Preparation: something we can never get enough of
Like true blue scientists, I think that we got carried away with the research and details. We had so much information it was tough to cut down; everything seemed too important! Our original presentation could have easily stretched until half-time of a football match but we wanted to
keep it below twenty. (It would really be ideal since audience tend to lose concentration beyond 20 minutes according to one of my professors. Infectious disease prof if I remember correctly.)
It was quite late before we decided to strip down to just one specific course of action and that caused a substantial revamp in Geraldine's and See Chai's parts. In a rough count, I think we spent around 50 man hours together for this oral presentation! Wow!
Delivery
I really should have thrown away my notes (I certainly do not mean my E71). Even at the point as I was loading the slides, I was still undecided whether to have my notes on hand or not. Will I forget the next point? Will I miss the important keyword? Needless to say, what I thought was a lifebuoy became my plummet.
I felt better prepared than the previous peer teaching session. Slightly more confident in speaking to an audience. I was not as nervous; but I am not sure if I was speaking too fast or monotonous. Was I?
And somehow I began to paraphrase my script on the spot! Oh man!
Slides
Design and visual appeal is really subjective and dependent on personal taste. I guess what we had to do was to make it as general and widely acceptable as possible. Our idea was to use one main phrase to bring out the keypoint and leave the rest of the details for verbal. I wish my news articles had provided greater impact than they did.
These are probably the 'cleanest' slides I have ever done. Minimalistic, sleek and simple. I was a habitual user of cliche powerpoint templates (with Verve in greyscale as my favorite) but I guess it will be white on black from now on.
Personally, I was hesitant about the extensive references to Reynolds' style. I hate to see our slides lose our "personal touch" by trying too hard to look like his. It makes little difference from using cliche powerpoint templates! The same goes for slides with the data in percentages and nothing else. It does not work for me to have the visual impact but a nondescript speech. "Yeah I remember there was something at 50%...but what was that 'something'...I cannot recall."
Personally, I was hesitant about the extensive references to Reynolds' style. I hate to see our slides lose our "personal touch" by trying too hard to look like his. It makes little difference from using cliche powerpoint templates! The same goes for slides with the data in percentages and nothing else. It does not work for me to have the visual impact but a nondescript speech. "Yeah I remember there was something at 50%...but what was that 'something'...I cannot recall."
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On a side note, here are some points I found to be important:
1. Minimalism
1. KISS principle ("keep it simple and stupid" or "keep it simple, stupid!", whichever way you wish to read it as)
1. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler - A. Einstein
Alright. Sorry for failing math but there is just one point actually.
Hey Iris,
ReplyDeleteWOOHOO the presentation is finally over. Being your peer teaching partner, it really amazes me on how much you have improved since then. Did you secretly go for presentation class or something? You were so calm and focused during the presentation. I think now that you have built the confidence the next step would be to be aware of your "stage wind" (in chinese) Like Soon Yee and Deenise they pace around abit and I think you are also capable of that now.
Anyway it was so sad that the content of our research could not be well presented. The frantic change in content the night before also meant that we could not rehearse well. But that aside I think you were the one who kept us going even when we are frustrated at like 3am in the night. I think that was an important factor which made our presentation a success.
In all your oral presentation and participation in the group project is, like I always say, 10 POINTS! :)
(it means 10/10 for those who don't know)
Oh man I heard about the preparations late into the night from Geraldine. Goodness you all were already defying all odds just being there. Yeah I thought everything was fine about your presentation but you should really have trusted yourself more and throw away your E71, I mean your notes. haha. I felt that your notes were, in the end, the one thing that pulled you back. Other than the slight flaw, I should say it like See Chai, 10 points! See you in class on thursday!
ReplyDeletecheers
sy
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ReplyDeleteHi Iris!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your presentation on healthcare industry.
First of all, I am not quite sure whether it is a good idea to use your Nokia E71 (mobile phone) as a device to store your presentation notes. It is quite difficult for me to juggle with two electronic gagdets with both hands.What if someone sends you an sms during presentation? Would the screen switch to the inbox page? What if someone calls in?In addition, the fonts on the screen is small and you might have to scrutinize to read the words. Personally, I felt that having cue cards is a much better option.
