Weaknesses
Personally, I felt that I could have been better prepared for the presentation. Thanks to our many rehearsals, I didn’t make any major errors or miss out any important points during our presentation. However, I was still slightly disappointed with my presentation as I made several small blunders. Firstly, I subconsciously referred to my audience as “you guys”, which is a no-no in a formal presentation. In addition, the delivery of my presentation wasn’t as smooth as I hoped it would be. There were instances of stutters and using of verbal fillers. Knowing that I get nervous during presentations, all these could have been avoided by rehearsing my script over and over again, ensuring that smooth delivery of my presentation.
Regarding our presentation content, as suggested by Ms Fazilah, perhaps we should have played more on the emotional (Pathos) aspect. For example, drawing links to our personal experiences when describing the shuttle bus situation may have been more persuasive to our target audience. However, in my personal opinion, while drawing emotional links may be effective at a moderate level, an overdose may have a counter-effective effect as it may appear unnatural or irritating to our audience.
Strengths
I felt that our presentation was delivered in a clear and concise fashion. Our presentation was broken down into very clear sections – problem, solution, and benefits – which flowed logically and hence was easy to comprehend. Our slides were not too overcrowded, consisting of only main points and appropriate diagrams, graphs, and pictures, which provided accurate illustration of our points. Also, our individual parts were coherent with one another.
Q&A was one of the biggest challenges for me because it involved quick thinking on my feet – something I was afraid I would not be able to do. However, I felt that our team handled the Q&A section reasonably well. We were all calm and composed, and answered each question concisely. I believe this was achievable because we constantly questioned the rationality of our proposal during group meetings, as well as ensured that we ironed out knitty-gritty details with we felt were “loopholes” of our presentation. Also, we always made sure that everyone had common consensus on our project.
This presentation has been a very enriching one for me. Again, I am reminded of the importance of crafting a presentation with the audience in mind. I believe that we effectively conveyed our ideas to our audience and that our presentation was generally professionally delivered.
To my dear team mates nel, will and leo (haha :P), thank you guys for being ever so patient, accommodating, helpful, and funny! And also, for making this module so enjoyable for me! (:
First, I will comment only on the weaknesses you have mentioned and not the strengths lest this becomes a revolting admiration session of our own presentation.
ReplyDeleteI think in hindsight, we will always want to be better prepared. However, considering the time we had for preparation, you have already done well.
As for the verbal filters, in addition to more rehearsals, another way to overcome them is to be very conscious when speaking and avoid blurting out the verbal filters when you are thinking about your lines. But obviously I am being a keyboard hero here since I commit the same mistakes. The key idea is TRY to conscious.
Working with you for the entire semester, you tend to spiral into a nervous wreak before presentations/interviews. You already have the ability to present professionally, nervousness will only hold you back. Be more confident and I am sure you will continue to excel in your future presentations.
Nelson :)
Throughout the module, I felt that even though you seemed like a nervous wreck before any form of oral presentation/discussion, you always managed to carry yourself pretty well during the actual thing itself. With more experience, I guess we will all be less nervous before and during a presentation.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about pursuing the emotional aspect in moderation. Even though injecting an emotional element into a presentation will make it more persuasive, the audience may get turned off if that is being done excessively and be deemed as over-exploitation.
On hindsight, I am grateful that prior to the presentation, we sat together to ensure that our views towards all aspects of the project were along the same line. This was important, as even though we did this project as a group, there are bound to be instances where team members have slightly different opinions towards certain issues. By preparing beforehand, we ensured that our responses during the Question and Answer session were coherent and not contradictory.
Agree we could have been better prepared, if fact I've always believed that we can never be too prepared for anything. Having said that, given the time we had, I think we've put in the best effort possible, and you shouldn't beat yourself up over your minor slip ups. I guess it was because you are very easy going, and besides, the familiar faces of our audiences could possibly be some mitigation for your "you guys" gaffe. I'm pretty confident you'd do just fine in a real-life scenario.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked with you once during our first presentation on ICC, I felt you have improved alot, both in terms of composure and in your delivery. I guess the only thing to watch out for is the verbal fillers, as Nelson has already mentioned. That's a tough one, but just got to be very aware during presentations.
Yes, and I'm glad we did trash out the details, which I think is exceptionally important in any project presentation because it shows that everyone is familiar with the content, and more importantly, it shows solidarity and that we, as a team, are convinced that our solution works, which is especially important in this scenario!
Leonard :)