Monday, April 13, 2009

Oral Presentation Reflection

I am very disappointed in myself for giving such a lacklustre performance. I expected much better of myself, because of the heaps of practice and amount of time we had to prepare for this OP.

During my oral presentation, I felt that I didn't look around the audience as much as I hoped I would. I had also wanted to click on my slides without looking, but I failed to do so. I was very nervous, and that affects my presentations to quite a large extent, as I've gathered from my previous experiences. I thought I engaged the audience, but I paused at awkward moments when the audiences whispered to each other, though I should've ignored that. In my recap, one of the recommendations slipped out of my mind for a moment. Unfortunately, it was pretty obvious, and I'm still kicking myself for that right now. Things got better in Q&A, and I thought I fared slightly better. I felt very much "frozen" throughout my OP.

Now for the whining part: I met my group (another module) for discussion and it ended in the wee hours. When I finally got back home, I couldn't sleep and I ended up staying up the whole night. Fatigue may have attributed to my lousy performance, but I felt it was the gradual build-up of tension from insomnia that slaughtered me.

On a slightly more cheerful note, I'm thankful it's over!

On an even more cheerful note, no more assignments!

Cheers!

15 comments:

  1. Hello Roy,

    Hey don't be so critical of yourself ba cuz i doubt anyone would have done any better if they couldn't sleep at all the night before their presentation. Hmm i really know how it feels like to be wide awake but feeling exhausted at the same time so I do agree that your insomia definitely affected your performance just now.

    I think it's fair to say that you performed much better during our numerous rehearsals and you never missed any of your points. Also, you did put in a lot of efforts to do the final editing of the slides. Well a pity the presentation didn't go as smoothly we hoped but still good job done!

    Haha and congrats on finishing your last assignment for this sem :D

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  2. Hi Roy,
    I agree with Jing Yang... You are being over critical of yourself even more than I did! I am sorry to hear that you stayed awake the entire night! Try not to have any time consuming commitments before an interview or presentation that you think will affect your performance.

    You have pretty much highlighted most of what I want to mention. I found your presentation very good. It was neatly presented and I actually didnt notice that you had missed a point until you asked to go through it again. It sort of pointed out to me that you did make some blunder. Try to avoid those cues that point out to the audience of the blunder.

    2)You delivered the presentation with well formed sentences and if I hadnt seen your facial expressions I wouldn't have realised that you were tensed. I think the main reason is that you forgot to keep a smile. You sort of looked troubled. Besides keep in mind you are more aware of the background information than the audience, this should help you to be less panicky.

    3)I did notice your awkward pauses and I thought it was to focus until I caused one of your awkward pauses.Sorry about that.

    Other than these minor blunders your individual performance was good.

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  3. Hi Roy

    I am so shocked by your first sentence:I am very disappointed in myself for giving such a lacklustre performance.Not at all, you really have done a good job in the presentation.

    Even though until now I still can't totally used to Singlish, but I can understand you perfectly. You used appropriate volume and speed, you used clear and correct pronunciation, and you also adopted a proper stance and conveyed message effectively.

    Yes, the only flaw for your presentation is the awkward pause and the restarting part, but it happens to everyone. Don't give yourself such a hard time. Just try to find a way to avoid this awkwardness next time. For example: if you forget where you are, you can ask the audience:" where was I just now?" If they can't answere, you can just say:"Oh,in order to help you keep up with me again, i will restart."if it's in an informal presentation, you can even make a joke to avoid some awkward pause.

    Anyway, you really have done a good job in your presentation.

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  4. Hey Jing Yang,

    Haha, that was how I really felt about things. In any case, I thought you did a good job! Thanks for your comments!

    Cheers!

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  5. Hey Priya,

    Yea I agree with you that one should not have any time consuming commitments the night before an interview or a presentation. Thanks for the compliments, and I really didn't think I'd forget anything, so I got a shock when I did and my reaction was to go through it again because I knew I'd have it.

    I should've smiled to get rid of the tension and no worries about causing an awkward pause (haha), I was supposed to deal with it.

    Thanks for your comments! Cheers!

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  6. Hey Vikki,

    Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you could understand me well. And those are great suggestions! I should've went with something like what you said, maybe a "Oh, did I go too fast?" and then proceed to restart my recap.

    Thanks for your comments! Cheers!

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  7. Dear Roy,

    I think you really performed pretty well, except for a few blunders here and there. Fret not man!

    Just a couple of comments, hope you find it useful!

    Firstly, I am quite impressed by your group’s presentation slides. I like the animation part, where it changes from slide to slide, with that cube alike thing flipping. Cool! Brad emphasized on the simplicity of our slides, however, you guys made it simple yet professional. Thumbs up!

    While I was watching you present, I noticed that you had a few body language that made me feel that you had a hard time trying to convey your speech. I observed that you had the tendency to keep swallowing your saliva and making some facial expressions. I thought that these insignificant yet prominent body language can be minimized so as to present a more professional side of you!

    Yup, nevertheless, I think that you did alright in your presentation and not brood over it! It’s over! Cheers!

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  8. Hi roy,

    This is our group feedback for your group's OP. Your group has done well in the presentation. We found your slides creative, clear and concise. As a group the delivery of the points was put across to the audience well. Your group handled the tough questions thrown at you well which showed the dept of knowledge. One of our suggestions to improve your presentation is to practice further to ensure the flow of the presentation. This is to avoid the awkward pauses. Additionally, the presentation slides could include a slide to sum up the recommendations to re-cap what has been presented so far. Overall, your group has done a good job!

    Cheers,
    Keldren, Qi ying, Priya

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  11. Hi Roy,

    Our group feel that your group have did a good job in your presentation. We feel that you have clearly convey the message to the audience. Besides that, we feel that your group is very confident and can convince the audience easily and we like your presentation slides as it is simple yet creative.

    Besides that, we feel that your group have strong "cohesive" interaction between the teammates as we really can feel that you are supporting each other. This is very good as can show the audience that you have good teamwork.

    One thing I think your group should note is that to avoid awkward pauses as mentioned by Keldren's group. I think this can be avoid by more practice and try to stay calm during the presentation.

    Overall, we think that your group have done a good job in this presentation but there is room of improvement for your presentation.

    Cheers,
    Vikki, Jaenette, Pooi San

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  12. Hey Michelle,

    Thanks for the comments! Yes, my mouth totally went dry when I was presenting. I will drink up next time, before I present. Thanks for the good advice!

    Cheers!

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  13. Hey Priya,

    Thanks for your comments and the compliments! We will certainly be working on the awkward pauses for our future presentations. Thank you so much!

    Cheers!

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  14. Hey Pooi San,

    Thank you, for your groups feedback on our OP. It was nice of you to point out our cohesive interaction. We will certainly be working on the awkward pauses for our future presentations. Thank you once again!

    Cheers!

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  15. Hey Roy!

    I must apologize for arriving in late for class so I stood outside not wanting to disrupt you all but I did managed to hear part of your speech!

    I think you were definitely loud and clear, as even from outside, I could hear your speech! Also, I liked the fact that you thank the audience. Something unique!

    Smiles! :)

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