As an oral presentation is a multi-faceted process, I shall
seek to organize the review of my team’s presentation broadly in terms of its
strengths and weaknesses in the various aspects, both individually (myself) and
as a whole.
First and foremost, in terms of preparation, I could have
spent more time individually on preparing for the question and answer (Q &
A) session, namely by predicting possible questions from the audience and
generating appropriate responses. I have to admit that I am not a person who
can think quickly on his feet. As such, during the Q & A, even though I had
the answers in my mind, I was unable to provide a clear and well-thought out
response. For future presentations, I definitely need to invest more effort in
Q & A preparations as compared to my other team members.
As a whole, even though my team’s presentation was generally
professionally delivered, we could have done more on the emotional and persuasive
aspects of things. In a business environment, where every proposal is just as
competitive as the next, a presentation that tugs at the heartstrings might
just be the one that gets the nod. As such, a little more enthusiasm as well as
personal anecdotes could have made the presentation more emotionally appealing
to the target audience. For example, Ms. Fazilah pointed out that we could have
used our very own experiences with crowded shuttle buses to further emphasise
the intra-campus transport problem.
That being said, our presentation had a number of strengths
as well. On the overall, I felt it was concise and to-the-point, hence maximizing
the 20 minutes that were given to us. To this end, the presentation slides were
able to achieve a synergistic effect as all content was in point form and
illustrated with appropriate diagrams.
Most importantly, I felt that the presentation was highly
coherent which aided in understanding. There was a clear flow from the problem
to the solution and then why the proposal should be adopted. Throughout the
entire presentation, constant references were also made to our research findings,
which offered much credibility.
In conclusion, I believe that the number of rehearsals that
we had helped us greatly. An oral presentation is a highly sophisticated process
with many aspects involved, and we were only able to deliver satisfactorily
because of the constant self-critique and refinements within the team.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi William,
ReplyDeleteFor the Q&A session, I think as a group we could have done a more formal rehearsal for Q&A instead of just sitting around to discuss the possible questions and our intended answers.
But overall, I agree that the presentation was able to be delivered satisfactorily because of the constant self-criticisms within the team. I believe this is the beauty of our team where all criticisms are taken in good faith.
Lastly, do away with the cue cards for your future presentations. Judging from this presentation, you do not require cue cards for a smooth delivery. Holding cue cards in your hands only undermines the level of confidence you display to the audience.
Nelson
Hi William
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job as the pathfinder for our presentation. You presented our background information in a methodological manner which then paved the way for the rest of us to come in with our proposed solution and benefits etc.
With regards to the Q&A preparation, I feel that having an innate understanding of the details of our proposal will always help in answering questions. Having said that, I dont mean that you dont know our stuff well enough; you do, as you have demonstrated by raising very thoughtful questions whenever we meet up. The other thing that helps will be confidence (easy for me to say, but I'm lacking in this aspect too!), which leads me to my next point.
I feel you do have the chops to be an excellent presenter, but I think that the cue cards are inhibiting your full potential. Why not take the leap of faith and present without anything to fall back on? I feel that not having anything to fall back on helps because then you'd tell yourself that you have to get it right! Of course, its just a suggestion, this might not work for everyone.
Leonard
Hello William!
ReplyDeleteI've always liked how you come across as a very calm, composed person who takes time to properly assimilate a question before answering it. This shows effort and sincerity in addressing a question. In addition, taking time to process a question helps in sorting out your thoughts and formulating a clearer and more well-thought out answer. Perhaps you could bring in more of your usual calm and composed self during future Q&As sessions! Of course, everything's easier said than done, but i have no doubt that you'll be able to achieve that with more practice! Also, you could always rephrase the question to buy yourself more time to think.
That being said, I still think that you handled the whole Q&A session pretty well, as well as provided us with a great start for our presentation. Lastly, I agree with nel and leo about not using your cue cards. You already have the ability, just take a leap of faith.(:
Val
Hello Wee Pin,
ReplyDeleteErm, seems like there is something fishy going on in your team with the Christian names going around…instinct somehow tells me not to poke my nose into it~~XD
Ok. It has been a while since your presentation and this is what I could recall. I feel that you have handled the Q and A session rather well. Your answers managed to clear the doubts from the audience. You took on the questions form the ground with a very calm composure, so that’s a plus point.
As for your presentation, like what your other 3 members have said, it’s a good thing that you rely on a “mental script” rather than the cards. You should have a clear idea of what has been going on within the project itself since you have devoted so much effort to it. Therefore, everything should pretty much be contained in the mind. I feel that this is more of a problem of self-confidence that could be overcome with more practice.
Nice day~
Jie Yang
Nothing fishy about our Christian names just that the explanation of their origins will take quite a while. We may have to explain it some other time. But just a tidbit, I am arguably the inspiration for this running joke. :)
DeleteJY which mean Jun Yuan