I just concluded my oral presentation with Team Coordonner Les this past Thursday. I would say that I'm quite satisfied with how it went. It is always very satisfying to see that all your preparations has paid off.
Presentation reflections... Get it?
It was not always smooth sailing though and definitely the journey to get ourselves ready for this presentation was not an easy one. Team Coordonner Les consists of 4 very different individuals, which means 4 different presentation styles. I suppose its a common problem with any group presentation setting. Making the presentation seamless, or in fact to work together cohesively, is quite tricky but we tried our best. Lunchtime bonding sessions does help though.
Team Coordonner Les
Our presentations had a few strengths, but the one I would like to highlight is that everything we did was very deliberate. We knew what we had to do; which was to convince the URA that they had a significant problem on their hands, and that our solution was the best one they can get. Everything else fell into place once every group member understood that. The structure of the slides, what we had to say, and perhaps to a certain extent where we stood were all pre-planned as such in the hopes that URA would understand the problem at hand and accept our proposal.
Naturally our presentation also had some weaknesses, and one of them was probably the nerves of the presenters. I'm pretty sure that all of us were quite rattled at the thought of doing this presentation, though it manifested to different degrees in the different members. Nonetheless it should be said that some of our group members have made large strides forward in this aspect; I am absolutely convinced that if we had done this presentation a month ago it would have a completely different outcome.
Overall though this experience had been quite the interesting one. Normally as an engineering undergraduate we hardly pay much attention to the way we present. After all the strength of the project normally speaks for itself. I've come to understand though that for real life projects though the quality of your proposal is almost secondary. First you need to get someone to listen to you and your idea, and for that good presentation skills are essential.
Naturally our presentation also had some weaknesses, and one of them was probably the nerves of the presenters. I'm pretty sure that all of us were quite rattled at the thought of doing this presentation, though it manifested to different degrees in the different members. Nonetheless it should be said that some of our group members have made large strides forward in this aspect; I am absolutely convinced that if we had done this presentation a month ago it would have a completely different outcome.
Overall though this experience had been quite the interesting one. Normally as an engineering undergraduate we hardly pay much attention to the way we present. After all the strength of the project normally speaks for itself. I've come to understand though that for real life projects though the quality of your proposal is almost secondary. First you need to get someone to listen to you and your idea, and for that good presentation skills are essential.
Faizal’s group’s presentation was convincing and professionally delivered. The design and organization of slides were uncluttered and effective. My compliments to Edwin’s architect girlfriend for the fine diagrams she drew for the group. On the whole, it was a good sales pitch. I especially applaud Faizal for his sense of humour, which thoroughly engaged the audience.
ReplyDeleteThe charisma with which Faizal delivered his presentation was the epitome of confidence and no doubt the product of much practice. Practicing a day before the presentation in the same tutorial room his actual presentation was to be delivered in was an ingenious idea.
However, Faizal did seem a little too jovial and could have been just a tad more serious. It was supposed to be a simulated business setting he was presenting in after all.
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ReplyDeleteBy the way Faizal, the last sentence of your first paragraph has a typo in it. "It always very satisfying ..." is missing an "is".
ReplyDeleteHaha.. it has ended!
ReplyDeletethanks for everything! and great post! i like it!
Bravo, esta presentacion muy excelente, hermano Faizal! Entonces Issac commentario muy bien tambien! Tengo alegre para tu, Faizal!!!! Para Brad el se feliz mas....
ReplyDeleteUn Besa
Good work!
thanks for that Isaac. I'll make the according corrections.
ReplyDeleteHey Faizal!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your group's presentation. It was a tremendous improvement over the dry run we had with your group last monday. By the end of your group's presentation, [if i was really an URA representative] i was all ready give the green light for your proposal.
Personally for you, I felt that you had excellent coherence to the what Kenneth introduced. I also liked the way you peppered in your presentation with jokes that really enlivened the mood. You also did an excellent job in the Q&A when you answered questions in a very convincing and informative manner.
However, I've noticed that sometimes you spoke in the "teacher's" tone, seemingly waiting for students to reply in an unanimous manner.. For example, you would say "An alternative location to the void deck would be ..[pause].. the roof".. It was good to emphasize certain points, but it was slightly excessive in my opinion.
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ReplyDeleteOH MY GAWD I totally think you rocked! And so did Ediwn. And Kenneth. Your blogpost was so serious it almost didn't sound like you. HAHA you were great! And I really liked the presentation. Though I really think I shouldn't have gone first.
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ReplyDeletehey Jac I can be serious too you know... once in a while...
ReplyDeleteI personally didn't see anything wrong with you going first (still the serious faizal)
But yea I totally agree with you. I was great and I rocked. Just like the wall in China. (OK end of serious faizal)
Hey Ben I really didn't know I was giving the whole "teacher" vibe. I'll definitely try to be a little more conscious next time. Or maybe I'll just be a teacher. Whichever is faster.
Hi Faizal,
ReplyDeleteYou have a natural flair for making people listen to you during presentations. I cannot say the same for daily conversations because I seem to be the only one that is able to listen to what you say. Haha. I think you should work on that.
I like that you added humour into the presentation and I think I'm used to ur subtle or less than subtle jokes. In my head, I would go "that's so faizal"
I also liked the methodological manner that your group presented the proposal. It gave no way to 'shoot' down your ideas. There was one exception though. I am still not convinced that the lack of study areas would give rise to stress.
Reading your post, I'm a tad bit envious of you having such wonderful groupmates.
I thoroughly enjoyed your group’s presentation as it was very clear and convincing. From your presentation, I could see that you were well-prepared and confident. I really liked the fact that you explained the technical words that you used which provided us with an in-depth understanding of the problems discussed in your presentation. It was also clear that you had a good grasp of the content, especially when answering the questions raised by the audience.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it would be good if you were more aware of your body language. You kept touching your shirt button during the entire presentation, which really distracted me and at the same time it showed me that you were fearful. Moreover, you lacked eye contact with everyone as I felt that during the presentation, you only maintained eye contact with a specific group of people.
Overall, it was an outstanding presentation from you as I really enjoyed the confidence you exude during your presentation.
Cheers!
Hey Faizil! I think your presentation was great! :D You speak so well that most of the time I was listening to you, not distracted at all! And you presented so naturally that I am impressed by the way you presented. I also like the humor you added to your presentation! I think you performed really well, no stumbling at all! Thanks so much for showing me how to present well!
ReplyDeleteHello Faizal! I really liked the humour that you showed during the presentation haha! It really did lighten up the mood and your delivery of the slides were very clear and concise. And as Eunice has pointed out, I felt that eye contact could have been more distributed to other people but other than that, great job on the OP :D
ReplyDeleteP.S: I totally agree with your last sentence in your entry.
Hey Faizal! Your team did well on the presentation. The flow of the whole OP is nice, the direction is so clear that it was like knife through butter and the transition from on speaker to another is well managed too. The good use of photos of the actual venues helped to bring the whole idea close to reality and that became a major factor in convincing the audience.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you used humour in the presentation and the comfortable pace that you have adopted. You have showed confidence in engaging the audience when you used questions in your presentation.
I agree that the use of questions should be more regulated. Firstly, I feel that you may have used a little too much questions. Secondly, the pauses in the questions and answers may be too long or made too obvious.
I am happy to be an audience of your presentation and your humour is truly your signature dish.