Eliana Maritza.Ospina Buitrago_Post # 1

 

Reflections On The Experience Of Our First Presentations

Presentations are a fundamental part in the development of our communication and public speaking skills. In this blog, we will analyze the presentations made by three groups, highlighting both the successes and the technical errors that were presented. The art of public speaking is one that must be developed and only be perfected through practice. However, peer review and analysis can help each other develop the talent of public speaking. Through this reflection, we will be able to extract valuable lessons that will help us improve our public speaking skills in the future.

Firstly, I strongly believe that the three groups made good presentations, especially for it being the very first one, each contributing to collective learning in the field of public speaking. Each group had a particular way of presenting and perhaps that was due to the preparation that the group itself took and the studied ways of presenting.  There were definitively some highlights to the presentations and plenty of room for improvement, in this blog I analyzed some strengths and weaknesses to these presentations.

For my group personally, we highlighted the importance of group communication to be synchronized with all the information we had to present. By being on the page, we were able to overcome some obstacles that we had with some group members not being native English speakers. Also, my group was exceptional at presenting in the way they spoke and made their points across clearly and without deviating. However, it was not all perfect, and perhaps the biggest flaw I saw in our own group, and myself, was that I was extremely nervous and omitted some information due to the nervousness. If this would not have been the very first presentation, I would have added some examples that I had written down for the presentation. However, after this group project, I feel our group is more prepared and confident in our ability in public speaking.

On the other hand, there were several flaws that I found throughout the presentations. One of the most common mistakes was including too much information on PowerPoint slides. It's important to remember that data overload can be overwhelming for your audience. It is recommended to use a clean and minimalist design that highlights the key points, avoiding cluttering the slides with unnecessary text. PowerPoints are extremely useful, but some failed to notice how loaded they were and lost the main in the plethora of bullet points and sometimes felt like the groups lost track of the presentation.

Also, during one of the presentations, I noticed that a particular topic was discussed at length, but the inclusion of clear examples was omitted. It is essential to understand that a good presentation is not limited to exposing a topic but seeks to involve and impact the audience. If the audience has limited or no knowledge on the subject, it is necessary to support the presentation with relevant examples, practical advice or even videos and resources available on platforms and websites. This allows the audience to better understand the content and stay interested and engaged. By having the audience engaged, the presenter can get their point across better but more importantly, the presenter is able to reach the audience in a way that impacts them. Impacting the audience should always be the end goal of any presentation, whether they agree or not with the presenter.

All three groups had one flaw that I noticed and that was the expression of the presentation. No matter which group it was, there seemed to be a lack of emotion in all the presenters. There was a lack of body language and movements that would normally involve the audience and engulf them in the presentation. Also, the voices of most of the presenters didn’t show excitement or passion but rather felt monotone and quite honestly, boring at times. With some more emotion being shown by the presenters, the presentations would have been much better, and this would also result in the presenters being more confident by seeing the audience even more engaged. This is where the proverb “practice makes perfect,” would apply perfect as it was just the first presentation in the class and many of us were quite overwhelmed with speaking in public.

Although there were some differences in the content and how it was explained, since all three groups used the same book, there was a noticeable overlap of the content used. However, by the groups covering different chapters of the book there was enough information for all groups to have something new and exciting to offer to the other groups.  Going forward, I am sure if the topic of the presentations vary greatly, the presentations will be much more engaging with the audience. 

All in all, our first few presentations offered us a valuable learning opportunity. Both the errors identified and the salient points in our peers' presentations provide us with a solid foundation for improving our communication skills in the future. We all experience nerves, but some managed to control them more effectively. This mutual feedback process is essential for our personal and professional growth. Through this experience, we have understood the importance of balancing the amount of information in our presentations and complementing it with examples, practical advice and additional resources. As we gain more experience in the field of public speaking, it is essential to learn from our mistakes and build on the positive aspects of our peers' presentations. By doing so, we will be able to develop stronger and more effective communication skills, ensuring more impactful and successful presentations in the future. The fact that the professor also let us express ourselves without having strict guidelines on how to present helped us develop our own style of presenting and identify strengths and weaknesses of that style of presenting.