Presentation Reflection

Reflection on class presentation

It was definitely a nerve-wrecking experience to present our problem-solution essay on the digital divide to the class. It showed me the importance of experience in presenting your ideas to public and hence reinforces the reason why Mr Brad would like us to present in front of our tutorial mates.

I prepared visual aids such as powerpoint slides filled with pictures and minimal words to guide my audience throughout my entire presentation. I have put in tremendous effort in my powerpoint slides, in aim to bring across my idea as clearly as possible and at the same time build my rapport by injecting some humorous elements, such as pictures of Simon Cowell's thumbs up.

One thing that I have realized from this presentation is that no matter how much you prepare, you will still be nervous when you stand in front of your audience. I could not apprehend the level of anxiety in me during my presentation so I rushed through my presentation at the second half and ended my presentation without a proper conclusion. I was actually extremely disappointed with myself. It was comforting to have my tutorial mates to point out some of my strengths in my presentation even though it was clearly a failure. The constructive feedbacks from Mr Brad and the rest of my tutorial mates guided me step by step to be a better presenter. This made me learn how to deal with anxiety. Through these 3 consecutive tutorials watching presentations presented by my tutorial mates, I learnt that I am not the only one facing the nervousness when I stand in front of them. In fact, all of them felt the same and some of them impressed me as they could hide their nervousness with confidence and deliver their presentation extemporaneously. 

The other thing that I have learnt from my presentation is that cue cards and notes might sometimes cause more harm than help to my presentation. We clearly know the details of our essay, in fact, very well as we have edited it multiple times and holding notes and cue cards, in this case is clearly only for comfort. I relied so heavily on my notes because I felt safe with it. This caused me to disengage with my audience whenever I refer to it during my presentation. I am extremely glad to have these feedbacks as I actually force myself to stop using notes and cue cards for my speech for my Public Speaking module. I am proud to say it actually went well and I am thankful for this experience as it helped me improve my presentation skills. 

Besides learning from my own mistakes, I have learnt the strengths of others which I hope I could possess in my future presentations. I am very thankful for such an opportunity where we get to experience how a proper presentation should be like with the patience of my tutorial mates and Mr Brad.