Oral Presentation: Personal Reflection
On the 5th of November, my group was tasked to present our
proposal to the class. We separated our parts into 4 different parts. The first
part consisted of background and introduction. Next is the existing and
improvement to current solutions. Thirdly, it was our own proposed solution and
lastly was the conclusion. I was tasked to present the conclusion of our
proposal.
My presentation skills have not been my forte due to my poor use
of vocabulary and nervousness in front of an audience but I have seen an
improvement in my speeches for the past few years thanks to National Service as
I have to give presentations often. Days before the presentation, I was quite
confident in delivering the conclusion. The only issue I had was to speak
longer. The first time I practiced my conclusion, I only managed to clock
around 1 minutes which was too short as compared to my other team members. My
members and professor gave me guidance on how to improve and lengthen my
conclusion. I took in their advice and practiced at home.
On the day of the presentation, I read through my slides on my way
to school. I was confident and determined to present my conclusion. However,
when it was my turn to give the conclusion for our proposal, I could not find
the words to say. Suddenly, I felt nervous, words coming out was not what I had
wanted to say and then I started to feel uneasy. It was the same feeling when I
gave my first presentation in poly in which I was very nervous. My eye contacts
were moving everywhere and I even forgotten to click on my slides. I do not
know why I could not deliver as I wanted to. After reading my peers feedback,
all of them wrote the same thing like 1) looks nervous 2) no eye contacts with
audience.
This made me reflect on how I can improve on my presentation. One
is to improve my confidence when speaking, be natural about yourself and always
keep on practicing a few times before the presentation date. The feedback given
by my peers will make me a stronger person as I will learn from the mistakes I
have done and improve in the areas which I am lacking in.
