Alas we have come to the end of this module and although I am feeling pretty relieved that everything is now over ( no more deadlines, no more blog posts, no more presentations, etc.) , I am feeling quite sad too. Truth is, I have really really learnt a lot of stuffs from this module and also from all the wonderful friends that I have made in the class. Like what I have mentioned, I was not planning to take up this module as I am not really a language person. However, after hearing positive reviews from one of my hall mates and also since Edward they all are taking too, I thought I should use this chance to improvise myself. Since secondary school, I seldom have the chance to present my ideas in front of other people and being a science student, our focus is more on report writing than on communicating with other people and doing presentations. Hence I was determined to brush up on my communication skills and also to learn a few techniques on writing application letter and resume.
During these 13 weeks, we have 2 formal and 2 informal/impromptu presentations. I have always thought that during oral presentation, all we have to do is to present/ talk about the content from our written report and then we are done with it. Actually, there are still much more than that! For example, we have to also take note of our own non verbal cues, position and hand gestures. It is only through this module that I learnt why presenters always stand at the right side of the screen ( cause we read from right to left and thus it would be easier for us to refer to the slides! ). Furthermore, I have also never realized before that I don’t smile when I am presenting. It is a pity though that I only realized about this after my last presentation. However, I will take note about it in future presentations! :)
Through this course, I have also realized how nervous I can get before and also during the presentation. It could be due to my inexperience in presenting my ideas in front of other people and also the fact that I came from a Chinese speaking family. Hence, I am always stuttering ( especially during impromptu sessions), taking a long time to search for the right word. However, I have figured out that rehearsals before the actual day really help in calming me down and prepare myself for any unforeseen circumstances. For my case, I need a lot lot lot of practices so that I can familiarize myself with the flow of the presentation and also to let my mind know that I am prepared for the presentation and hence, calm myself down a bit.
Furthermore, this module is also different in a sense that after each presentation, we will be given feedbacks from Ms Lim and the other classmates. I really look forward to receive all the comments! Though I know my feedbacks would not be as great as the rest of them, I still love receiving them as I find them really useful for my next presentation and it lets me know how well I fared for that certain presentation. And all the encouragements and suggestions from the wonderful people, really thanks a lot for that!! :)
At the end of this module, I know that I still have a long way to go to communicate effectively with other people, but I am really happy that I have taken this one step and I believe that all the skills that we have learned would be put to good use especially after we graduate from university.
Finally, I would like to thank all of my other classmates as I have really learnt a lot from them especially when they are presenting and also for being so supportive every time. And last but not least, thank you Ms Lim for being such a wonderful tutor! :)
Monday, 14 November 2011
Monday, 7 November 2011
#5 Reflections on oral presentation
Finally, the oral presentation has ended! Even though it was just a mere 5 minutes for my part and around 20 minutes for my whole group’s presentation, the amount of work and effort that we had put in were indeed a lot. I have started preparing for the slides and presentation text a few days before the day itself.
After we were each done with our slides, May compiled everything together and we then reviewed and commented on each other’s slides to check for consistency and mistakes. For our slides, we didn’t go for fancy and elaborative layout. What we did was to keep them simple and have less words on them but more graphs/ animations so that our audience could understand us better and easy for them to digest the content. Once we were done with the slides, we then met up together and rehearsed a few times. In fact, I think we had quite a lot of rehearsals. I even practiced secretly when my roommate was asleep! These rehearsals helped me to prepare well for my part and familiarize myself with the flow of our presentation. After all the rehearsals, I felt pretty much confident! :)
* Jeng jeng jeng * Then comes the day of the presentation! As usual, I was very nervous, especially after the impressive presentation from Team RZY. However, this time I could feel something different. I felt a bit more confident compared to the peer teaching session even though I was still very nervous. I have tried to appear less nervous but I am not too sure whether I have done a good job of that or not. Maybe you guys can give me your opinions on that or I will go and watch the video! :) I have also prepared cue cards as I tend to forget what I am supposed to say when I am standing in front of an audience and all their attentions are on me. Sometimes, I do wonder whether I have stage fright and as much as I want to keep my nervousness at bay and tried not to refer to the cue cards, I got especially nervous when Sam waved at me ( signaling that my time was almost up). Immediately at that instance I forgot what I wanted to say and referred a lot to the cue cards. However, I was quite happy because our presentation was quite a smooth one and there were no major hiccups even though I think I could have fared better during the Q & A session. I knew how to answer those questions just that during that moment, when all eyes were staring at me, my mind just couldn’t work! :( Hence, I am thankful for my supportive teammates!
All in all, I have an interesting and fun time working with my teammates for this oral presentation. I believe that I have done better compared to my peer teaching session but I know that there is still much room for improvement. Not to forget also, I would also like to sincerely thank all my teammates! You guys are the best teammates that one can get! :)
After we were each done with our slides, May compiled everything together and we then reviewed and commented on each other’s slides to check for consistency and mistakes. For our slides, we didn’t go for fancy and elaborative layout. What we did was to keep them simple and have less words on them but more graphs/ animations so that our audience could understand us better and easy for them to digest the content. Once we were done with the slides, we then met up together and rehearsed a few times. In fact, I think we had quite a lot of rehearsals. I even practiced secretly when my roommate was asleep! These rehearsals helped me to prepare well for my part and familiarize myself with the flow of our presentation. After all the rehearsals, I felt pretty much confident! :)
* Jeng jeng jeng * Then comes the day of the presentation! As usual, I was very nervous, especially after the impressive presentation from Team RZY. However, this time I could feel something different. I felt a bit more confident compared to the peer teaching session even though I was still very nervous. I have tried to appear less nervous but I am not too sure whether I have done a good job of that or not. Maybe you guys can give me your opinions on that or I will go and watch the video! :) I have also prepared cue cards as I tend to forget what I am supposed to say when I am standing in front of an audience and all their attentions are on me. Sometimes, I do wonder whether I have stage fright and as much as I want to keep my nervousness at bay and tried not to refer to the cue cards, I got especially nervous when Sam waved at me ( signaling that my time was almost up). Immediately at that instance I forgot what I wanted to say and referred a lot to the cue cards. However, I was quite happy because our presentation was quite a smooth one and there were no major hiccups even though I think I could have fared better during the Q & A session. I knew how to answer those questions just that during that moment, when all eyes were staring at me, my mind just couldn’t work! :( Hence, I am thankful for my supportive teammates!
All in all, I have an interesting and fun time working with my teammates for this oral presentation. I believe that I have done better compared to my peer teaching session but I know that there is still much room for improvement. Not to forget also, I would also like to sincerely thank all my teammates! You guys are the best teammates that one can get! :)
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