The Oral Presentation
The oral presentation felt good. I felt that I was sufficiently familiar with the subject matter to give a suitably detailed presentation. With the added pressure of a classroom of my peers, the prying eyes of my tutor and a menacing video camera, I felt my knees shake. I was unsure whether it was stage fright or my stomach flu, but I pressed on anyway. I set my mind to it, cast the weird feelings aside and finished the damn thing.
Overall, I think I did well.
At this juncture, I would also like to congratulate my team members, Eileen and Jessica, for a job well done. At the same time, I would like to thank them for putting up with my nonsense and my frequent MCs.
The Proposal
I felt that the process of writing the proposal was enlightening. The surveys and interviews gave me new insights to the problems at hand, granting me first hand experience of the significance of each step. It helped me understand the difficulties of writing a proposal and I hope that I may apply this knowledge one day.
The focus?
There is, however one concern I would like to take this chance to voice. I feel that there isn’t enough presentations in this module. I first enrolled into this module expecting much more presentations than the current workload of only 2. Of the total assessment criteria, only 30% is based on our presentations. To be honest, I was expecting much more.
As much as students are afraid of presentations, I believe it is something that we need to work hard on. There are few chances for us to present and it is extremely important that we are able to present when we finally head into the working world. This is one of the skills that employers are looking out for in the fresh graduates. Perhaps in the future, the module could place more emphasis on having more presentations for the students to exercise their ability to communicate professionally and less emphasis on the internet-based learning.
Just as how the interview could make or break your job search, it is ultimately the face-to-face interactions that warrant the most impact, not the pieces of paper that we write.
Wang Ting's Blog 
Hi Wang Ting,
You did a wonderful job for your OP. Personally; I felt you were the most composed speaker of all the speakers. You did not rush through the presentation and it was easy to understand what you were saying. Your slides were very engaging as well, since you had used a sample website to explain your points better. However, for the Q&A session I think you could have thought about what you wanted to say before answering, somehow I felt you weren’t sure of your reply. Apart from this, I think you and your group did a great job 🙂
Cheers,
Keerth
By: keerth on November 10, 2009
at 12:01 am
Hi Wang Ting,
I did not sense your uneasiness during your presentation. On the contrary, I think you were quite confident of your content knowledge and presentation. You were also capable of answering well during the Q&A session.
However, to better capture the attention of your audience, you should try to vary your tone and emphasize on key words, wherever appropriate.
As a team, it would be better if you all try to ensure that each team member has a fair share of answering the questions so as to show your audience every team member is familiar of the content and capable of answering questions posed.
Cheers,
Xin Wei
By: Xin Wei on November 10, 2009
at 1:13 am
Hi Wang Ting,
If i were to associate your oral presentation with an idiom, i thought the most approprite idiom would be “as cool as a cucumber”.
You looked so relaxed and composed throughout the presentation and i have never felt a single “aura” of nervousness coming from you at all. You were just cool. I’m not too sure if you felt that same way, but you were presentation yr slides as if you’re owning the stage. Good job on that!
As for overall team performance, unfortunately i was there throughout but based on my first impression, i can tell that your team really put in alot of effort in trying to “sell your idea”. I really like the slide which has that a pseudo internship hotlink website. It looks real and i suppose this approach is very creative and out of the box. There was also a smooth transition between speakers! Kudos to all of you and all the best for your upcoming exams!!
Cheers,
Ariff
By: ariffaziz on November 10, 2009
at 11:59 pm
Dear Wang Ting,
Your group had done a great job for this whole presentation! The content presented was definitely relevant and different as compared to other groups as your team had provided a “tangible” example of your group’s proposed product. To further improve on future presentations, your group could consider starting with an introduction instead of going straight into the proposed product. This would allow the audience to have a clearer picture of the background of your group’s presentation.
As for your individual performance, you sounded confident, with excellent use of emphasis during the delivery of speech. You look relaxed and the volume and speed of speech was also appropriate. I could also see that you tried to engage with your audience by making eye contact with them. However, I felt that you can show more enthusiasm during the presentation so as to attract and retain audience attention. Other than this, I felt that this was a good presentation so keep up the good work!
