Thank goodness it’s finished!
Just thinking back to the Tuesday session of last week’s ES2007S class, our proposals were going through feedback of our proposals. Who would be presenting in next Tuesday’s session was to be decided. I honestly wasn’t too keen on being the first to present. Then again, who likes that? That unsure and slightly intimidating feeling is a rather unpleasant one. So it went round that some had a test that afternoon, a few had their thesis to submit. EXCUSES! My group remained silent as neither of us had a test that day nor did we have a thesis paper due. The opportunity to be the first was then presented to us. So be it!
Preparation
It did worry us that we had last than one week to prepare for our ‘debut’. But, we managed.Overall, I think the slides that we prepared looked really good. I must say, Godwin did a really great job with the template of the slides! I was totally wow-ed when I first saw the almost finalized version of the slides. He made a really good choice with the template. Clement did a fine job as the chairperson too! With his leaderships and ideas, it might have been difficult to tie up all the loose ends. It was quite unfortunate that, due to the lack of time, we barely had the chance to properly rehearse for the presentation.
I feel that if we had more time, we would feel much better about our whole presentation. I do not know about what the rest think, but that is how I felt. For me, I might have been lacking in confidence. Not quite having sufficient time to prepare, I perhaps wasn’t as confident as I had hoped to be.
Dun dun dun! – Showtime
It was time for us to share with others what we’ve done over the past few weeks. Of course I feel that we did a good job during the presentation. I like to think positively.
However, upon reflection, I don’t really think I performed as well as I had hoped. Strangely, I was not too nervous about presenting at the start. But things changed as I progressed further and further. Towards to end of my presentation, I began to get a little flustered. A sudden mental block had pounced on me causes me to lose pace. Thank goodness for Clement who gave a little hint and I managed to finish up my part and pass the time over to Godwin. This could have definitely been avoided if I had more confidence.
As Brad had pointed out to me afterwards, it did indeed feel like I had some sort of script in my head. It was as if once I was up there, I subconsciously hit the ‘Play’ button and I just went on and on. This is something I need to work on.
Credits
We did our best during the presentation despite several hiccups along the way. There definitely is room for improvement. That aside, all of us put in a great deal of effort in drawing up the proposal and preparing for the final presentation.
Thank you for all the supportive nods and smiles from everyone during the oral presentation! Thank you all for appreciating that we were the first group to present!
I have been waiting so long to put this down on this post. At the very beginning when Brad allocated the groupings, I was seriously quite worried about working with Godwin and Clement. I do not know why. I just felt that way. But to my surprise, things worked out really well. I felt that the dynamics within this team really played out well. Thank you guys for making this such a wonderful learning experience!
Finally, thank you Brad for grouping us the way you did and for the guidance and feedback you have provided along the way!
I look forward to reading all your comments regarding my oral presentation.
Come Friday, it’s my turn to ask the questions. *evil smirk*
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Godwin has done a great job on the presentation slides. I went "wow" too, when I saw how the slides were transformed from the original "black and white" to being beautiful, colourful and professional-looking.
Indeed, you seemed to have gotten more nervous as the presentation went on. However, I think that it is understandable given the lack of time we had for practice, and the fact that we did not have the opportunity to see other groups present.
Must say that I'm surprised that you were initially worried about Godwin and myself.. Was it because my nerdy and slightly psychopathic look? Nevertheless, I agree with you that our team worked out pretty well in the end. I, too, have enjoyed working with you (and your convenient little netbook) very much.
All in all, good job! And yes, time to ask the questions. *evil laughter*
Dear Nicole,
ReplyDeleteSince I'm one of 'them' with the excuses, I would like to thank you again for going first! Your team deserves a lot of credit for just that!
Your analysis of the presentation seems on the spot. The feedback I had noted for you was along the lines of a feeling that you were unsure of the flow at certain points. Perhaps, those were the points when you experienced the mental blocks.
I did however feel your slide flow was very clear. The only point I would pick on was the use of words like 'cos' instead of 'because' which gave it an informal tone.
Once again, thanks to you guys for going first!
Cheers
Rohan
Dear Nicole,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I sincerely thank you and GNC for going first!
Regarding the presentation, I can imagine the anxiety stemming from a mental block. However, you appeared to have kept a good control of your situation! Despite the small non-verbal cues such as touching your hair constantly (I noticed that frequently!), it was your ability to stay calm that really impressed me!
Perhaps the slipup that could be avoided is similar to what Rohan mentioned; the use of informal words. Another spot was lots of body movements, which could have further aggravated your anxiety. But I suppose its easier said than done to hold back the movements!
Overall, I thought you and GNC did very well considering the limited time for preparations!
Wishing you all the best!
