The purpose of this feedback questionnaire is to gather information on your learning experience, as well as your responses to the course.
Please think of these questions as eliciting your subjective perceptions on various aspects of the course. The data you provide will be treated as confidential.
Please state your comments about the module.
In the blink of an eye, 13 weeks passed. It had always amazed me that we have learnt so many things just in one semester. However, this module is one that had taught me many different skills. We started off with writing simple blogpost before moving on to short presentations. It was then followed by peer teaching, writing of the application and cover letter, proposal writing as well as the ending the module with the grand finale; the oral presentation.
In these 13 weeks, I've tried many things that I've never done before throughout my 17 years of education. It was truly an eye opening experience for me. Granted that all of us, if not, most of us would have blogged or wrote a diary in some time of our lives ; I have never done proposal writing and presentations with SO LITTLE words on the screen before. Since I stepped into NUS, I had only done one presentation. Therefore, I thought that the peer teaching was a great warm-up for me to pick up my oral presentation skills again back from the JC days.
Coming up with a resume as well as the application letter was something new to me as well. Although the interview session was scary and stressful, it was fun as well. So far, I've never been to an interview session that asked me to talk about myself or describe one of my weaknesses. As I was one of the first few to go for the mock interview, it forced me to think on my feet when my "interviewers" asked me those questions which made the mock interview session more realistic.
Although I was quite resistant about the idea initially, it turned out to be one of my most positive experience of the module. To be grouped randomly with the rest of the class for the proposal as well as the oral presentation allowed me to interact and bond with the rest of my classmates. This helped to guide me out of my comfort zone and I believe I'll be more positive when I have to work with people I am not familiar with in future. I am sure in any job, it would be impossible for me to choose my project mates all the time.
Lastly, I truly enjoyed presentation at the end of the term. I have learnt a lot from my team mates and took away a lot of learning points from the presentation itself. I believe that the final presentation had helped me in developing my presentation skills. Now, I look at presentations in a more positive light and would be less hesistant if I need to do presentations in the future.
All in all, this module had definitely taught me a lot of essential skills that I would be useful throughout my life. Communication skills are vital in every aspect of life, active listening helps to prevent misunderstandings , good written skills and oral presentation skills are a necessity in all careers. I would definitely recommend this module to all NUS science students so that they can hone their communication skills as well.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Tips to reduce nervousness on presentation
Although oral presentation for this module had ended, we still have many opportunites to present in many different occasions, in our future careers etc. However, many of us including me mentioned in our blog enteriest that one of the factors that hinder us from effective presentation or rather presenting to the best of each of our potential would be NERVOUSNESS. Therefore, I would like to share with everyone some of the interesting tips that I found online which helped me to reduce the number of butterflies I had in my stomache just before my presentation the other day. (((:
#1: Visualize the outcome you want.
Usually, people are afraid of public speaking because they see themselves failing the presentation even before it actually happens. They would picture themselves flipping through their notes, turning red and becoming mute when they stand before audiences. It is said that psychologists described this as negative anticipation!
Whenever I find myself sinking into the trap of negative anticipation, I would walk around and talk to my group members. The encouragments that they gave helped me to calm down as well. ((:
"Begin with the end in mind" This was quoted from Steven Covey in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. If you anticipate success, then the probability of achieving it would be higher. It was said that through visualization, you are gearing your mind and body towards the outcome that you want. Hence, I would close my eyes so as to minimise distractions and paint a positive outcome in my mind. This was pretty effective the other day when I tried it before my presentation. It really helped me to be less nervous and more confident of myself.
#2: Take deep breaths
Anxiety would cause the muscle in the chest and throat area to tighten and restrict the airwaw. Not only does it limits the amount of oxygen we obtain, it would affect our voice projection as well causing our voice to come out as a squeak.
I would usually take three deep breaths and hold mybreadth to 3/4 seconds. The deep breaths would send more oxygen to the lungs and brains helping to expand the throat and chest. This aids in relaxation. I really believe in this! ((:
Last tip: SMILE!
At least I feel that this works for me! Haha! Smiling was said to have phsiological effect on us. It should help us to calm our nerves and make us feel better. I'm sure when you smile it'll help to make you look more pleasant and comfortable to your audiences as well, no?
One of my friends actually told me that generally audiences would mirror the expression of the presenters. So, I guess by smiling to your audiences, they would be more likely to smile back as well and it'll be the presentation atmosphere less tense! (((:
That's about all from me on the tips to reduce nervousness! I hope it would be occur and be useful to you guys when you have presentations in the future! (((:
Cheers! All the best for your papers people! ><
#1: Visualize the outcome you want.
Usually, people are afraid of public speaking because they see themselves failing the presentation even before it actually happens. They would picture themselves flipping through their notes, turning red and becoming mute when they stand before audiences. It is said that psychologists described this as negative anticipation!