Regards,
Huiyi
By: Huiyi on November 11, 2009
at 1:38 am
Dear Wan Ting,
I think you have the talent to be a sales person. You have the ability to say something in the most obvious tone and make it sound as everyday common knowledge. The audience was buying your points word by word!
You came across as very confident and convinced of the points you are trying to make. Many presenters fail to understand that if they themselves are not convinced, they cannot convinced others. Taking a stakehold and owning the ideas presented certainly makes it more personal and convincing. You came off as gold.
By: Tan Wei Hong on November 11, 2009
at 2:59 am
Dear Wang Ting,
After hearing your group’s presentation on the proposal, it was an interesting and well structured one. The team spirit within your group is evident and you all seem to have cooperated well, helping one another throughout the Q&A too. I must say that it was a rather convincing proposal and was sold by it.
However there are just some minor pointers which you could consider here. Firstly though your pace of speech was appropriate, you came off as a bit mild and soft. This could affect your confidence and enthusiasm level for on your own portion of the presentation. Alas your patience and composure made up for it. The smile you maintained added points too. However I guess it’s a form of trade off: too composed and cool might make you look less enthusiastic and warm, too loud might made you look flippant. Hence I believed you can strike out a balance between both.
Next the charts for some of your slides could be better prepared so they can assimilate well with the main theme of your slides, especially so since some slides only the charts to speak for itself. A better layout chart would have greater visual impact.
Lastly with respects to the presentation criteria involved in this module, maybe you could have done this problem statement during the oral presentation. Ms Happy would definitely give her two cents worth. On a side note, maybe this module is taking a wholesome approach towards effective communication, encompassing writing and practical oral skills all at once; resulting in this current programme structure.
On a final note, your team has performed well and I presume you must have discovered and learnt a lot of communication skills yourself. With more practice like you mentioned above, you might develop into a professor speaker in no time.
Regards,
Wei Xiong
By: wei xiong on November 11, 2009
at 7:33 pm
Dear Wang Ting
While we would like to have more presentations, we have to consider the other aspects of communication as well.
Actually, we increased the number of presentations from one in the last academic year to two this academic year.
We hope the group discussions in class (as well as outside class), the job interviews (which unfortunately you missed as you were unwell) with everyone participating and the interviews the teams conducted (hopefully face-to-face rather than via email or phone) for the project would give the students more opportunities to speak and be confident.
Perhaps you could put the comment in the surveymonkey.com feedback for Mr Blackstone’s consideration when he reviews the course again.
Thanks for your input.
Regards
Happy
By: Happy on November 11, 2009
at 10:04 pm
Hello Wang Ting,
I recall the first time both of us presented together in our peer teaching. And i am sure that you have improved your considerably.
First thing was the attire, which you were very appropirate with(unlike the first time). Second was your composure. as Ariff mentioned, you were pretty cool and calm. Your sentences were well considered and constructed, giving a clear picture and it ensured that it had politness.
its truly a skill that i need to learn from you, to cut out my consistent ‘umms’ and stagering words.
As a team, i think you people did a great job. The transicition from one speaker to another was smooth, well prepared and organised.
You knew well what was the subject you are dealing with and handled the questions well and politely. All the best to ya! And Wei Xiong said i will not be suprised to see yoe as a Professional speaker in the future.
Best
Alagu
By: veatkai on November 11, 2009
at 11:43 pm
Hi WangTing,
You ll always be remembered by your ponytail at the back. i agree with you that this module should place more emphasis on presentation which is what i was expecting when i chose to read this mod. However, i m glad that our class establish good ties with one another and learning the vital soft skills together. Therefore, equipped with the skills of being a good presenter learnt in this mod and your calmness and fluency, i believe you will become someone who is able to present well professionally to sell yourself especially when you are applying for exchange programmes or internship. All the best:)
Best Regards
gail
By: Gail Tai on November 15, 2009
at 3:50 pm