#5 Reflection on Oral Presentation

Reflecting on the oral presentation, I feel inclined to compare myself to how I was pre-ESS2007s, during the peer teaching presentation and the mock presentation. I think I can fairly say that I have improved a lot in terms of handling my nerves, exuding professionalism and managing my time. In stark contrast to the trembling wreck that I used to be pre-ES2007S, I was very much calmer.

I won’t deny that there was still some nervousness as could be detected by my creaky voice. However, the fact that I could remember my script and deliver it exactly as I had intended to, with few pauses in between, is a major personal achievement for me.

The class mentioned that I had performed better in the first part of my presentation and I believe this is probably because the animation-packed nature of the presentation provided a logical sequence which helped me deliver my script more fluidly. When it came to the second portion, however, I was slipping back into the ‘bullet-point-followed-by-paragraph-description’ mode and thus I stumbled quite a bit. The lesson I learnt from this is to perhaps pay more attention to such areas and focus on memorizing concepts instead of scripted chunks. This would, of course, require me to also build up the confidence to verbalize the memorized concepts impromptu.

One key area I would like to improve on is voice control and this is partly due to watching my team-mates, Zi Hao and Xi Min, in action. I felt that they demonstrated impressive voice control which embellished their presentations with a sense of professionalism. Playing back the recorded video, I also realized that I subconsciously used the words ‘so’ and ‘umm’ a lot as fillers. Unnecessarily looking at the screen is another area I want to work on as well.

As for the positive aspects of my performance, I felt that I managed to establish good panning eye contact with the audience. I employed cues (both verbal and non-verbal) to direct the audience attention to specific areas on the slides to ensure that they were still following me even when eye contact had to be breached. I am also glad that the class found me articulate and appeared engaged. I was also heartened to know that the class had high praise for the slides and that they enjoyed them. With regard to the slideware, I felt that it was an integral part of the presentation as it encapsulated the complexity of the project in a manner that was very accessible to the audience. I am glad that the class responded to the slides very well.

This oral presentation felt slightly sentimental for me as it was the culmination of many grueling weeks slogging it out over the different stages of the group project. Needless to say, it was a gratifying experience to see it being received so well by the class. I would like to thank the class and Brad for their kind words and constructive criticisms. I would also like to thank my team mates for their cooperation.

As a team, we have decided to approach a stakeholder with our proposal after our exams. Though it might just remain a pipe dream, I’m excited by the prospect of directNUS becoming more than just a school project. Wish us luck, guys!