Despite of knowing all of the theories, the reality comprises a lot of uncontrollable external factors, such as technical problem, anxiousness and unintended actions.
Before we began our presentation, the projector was projecting smaller picture than the usual which might reduce the clarity of the slides from audience point of view. So, my team mate Sam went to fix that and luckily it does not hinder our presentation until the end. Also, we were given 20 minutes time limit which is strictly timed, so we have the urge to speak faster. But luckily, we have timed ourselves well during the rehearsal, thus we have the confidence that by speaking with the same pace as what we were during the practice, we should be fine.
Anxiousness always come at the wrongest time. I was the first speaker and the first presenter, literally from the whole class. Moreover, I should be creating an attention grabber as the first speaker. I projected my voice in confidence, using the appropriate gesture and pauses which luckily did not show how nervous I were.
I became calmer after Zhing brought her parts confidently. Her parts were persuasive! So, I rode on the pace and brought up my second part nicely. After Sam's awesome part, I concluded the presentation. However, I pressed the 'next' button too many times that it shows the word 'Action' that I want to emphasize and did not want to show until the very last moment. Getting a slight disturbance, I still ended my presentation with the quote as what I have planned, but I forgot to add a very crucial pause in the end and proceed immediately into the Q&A slide which reduce the impact of the conclusive quote.
Proceeding to Q&A, I was a bit anxious. So, although I know what is the exact answer for the questions, I found a little hard to transform it into words. But, I saw myself very conscious of time and throw the ball for one more questions when I realized that there are only slightly more than a minute left.
In conclusion, it was a very good experience and I have learned my mistakes. Thus, my next persuasive presentation will be better. The quality is very important for my future endeavor as an entrepreneur. I would like to thank you Ms. Lim and this module to allow me to deliver such type of speech!
Hi Adi, I got your back when you mentioned that "Anxiousness always come at the wrongest time. I was the first speaker and the first presenter". I know how it felt because I was also the very first presenter for peer teaching and I was so nervous that I didn't really perform so well. Considering the fact that you were able to deliver such a persuasive speech even though you were the first presenter, thumbs up!^^
ReplyDeleteWell, actually I think we could all feel your nervousness for the first part of the presentation because from what I recalled, it wasn't going so fluently at first, but you did pick it up at the second part, so well done~
And it's great to have good team mates around to give you assurance from time to time right? :)
I'm really glad that you learned lots of valuable lessons through this experience and I'm sure it's been etched in your mind so much so that the next time you present, you'll remember the day when you tried persuading NUSEU with this presentation XD.
-Alicia
Thanks a lot Alicia! Yup, indeed the anxiousness affects me at the beginning. And indeed it is a valuable lesson for me and nice having good team mates to give me assurance :)
ReplyDeleteAdi
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ReplyDeleteThanks, Adi, for your reflection.
ReplyDeleteI thought your introduction was very captivating. You came across as a personable presenter, one who is sincere, and therefore easily liked by your audience. You were very natural, no difference from the friendly Adi we all know, and that was great. You were also loud, used gestures (though I would like your gestures to be stronger) and clear in articulation. The introduction, overall, was pretty fluent and smooth.
I liked that you began your presentation with a personal experience, illustrating to your audience the dilemma you faced in your job-search. Good use of strategy there; and you will notice that sharing a personal experience right at the beginning ensures good eye-contact with the audience, apart from allowing you to establish rapport with them. The advantage of using such a strategy is that the presenter need not be concerned about the points on the slides, breaking eye-contact with the audience as a result; rather the presenter needs just to focus on sharing the experience with the audience. The personal experience shared also narrowed the relationship distance with the audience. That said, in the personal experience that you shared, I cannot quite see the relation between firms 'not swarmed' by final year students, and how that that relates to the importance of acquiring soft practical skills. It will be good to re-look the clarity of the experience shared, so as to ensure that the audience can relate to it.
Also, it will be good to be more aware about the language used. I jotted down the following when you were presenting:
"These are prove by the survey done by NACE...", "Sam, my colleague..." and "We have lead the further study..."
You closed the conclusion meaningfully, although I feel that the conclusion could have been made much more impactful by beseeching the audience to take action. Hence in addition to saying "Action is the foundational key to success", it may be to your advantage to add why it would be NUSEU's road to success by doing such and such.
Thanks for the effort, Adi. That was one persuasive presentation!