We started the presentations today. Hannah, very bravely, offered to do hers. It was a very interesting presentation on how the relationship between Ireland and Britain is represented through the works of three writers (Spenser; Heaney; Friel).
I'd like students to post some comments on these presentations as we go.
You should comment on your own (How did you feel beforehand? How did you think it went? What, if anything, would you do different if you did it again?). But please make any comments on the presentations in general.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
What follows are Hannah's thoughts (not mine) on her presentation (I've just copied and pasted them here) ......
Ok, my thoughts on how I felt before the presentation, how well I thought the presentation went, and how I felt afterwards. Along with what I'd do differently...
To say I felt nervous beforehand is perhaps an understatement. I really had to remind myself to breathe, and my throat felt drier than usual. I wasn't expecting to feel that bad, but I think it was feeling that the equipment was prominently present in front of me.
During the presentation, I felt I was speaking but that it wasn't flowing that well. I'm aware I put more ums and ahs in my talk than necessary. So that would be something to not do as much of next time.
And Simon has thankfully pointed out that I should of used the words NOBEL PRIZE for Literature, not Nobel Peace Prize in my talk.
After the presentation, it was a relief to sit down, standing up in front of people is nerve-racking. Maybe I should do the next one through the medium of Tai-chi, or possibly kabuki theatre. Then there'd be a costume to hide behind, and I could keep calm.
The feedback was a surprise as I felt it wasn't going as well as the feedback Jerry gave me.
Things I'd do differently, well I think next time a bottle of water to pause, I really wasn't expecting my throat to feel that dry. Finding a costume from Kabuki theatre may take a while, and learning tai-chi, well we've got enough to do on this course.
Useful Tips on Presentations:
Firstly, take a deep breath!! Breathe, it does help :)!! Secondly, do not think you are being judged! And thirdly, as Hannah suggested in her comments, have a bottle of water handy.
Although I have followed the above, I still found myself feeling quite anxious when I stood up in front of the audience. Then, I realised that I have begun feeling self-conscious about my spoken English.
However, having structured the talk in advance and having small Q-cards ready to prompt myself in case of 'blank spots', I actually quite enjoyed the experience. It gives you an adrenaline rush!!
I think, presentations are great confidence boosters; you talk, everyone else is listening! Practice in advance!
Jerry, thank you for introducing us to some very useful skills!
P.S: Paragraphs really are 'beautiful things'!
Hi Jerry!
Well my thoughts on presentation. Firsly I must say that I felt nervous before and during the presentation, reason for that was camera recording on tape me talking, that really was not helping. I was not so nervous about performing in front of other people.Other thing was that I had specific subject to talk about and I really needed to show videos so people actually had an idea of what I was talking about. I know that i should be able to talk freely and be ready that technology will not be in order every time I need it, however there are cases when it is crucial to have it. otherwise I felt confident, because I knew the subject and I was able to show one video, so it was not that bad.
Jerry you gave me a very good feedback, which was a surprise for me because I am more critical on myself, but thank you very much for that and thank you also for the tips you gave and the things we learned on presentations, it really helped me to refresh my memory on the presentations.
Thoughts on my presentation.
Well, first of all I can say I felt incredibly nervous before doing it. My last trials were not encouraging, because I had problems with the language as all my material is in Italian. In fact I would have translated it, if I had the time... Having your notes in a language different from the one you are going to talk in, is a mistake.
When the others people were speaking, I felt incredibly warm because of the nerviness: it seemed to be in the Caribbean. Contrarily, when I started to speak I was more relaxed and the words started to flow, naturally.
I listened to someone's advice who told me to assume the attitude as if I were a teacher who is explaining to his students something they don’t know anything about. Relaxed, clear and seeking the eye contact.
That technique helped me a lot during the whole length of the presentation. I believe it went quite well, despite the fact I have left out some details.
In truth, I had hoped that somehow I was able to delay my talk for a later date.
Since I knew what topic I had chosen to do, and since I had finished that topic for another class, I was confident that during the festive period I could have given the talk more polish, as well as more rehearsals to refine the presentation.
However, for a variety of reasons, that wasn't to be, and I found myself finishing the powerpoint presentation and the text of the talk only the night before. This is not ideal, and not recommended.
Regardless, I felt I should shoot ahead and let the chips fall where they may, and just do the talk anyway. It had no rehearsal; two pages of text was deleted for fear of running over time, and very little modification was made to make the text more naturally flowing in terms of it being more conversationally sounding. To me, it sounded robotically read out rather than spoken, which in a talking presentation would have been more preferable, I think.
Unfortunately, reading the text was all it was going to be today since I had not prepared any cue cards or memorised what I was basically
going to say. Again, this is not ideal, and not recommended.