I do agree to a certain extent that if you are going to follow Reynold's style of presentation, you might lose your own personal style of presentation. But I feel that since most of us probably do not have much experience in giving presentation, it is best to heed the advice from the communication experts. You might want to develop your own presentation style only after you are more skilful in presenting.
Once again, thanks for your effort! I know Garden of Eden has put in 101% effort.Bravo!
@See Chai
ReplyDelete"Stage wind"! Seems a little above me now but oh well, let's work towards that! You can do that too! Ganbatte ne~! (Ok, too much exclaimation marks. Haha!)
NO! We kept each other going. Seriously. You and Geraldine are amazing. This has got to be my most serious non-core project ever. Thank you so much. By the way,do you need to claim petrol money from me?
And since I fail math, I can give you a 11/10! Yay!
@Soon Yee
Nah we were fine staying up late.
[gungho] Sleep is for the weak! WOohoo~ [/gungho]
Thanks. No more notes from now on. I'll have faith in myself.
@Deenise
Don't worry about the calls and sms part. I offline-ed my phone. But yes it was not wise to hold gadgets on both hands. I guess I was not thinking straight.
P.S.
You were missed in class. We should really take another group photo on Thursday.
Hi there Iris!
ReplyDeleteI've carefully read your blog post plus all the commnents before I pen this down. But of course, there's this piece of paper with me with the notes I took down last week. :) So, I guess my memory won't fail me that bad. Haha!
Personally, I also think that your presentation skills have improved greatly ever since the first time I see you presenting when Brad decided to "throw the baby into the water!". As an audience, I can sense your confidence although at times, you may be stammering a bit. Perhaps this can be improved subconsiously. As for me, I'd like to always keep one thing in mind - the goal of the presentation is to SELL the idea. Nothing else but that. This distracts the mind from all other negative feelings.
You have a good grasp of your content but need to go a little bit slower when you reach certain important parts which need more emphasis. Other than that, the pace was fine.
I feel that you can maintain eye contact a bit longer with your audience. By that, I mean 'with each audience'. You did look at all of us across the room, which was very well done. However, I think it'll be more effective if you can maintain eye contact longer with an audience at a time. This will catch the attention and exude your confidence much better.
As Soon Yee has mentioned earlier, yup, perhaps you can throw your E71 away! Or pass it to me (temporarily.) =P I think that you can be a great presenter even without it because you actually know your content well.
Also, allow me to compliment on your professional outlook too! =)
That's all from me! Good job to Garden of Eden for their presentation!
Hey Iris,
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a great job. You definitely sounded more confident in this presentation than in your peer teaching session. You definitely projected your voice better too. I honestly did not see you referring to your notes much. Maybe its because I was standing at the back. By the way, I love the way you designed your slides. Especially the one with the medical journals.
Geraldine
Hi Iris!
ReplyDeleteI feel that Geraldine's right! You certainly improved much more from peer teaching and that's great, isn't it? :) You weren't so fidgety and had less pauses than before. I admit I'm very much guilty of this, that's why I took particular notice in this aspect. :)
Overall, I would think using the HP is kind of a hazard instead of an aid because firstly, the words are smaller than if you write them out. Secondly, you are able to underline or bold certain pointers if you use cue cards, but it's probably impossible using a phone.
Although, ultimately, Brad would say no to cue cards but being guilty of one myself, I still feel I need them BADLY. :)
Anyhow, great job done and be happy it's over! Good luck for your other papers!
Kellyn.
@ Stephanie:
ReplyDeleteThank you! I will remember the tip "the goal of the presentation is to SELL the idea".
@ Geraldine:
Haha yes I remembered I was shaking during peer teach so this had to be better! Thank you. You definitely did a greater job than me =)
@ Kellyn:
No no no no you don't need cue cards either! We are all very confident in giving presentations after the module, aren't we? ;)