Regards,
Kian Leong
Hi, Nicole.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I noted in your presentation was that you seemed focused on recalling the things that you have say. This to some extend could cause a loss of personal touch with the audience. You also displayed a little anxiety when you lost your train of thoughts. However, overall I felt you managed to remain compose in the situations as well as maintain the eye contact.
Well done!
Regards
Glenn
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad our team work well throughout this project. I guess everyone just knew what to do and was committed to the project.
As for your presentation, overall I felt the delivery was fluent. I can sense that you are slightly nervous in the beginning but after sometime, you were more confident. There was just a few occasion you over relied on your cue cards. Thus, I felt given your confidence, you could do away with the cue cards.
Just some of my suggestions and thanks for being a great secretary for team GNC!
-godwin
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the comments I have received thus far.
ReplyDelete@Clement: I really think it is a pity we did not have the chance to properly practice for the oral presentation. I am confident to say that I would have done a better job. But what’s done is done, we can’t undo the past. Life goes on. We learn from our experiences.
The whole ‘psychopath’ thing comes from my watching of too much Criminal Minds. What can I say? I am a tv addict! At least you don’t go around stalking people and killing them mercilessly. The ‘nerdy and slightly psychopathic look’ didn’t come to mind. I really do not know the exact reason. I think I was rather intimidated initially as the impression I had of you was one of a slave driver and I was out looking for a slack and easy experience. But I was proven wrong. It was fun working with both you and Godwin.
Do not underestimate the powers of my netbook. It may be small, but it is really reliable!
@Rohan: Thank you for pointing out of my use of ‘cos’. I really did not realize it. That is something I shall work and improve upon.
@Kian Leong: I do apologize for those small non-verbal cues. If I may address the touching of my hair thing, I was actually trying to keep my fringe away from my eyes. I wanted to ensure I had a clear view of my audience and the fringe wasn’t helping that. It was indeed error on my part, I absentmindedly left my hair pin at home. Thank you for pointing that out!
ReplyDelete@Glenn: I can’t agree more with you. It did feel like I was trying ever so often to recall the description behind the points I was trying to elaborate. I think what I lacked was sufficient practice and a good grasp of the content. Lesson learnt. Thank you!
@Godwin: Thank you for your comment! I think I would have performed worst if I didn’t have the cue cards that afternoon for various reasons. Holding onto cue cards give me this added confidence – it’s a psychological thing. Also, as we didn’t have much time to properly prepare for the presentation, the cue cards helped me at times when I was suffering from mental blocks. But yes I must agree that at times it might have seemed as if I relied on them too much. I need to have more confidence in myself and also be more prepared next time. Thank you! =)
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see how much you enjoyed working with your group. Also, like what I have mentioned to Godwin and Clement, your team’s powerpoint slides were amazing!
Some points to take note would be the slight non-verbal cues, like touching of your hair and swaying left and right. These did not distract me much as I am able to understand the amount of anxiety built up within you during the presentation.
Also, I do agree with Glenn on the point of the lack of personal touch, as I felt it too, especially towards the end of your presentation. It gave me the feeling that you were trying very hard to recall what you have planned to say and merely reading off the cue cards only. That may be a point you might want to take note.
Aside that, I would say you did a fantastic job. You presented your part well and fluently, appearing confident, professional and sure of your presentation aim and objectives.
Well done, Nicole.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteIn my observations you were flawless with your language (as usual). You were very comfortable and had a good command of english which made you sound very credible. I guess sometimes it's more than just the way we bring across our points that make us look and sound convincing. I believe that a person's proficiency in a language does have a role to play on the extent of the person's persuasiveness in the delivery of a speech.
You might wish to consider the use of pauses. I noticed that you were speaking really fast. This is not a big problem for Singaporeans for in general because we do speak quite fast, but in a professional setting where we can't be sure of the nationalities of our audience/employers/potential clients... I suggest speaking at a slower pace.
Last thing - I think you would do a lot better without cue cards! Nicole, you have beautiful eyes so don't keep looking down. Force yourself to remember the points in your head the way we forced all the LSM2103 Cell Bio content in. (laughs)
Here's to share a relevant saying with you. Pablo Picasso once said: "I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them."
@Emily: Thank you for your comment! Yes as I have mentioned in response to Kian Leong’s comment, it was due to my long fringe. And it is my fault for not bringing a hair pin out with me on that day. I do apologize. It is a promise that I now make to all, the next time I have a presentation, I will put in more effort to prepare myself more. Thank you!
ReplyDelete@Goh Chern: Use of pauses is very good advice and it doesn’t fall on death ears. I will put it into practice here henceforth. And yes, I will definitely put more effort into committing the points on my slides to memory the next time I have a presentation. Thank you for your comment, Goh Chern!
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteOr you could just cut the offending fringe off! *Laughs*