From my previous peer teaching on job interview, I have learnt a lot about myself regarding oral presentation. One key observation by my peers, tutor and myself is that I stammered at the start of the presentation. This may come as a surprise to many who know me, as I come across as someone who is very vocal, expressive and interactive in daily life. I guess it is related to me having stage fright since young. Whenever I was made to stand in front of a group of people, especially to present academic materials, it gives me the cold sweat. Now that I know what my weakness is, I see the need to improve my presentation skills by having more practices to increase my confidence level. This is one major improvement I have made from the previous peer teaching.

During the preparation phase, I would practice my presentation in front of the mirror daily, many times during each session. The key point I want to drill into myself is that I need to be very confident, or at least perceived to be confident in front of the audience for my presentation to be effective.

During the actual day of presentation, I’m able to present and communicate my ideas with the audience (and not merely regurgitate out what I have memorized from my speech text). I feel more at ease during this presentation, and I am able to stand confidently (without feeling too sacred and slouched as with my peer teaching session). This is the proposal project that my team has been working very hard on for the past few weeks and I really hope that it will convince the audience that it is feasible. This time round, I am able to smile and enjoy myself throughout the whole presentation. I supposed it boils down to practice! Quoting from my presentation “Oral presentation is really a skill where one needs to constantly gather visual and audio feedback of the audience to ensure that they are following, and to adjust one’s volume and tone where necessary to engage them.” It is not something that one can be good at just by learning from others’ mistakes and from lessons. It is a set of skills that needs ample practice for it to be perfect. I am glad that this module gave me the chance to learn from my peers (through peer reviews and their presentations), and myself. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all my peers and tutor for being so attentive, responsive and supportive during my presentation.

Cheers!

 Candice said on April 11, 2012 at 9:44 AM  

Hi Chris!

I think that you have really done a great job at the oral presentation! I'll leave the review to the peer reviewers.

Here I would like to say a big thank you for all the learning experiences that we have undergone together as a team! It has definitely showed us a lot as to how we can all work on the tiniest details from the written to the expressed be it vocally or non-vocally. Thank you so much for being my comrade in this project!

See you on Thursday! :D

 liyuan said on April 11, 2012 at 5:35 PM  

Hi Candice,

Thank you for being patient with me throughout the course of ES2007S! The course wouldn't be complete without each and everyone of us.

Cheers!!!!!!
Chris

 G-Man said on April 11, 2012 at 11:26 PM  

Hi Chris,

I must say I was very impressed with your presentation. Your presentation during our peer teaching was good but the improvement for this round was truly stunning. Confidence, humour and clarity were very refreshing.

Well done and an excellent presentation!

Cheers,
G-Man

 Rina Malathi said on April 11, 2012 at 11:31 PM  

Hi Chris,

A good presentation. You seemed very animated and enthusiastic about your proposal. Though as times you referred to the audio-visuals quite often. Nonetheless, it was a great job. It was definitely more formal than the peer teaching but not too rigid either. You also tried to engage the audience; maintained eye contact and I think you stood closer also (might be wrong on this) but somehow it didn't feel like there was a barrier between you and us. So, great effort and it was a good presentation!

Cheers!

 Leon said on April 12, 2012 at 10:58 AM  

Hey Chris,

You did well for the presentation. You were confident in delivering the content because I think you knew it well so it was not an issue for you. You also maintained great eye contact with us which held our attention and kinda allowed you to gauge our responses. Your posture was excellent, no slouching this time round and the way you took questions during Q&A was great. Well done for this presentation.

Leon

 liyuan said on April 16, 2012 at 5:50 PM  

Hi Leon, Govin & Rina

Thank you for your comments! I must say thank you to everyone for being so supportive throughout the whole process of learning. I still remember how scary it was for my peer teaching. I'm glad that I focused on the right thing-which is to practice, practice and practice (the same phase that was used to advice people preparing for job interview). I'm so glad that I've done it right for this presentation! In fact I was enjoying it! Thank you everyone for your advices and feedback!

Cheers
Chris