit out of sorts. I need to watch back the tape.
Yeah, I should have slowed down so that I have more time to collect my thoughts. I will try to do it consciously in the future. I think I was coming down from the adrenaline rush from the first presentation that my brain and my body was not really connected. Haha. If that make sense.
As for the Q&A session, your observation is noted. We did not realize it, but I think all of us are eager to provide answers that we may have forgotten about showing "unity".
Thanks for your comments, Daniel. Appreciate it. :))
oh great.. :/ you've changed it.. cheater.. blah.. ahaha....
ReplyDeleteHi May,
ReplyDeleteLoving your new blog skin! Why the change? :)
I think 7 Eleven did a really great job pitching the proposal. I could tell you guys were selling the idea to us. There were some tough questions thrown at you guys during Q&A, but the group did an overall good job of answering them.
Your speech was smooth, and the tone variation was pleasant and varied. You seemed nervous, and stood a little far from the audience and behind the table. (We want to see more of you! :))
I totally understand how a lack of sleep can potentially hijack one's performance. I had 5 hrs for my presentation. Yup, it's definitely not the way to go. You'll need your beauty sleep to look refreshed!
I like the use of video clips. Thankfully the video loaded well. I have one comment though, your female friend's replies seemed at some point to be a bit rehearsed (that's how I felt while watching but I may be wrong) or maybe she felt self-conscience in front of the camera.
That's all. Thank you for your presentation. Your sincerity was felt. ;) Well done!
PS: The fact that my comments came after Daniel's was out of pure coincidence.
Hi May,
ReplyDeleteYour team pulled off a great presentation. It was an effective pitch. I was pulled in right from the start with the strong emphasis on the validity of the problem during Stanley's presentation.
Your team presented a valid need, a viable plan and addressed our concerns. At the end, your team demonstrated initiative to sell the idea. There was good use of visual aid in influencing and persuading us.
Nonetheless, there were a few areas for improvement and please don't take these to hard as I may be a tad critical in my capacity as Arts Dean :D
1. The video could have been better. The low quality video made it seemed done simply. The video could be made a strong account of the validity of the problem by showing 5-6 quick interviews with other students.
2. Overall enthusiasm of the team was decent but not embracing nor contagious. These was observed from stressed facial expression of the team :D.
Otherwise, it was altogether a solid proposal pitch.
May, with three presentations in a day, you definitely OWNed us all! Overall, you have good projection and gestures. Your tone was pleasant and your speech was smooth, although there was obvious hints of nervousness. Your eye contact strayed after a while and I find that you may be too reliant on the slides in one part.
Considering what you had for Monday, I think you presented well :)
May,
ReplyDeleteHope you are getting sufficient sleep now! Thanks for all the hard work, lady! Totally understand your FYP X ISE stress, but I really appreciate your commitment to this presentation and still come down to school to practice on Sunday while you are so many other things to work on!
I think your presentation was rather well-done! You appeared very friendly. Perhaps you were a bit too fast when you speak, but again, you have the Stephanie vibe (please check on her post's comment) which I discovered on Sunday.
There will be more fyp presentation coming up, let's sell our 40,000 words thesis well!
Love, yC
Why is the picture on your blog colored while the one on yong chean's in b/w?? haha...
ReplyDeleteLolx. Why is everyone posting the "picture". Am I suppose to post it as well? Haha. Anw, rest well! =P
ReplyDeleteHey Stephie! :D
ReplyDeleteI changed the blog skin because the pink one was giving me a toothache. Haha.
Thanks for your comments. Yes, I really should have stood further from the table. Believe it or not, this is the FIRST time I've used the bluetooth ppt clicker! In my nearly FOUR years in NUS. I never had to use one until ES2007S. First time for everything! Suffice to say, I was not very comfortable holding/clicking it. Probably why I stood nearer to the table to feel more comfortable. Hopefully I'd get more practice with it in the future.
About my friend's replies... You are right, I think she was a bit self conscious when I was taping her, so she might have hammed it up a little. LOL. But I'm very glad she allowed me to interview her.
Hi Yongxin!
ReplyDeleteHa, that's you being critical?! Not at all. :)
Allow me to address your points...
1. Yes, I admit when I taped it I didn't consider the "wind" sound, until YC called me to alert me about it. Probably why the sound quality was not great. I wanted to get more people to interview, but everyone was rushing on that day. In hindsight, I probably should have prepared the videos earlier, so I'd have more buffer time.
2. I am not sure about how enthused the rest of my group looked, but I was feeling tired, so I may not have looked as upbeat as I should have on that day.
3. I realised that I did not get much chance to maintain eye contact with you. I remember looking at Weaboon, Steph, Daniel, Brad... Those people in my direct eye line. I should have spanned across the room more.
Thanks for your kind comments. :)
DANIEL:
ReplyDeleteNot going to lie, I stole the idea of posting the picture from YC's blog. :D Mine is coloured because she actually took the time to edit it. ;)
STANLEY:
YES! Post the picture. Do it. Show Daniel that we are united! :)
YONG CHEAN:
Thanks for your kind words, my dear. We wouldn't have made it through the project without you. And everyone, the beautiful slides are painstakingly designed by this girl.
See Daniel, we should have posted that 'pretty' pic of steph we took!
ReplyDelete@May, yea, I would say the slides are very congruent in design. Hard work there.
I have to be careful over my criticism as I have learnt over the few years not to be overly critical. (I came from a no-nonsense family -.- )
What I meant was that other than the points I made, it was otherwise a stellar performance :D
Hey May,
ReplyDeleteHope you had managed to garner sufficient rest since the presentation. Overall, I thought the presentation was indeed refreshing and the first thing that struck me at the start of the group's presentation was the design of the slides. It was totally slick and classy. (Haha, I'm not sure if there are such words in the dictionary, I don't want the comments to wound like a formal assessement)
May, I must say there was a great control in your composure during your presentation, something that I still can't master well.
Even though signs of nervousness were prominent at the start of your section, you managed to calm yourself well through the presentation. In addition, the nervousness that you had did not hinder your progress to making the presentation.
I have no qualms over the delivery of the content, but some minor twitches could be done to improve on the presentation. One minor issue would be the transition between each slides and sections. The progression of certain sections were quite adrupt and there are various possibilities that could have led to such. One factor could be the change in slides before you spoke of the upcoming section and the other being the lack of a transitional statement to link two different chuncks of information together.
All in all, great work in the presentation and being able to go through 3 totally different presenation in a single day is by all means an extraordinary feat!
Wow! Three presentations in one day! You should receive an award for that!
ReplyDeleteIn any case, you did a fine job -- as I mentioned in the formal assessment -- and I appreciate the detailed reflection. You've gotten lots of useful feedback here in the comments. I hope they inform your future OP experiences.
Thanks, May, and good luck in your next OP.
Hi Dear May!!!
ReplyDeleteI have pretty the same schedule like you. I got an CA day! From 9 to 11 I got an CA 20%, another CA after EG2007S, which is an 5% CA. Wow, you had been through more than me in the same day~
I could tell from your presentation that you really prepare for quite a long time, and spend a lot of efforts on it. From your gesture, eye contacts, and your words, I could feel you were very calm, you are a very patient and smiling presenter, I love the way you answered the QA session, if I was among the board, regardless how many doubts I felt about the proposal, I would still vote for u because of the attitude you showed in the QA session.
I think if next time, you raise your voice a bit maybe it could sounds more persuasive. You are a very very soft gal~~:)