Whenever I find myself sinking into the trap of negative anticipation, I would walk around and talk to my group members. The encouragments that they gave helped me to calm down as well. ((:
"Begin with the end in mind" This was quoted from Steven Covey in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. If you anticipate success, then the probability of achieving it would be higher. It was said that through visualization, you are gearing your mind and body towards the outcome that you want. Hence, I would close my eyes so as to minimise distractions and paint a positive outcome in my mind. This was pretty effective the other day when I tried it before my presentation. It really helped me to be less nervous and more confident of myself.
#2: Take deep breaths
Anxiety would cause the muscle in the chest and throat area to tighten and restrict the airwaw. Not only does it limits the amount of oxygen we obtain, it would affect our voice projection as well causing our voice to come out as a squeak.
I would usually take three deep breaths and hold mybreadth to 3/4 seconds. The deep breaths would send more oxygen to the lungs and brains helping to expand the throat and chest. This aids in relaxation. I really believe in this! ((:
Last tip: SMILE!
At least I feel that this works for me! Haha! Smiling was said to have phsiological effect on us. It should help us to calm our nerves and make us feel better. I'm sure when you smile it'll help to make you look more pleasant and comfortable to your audiences as well, no?
One of my friends actually told me that generally audiences would mirror the expression of the presenters. So, I guess by smiling to your audiences, they would be more likely to smile back as well and it'll be the presentation atmosphere less tense! (((:
That's about all from me on the tips to reduce nervousness! I hope it would be occur and be useful to you guys when you have presentations in the future! (((:
Cheers! All the best for your papers people! ><
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Reflections reflections and more reflections
Yay! It's over! The presentation is finally over! ((((:
Before I start reflecting on my presentation, I'll like to take this opportunity to thank all my group members for their efforts and the hard work they have put in for both the proposal and presentation. ((: It was a great experience to work with all of you; Deenise is the conscientious one who always searches for interesting things we can add to our project. Tiffany is the IT savvy who came up with our awesome slides and Kellyn is the brave soul who has to memorise chunks and chunks of information just for the introduction of our presentation. Thank you girls for making my project in ES2007S a superbly fun one! (:
Often we hear the words, “He/ she is a good speaker. He /she did a good job. I truly enjoyed it.” When we fill out the evaluation form, we sometimes give the top score, but how many times can we really rate the presenter as “excellent” or truly “exceeded my expectations?” How do we make a good presentation a great one?
With that, I shall share with everyone some of the points that I had done in an attempt to make our presentation a better one.
How I prepared for my presentation
Instead of writing chunks of words and tons of paragraphs for my presentation, I wrote them out in point forms. I remembered the sequence of my slides and this helped a lot during the presentation because I wasn’t regurgitating rather I was just connecting the points that I have and it was much easier. Therefore I felt that I was more comfortable with this presentation as compared to my peer teaching session. Slotting the research findings together with the recommendations also helped me to connect my ideas together and make it easier for me to put my points across.
Presentation Aspect
I read from somewhere that there are several factors that determine the effectiveness of the presentation. Therefore, I tried to incorporate some of those factors to make my presentation more effective and omit those that would hinder me from delivering a clear and concise message. I’ll share some of the factors here with everyone.
What makes presentation ineffective?
Overcrowding of audio-visual aids
Third on the list of hindering effective presentation is the poor usage of audio and visual aids. After reviewing through several websites and looking at the video clips of several successful presenters, our group decided to revamp our slides and kept the information on the slides to the minimal. Although it was very challenging for us as presenters and for our classmates as audiences, I found that there are several benefits of omitting bullet points. During the presentation, I felt that some of the information that I initially included in my speech were too long and lengthy for my audiences so I omitted them. Without listing the points on my slides allowed me to change my speech according to the non verbal feedbacks I get from my audiences. Also, it was much easier to look at the audiences when I didn’t use the speech cards. Previously during the peer teaching session, I used speech cards for as a form of security. However, with the cards around I felt that I was compelled to look at them in case I missed anything out.
No effort to relate material to audience interests, background
This was rank second in the list of making presentation ineffective. Since I was supposed to be speaking to the NUSEU as well as academic staffs from the NUS Law Faculty, I tried to connect with them by doing a background research of NUS Law School. I also tried to make them understand what they could do to help improve the current communication curriculum of the NUS Law School instead of just telling iterating our recommendations.
One thing that I should improve on would probably be to maintain more eye contact with my audiences rather. But it was really more comfortable to look at Brad when he was hiding behind his Mac Book. O_O!
Monotone delivery, dry style, no emotion
Top on the list of ineffective presentation was monotone delivery, dry style and no emotion. Therefore, I tried to vary my tone when I speak so as to avoid being monotonous. I put myself in the shoes of someone trying to “sell” the recommendations to NUSEU and members of the law faculty so as to make myself sound as convincing as possible. I think Deenise was really very successful in this aspect. She was able to connect with the audiences and led them into believing the data that we had collected.
How to be a great presenter then?