Nevertheless, I'm happy that I got through the presentation without it being a complete disaster - which it could well have been since I was also very sleepy!
All in all, it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't too bad either.
There was a little nervousness but that was more due to the feeling of being unprepared more than anything else. If there was any evidence of that nervousness, it would have been seen at the very start when I deviated from my prepared introduction a little. And there was another time when I got a little tongue-tied reading my notes, which were printed with way too small lettering. A silly mistake. I also felt myself raising my voice for no apparent reason once, and at the back of my mind, I was thinking,' what the heck are you talking louder for?'. Weirdo!
Of course, another mistake due to not preparing was the fact that the talk was quite long. I felt it towards the end as my throat seemed to be drying with every word when reading the conclusion. The talk definitely needed editing, and better structuring, I think. In retrospect, the background to the Invasion of the Netherlands part could have been tightened up, and gotten to the main part of the talk - The Jewish Persecution - a lot quicker. I believe Jerry told me it was some 8 minutes before I even got to the crux of the talk, which is without a doubt too long. Less is more, as they say.
On a technical level, I thought the use of the powerpoint went well, especially as my cues were simply written onto my notes, and had not been rehearsed either. I was pleasantly surprised how well it went. Originally I had also want to include some audios too, but since the volume was a little too low I had to adapt, and that was evident in the section where there was an excerpt of Anne Frank's diary. I remember reading it instead and actually got a sudden realistation that it was a very long read and abandoned it half-way through. I'm not sure how that came across in the talk, but it wouldn't surprise me if it came across as rather abrupt in its finishing, despite trying to round it off as naturally as I could.
As I have noted above, it wasn't perfect by any means, but the talk wasn't too bad either, I felt. So, all in all, there's a definite room for improvement, especially in the way of preparation and rehearsals.
One last thing I want to mention.
The question and answer section I also felt went well, but I know I'm not the most articulate of speakers, and I wished I had not said something like, 'I don't know where you got your information from' to Mend in regards to the Hitler and the Christianity issue. As soon as I said it, I realised how pompous it sounded, even it was not meant as such. I hope it didn't come across as in any way offensive; I'm not as mentally sharp with words when I talk at times. I also said that Hitler had meetings with the Pope, which was another example of my mental bluntness since I meant the likes of Archbishops and Cardinals, rather than the Catholic head himself. But, besides all that, I thought it went well, and I enjoyed talking and listening to the related issues that came up. I actually wouldn't have minded if that part of the presentation went on for longer.
Until next time...
As for a person close to a nervous breakdown I felt that structuring the presentation gave me a little more confidence about it. What I forgot about was the positioning as had much more things to point on the screen than for example Beata. Also although I knew mostly everything concerning the topic of my presentation I found it to be a little difficult most of all less natural to switch into English during the presentation. Nevertheless this try gave me a little more faith in building my confidence and I am looking forward to next presentation as as Jerry wisely mentioned,we have to challenge ourselves especially that presentations are commonly used as an assessment method on most universities.
Thanks to everyone who did a presentation. Thanks also for all the very useful and honest remarks.
I know that the video camera was a bit off-putting but you may find watching it useful.
I think that the main points that come up from your own comments are: nerves are natural - it's just a question of how you cope with them. One good, and fundamental, suggestion that comes up a lot in your comments is preparation and practice. This shouldn't be a big surprise, but knowing it is different to doing it.
Some fundamental features of good communication are touched on: be clear about your purpose (people were good on this) and working on the "flow" and structure of the talk. As I keep saying these principles are easily transferred to written communication such as: essays you write; radio programmes you listen to; and newspaper articles that you read.
Anyway, thanks again for your presentations. As usual I learned a lot about a range of different topics. And, finally, thanks to those who put up the comments.
I have not yet done my presentation although I've drawn up the plan and prepared the actual Powerpoint presentation. However after reviewing a handout aptly named "The Seven Deadly Sins of Powerpoint Presentations". I have learned to avoid sound effects which can distract the audience and also avoid "visual cliches" from Clipart. I will use my own photos.Try to use good colour combinations which do not merge into one. Text heavy slides(which I am guilty of), will no longer be a feature of my presentation. Limit slides to approx. 5 lines of text and use words and phrases as opposed to whole sentences. Use a minimum font size of 40. Focus on interactive speaking and listening in oreder to capture/hold the attention of the audience. MISTAKES TO AVOID- 1)KNOW YOUR TOPIC, 2)NB THE SLIDES ARE NOT YOUR PRESENTATION(USE THEM AS AN ACCOMPINIMENT(use bullet points)Address the audience and not the screen3) Use a clean and straight forward design, 4) Limit the number of slides i.e. 10-12 5)Check all hardware is workin beforehand.
Post a Comment