Confident, stylish dress and manner
I believe confidence is really very important in a presentation. Just like in any scenario, if you don’t believe in yourself who will? Before I went for the presentation, I painted a positive mental image of the presentation and this was really effective as a confidence booster. It made me less nervous and more comfortable to speak in front of my audiences.
Energy level
Great presenters are those who exude energy and enthusiasm. In many great speakers, they often give off quiet but magnetic quality that comes from true enthusiasm. To be passionate about the topic and doing thorough research for the presentation would definitely help! (: I think Geraldine had done a fantastic job in terms of the energy that she exuded during the presentation. Probably because her voice sounded loud and confident, it was very attractive and made me want to listen to her. Thumbs up! (:
I would definitely put all the skills that I’ve learnt through this presentation and the rest of the course into practice in any future occasions. This presentation had really been an eye opener for me.
Before I start reflecting on my presentation, I'll like to take this opportunity to thank all my group members for their efforts and the hard work they have put in for both the proposal and presentation. ((: It was a great experience to work with all of you; Deenise is the conscientious one who always searches for interesting things we can add to our project. Tiffany is the IT savvy who came up with our awesome slides and Kellyn is the brave soul who has to memorise chunks and chunks of information just for the introduction of our presentation. Thank you girls for making my project in ES2007S a superbly fun one! (:
Often we hear the words, “He/ she is a good speaker. He /she did a good job. I truly enjoyed it.” When we fill out the evaluation form, we sometimes give the top score, but how many times can we really rate the presenter as “excellent” or truly “exceeded my expectations?” How do we make a good presentation a great one?
With that, I shall share with everyone some of the points that I had done in an attempt to make our presentation a better one.
How I prepared for my presentation
Instead of writing chunks of words and tons of paragraphs for my presentation, I wrote them out in point forms. I remembered the sequence of my slides and this helped a lot during the presentation because I wasn’t regurgitating rather I was just connecting the points that I have and it was much easier. Therefore I felt that I was more comfortable with this presentation as compared to my peer teaching session. Slotting the research findings together with the recommendations also helped me to connect my ideas together and make it easier for me to put my points across.
Presentation Aspect
I read from somewhere that there are several factors that determine the effectiveness of the presentation. Therefore, I tried to incorporate some of those factors to make my presentation more effective and omit those that would hinder me from delivering a clear and concise message. I’ll share some of the factors here with everyone.
What makes presentation ineffective?
Overcrowding of audio-visual aids
Third on the list of hindering effective presentation is the poor usage of audio and visual aids. After reviewing through several websites and looking at the video clips of several successful presenters, our group decided to revamp our slides and kept the information on the slides to the minimal. Although it was very challenging for us as presenters and for our classmates as audiences, I found that there are several benefits of omitting bullet points. During the presentation, I felt that some of the information that I initially included in my speech were too long and lengthy for my audiences so I omitted them. Without listing the points on my slides allowed me to change my speech according to the non verbal feedbacks I get from my audiences. Also, it was much easier to look at the audiences when I didn’t use the speech cards. Previously during the peer teaching session, I used speech cards for as a form of security. However, with the cards around I felt that I was compelled to look at them in case I missed anything out.
No effort to relate material to audience interests, background
This was rank second in the list of making presentation ineffective. Since I was supposed to be speaking to the NUSEU as well as academic staffs from the NUS Law Faculty, I tried to connect with them by doing a background research of NUS Law School. I also tried to make them understand what they could do to help improve the current communication curriculum of the NUS Law School instead of just telling iterating our recommendations.
One thing that I should improve on would probably be to maintain more eye contact with my audiences rather. But it was really more comfortable to look at Brad when he was hiding behind his Mac Book. O_O!
Monotone delivery, dry style, no emotion
Top on the list of ineffective presentation was monotone delivery, dry style and no emotion. Therefore, I tried to vary my tone when I speak so as to avoid being monotonous. I put myself in the shoes of someone trying to “sell” the recommendations to NUSEU and members of the law faculty so as to make myself sound as convincing as possible. I think Deenise was really very successful in this aspect. She was able to connect with the audiences and led them into believing the data that we had collected.
How to be a great presenter then?
Confident, stylish dress and manner
I believe confidence is really very important in a presentation. Just like in any scenario, if you don’t believe in yourself who will? Before I went for the presentation, I painted a positive mental image of the presentation and this was really effective as a confidence booster. It made me less nervous and more comfortable to speak in front of my audiences.
Energy level
Great presenters are those who exude energy and enthusiasm. In many great speakers, they often give off quiet but magnetic quality that comes from true enthusiasm. To be passionate about the topic and doing thorough research for the presentation would definitely help! (: I think Geraldine had done a fantastic job in terms of the energy that she exuded during the presentation. Probably because her voice sounded loud and confident, it was very attractive and made me want to listen to her. Thumbs up! (:
I would definitely put all the skills that I’ve learnt through this presentation and the rest of the course into practice in any future occasions. This presentation had really been an eye opener for me.
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