With the first round of practice presentations completed, it is a relief to be so close to completing the class and have something like this presentation and the final paper to show for it. Less than a week and it will truly feel like my senior year of high school has finished.
Presenting on Friday was extremely beneficial for me. Mrs. Haag, Mr. Molk, and Mr. Holt all gave me specific advice to improving my slides at places I did feel unsure about. I thought my practice presentation went really well and what I did focus on throughout the week leading up to it were executed well: eye contact, timing, and information. I made eye contact with the teachers throughout, was done in about 15 minutes, and didn't forget any vital information.
My next practice presentation is Wednesday and with these modifications in place, I think my presentation will be really effective. Comparing it to my Seminar presentation from last year and the years of nervousness I have felt from public speaking in general, I feel great that I have come such a long way in terms of confidence. I think it helped that I was so passionate about this subject, and I truly feel like an expert in this area, which is something I've never felt before. For the first time for a presentation ever, I don't feel as scared or nervous that I'll mess up but rather really ready to do well and be done with a successful year.
Presenting on Friday was extremely beneficial for me. Mrs. Haag, Mr. Molk, and Mr. Holt all gave me specific advice to improving my slides at places I did feel unsure about. I thought my practice presentation went really well and what I did focus on throughout the week leading up to it were executed well: eye contact, timing, and information. I made eye contact with the teachers throughout, was done in about 15 minutes, and didn't forget any vital information.
There were a few things that I could work on for next time (and have changed in my slides). There was a slide or two that the teachers and I felt I spent too much time on and creating an additional slide not only will maintain the interest of the audience but also alleviate some of the pressure for me as I will have an additional cue to move on to the next topic. I found that some of my animations weren't perfectly aligned with my presentation, sometimes lagging or unnecessary (specifically in regards to the severity scale-- it was better just to take these animations out completely, as I end up explaining the scale in one sentence and quickly). The teachers also had a really interesting idea of adding in a check mark to symbolize I checked for statistically significance, shaving off explanation time but still ensuring that I took all validity precautions. In the script itself, the teachers advised me to emphasize more about what makes my research different from typical neurofeedback therapy research. NFT research so far focuses on and establishes the efficacy in treating ADHD for a more general population, while my study filled the gap with finding the comparative efficacy between adults and children. Also, I need to be more clear that I chose to analyze patient records for variables specific to NFT research on ADHD patients, as opposed to other mental disorders and treatment methods. Overall, the teachers gave me some great ideas that will help me be more concise and fine-tune the presentation to make it better both visually and content-wise.
I felt pretty great about my presentation and allocated appropriate time to each section. I do have this irrational fear that I will somehow forget everything before the final Friday, so I have been still practicing like crazy every day multiple times (my parents claim they could present my presentation now). I have also been rereading my final paper to ensure it is my best.
My next practice presentation is Wednesday and with these modifications in place, I think my presentation will be really effective. Comparing it to my Seminar presentation from last year and the years of nervousness I have felt from public speaking in general, I feel great that I have come such a long way in terms of confidence. I think it helped that I was so passionate about this subject, and I truly feel like an expert in this area, which is something I've never felt before. For the first time for a presentation ever, I don't feel as scared or nervous that I'll mess up but rather really ready to do well and be done with a successful year.
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Sunskruthi! I have to agree! The teachers' feedback was very valuable. They are completely new to your project so they can point to parts of your presentation that maybe Mrs. Haag found to be fine because she knew your project so well. I think if you implement the changes you talked about in your blog, your presentation will be a lot better and basically done. And I am so happy to hear that you are confident. I think that is because we know this project so well, and we know exactly what to talk about and what to give to our audience during the presentation. Also, the practice presentations in front of Mrs. Haag and the other teachers really helped with our confidence. Overall, I am certain you will do fantastic! Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteHey Sunskruthi!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you're feeling so confident about your presentation and it's really great that you know you're able to do it perfectly in the time allotted. It's also really nice to hear that you're still balancing the time between you presentation and you paper so that the paper doesn't fall to the waist side. Also, working on the paper will give you the little bit of a break you might need in between practicing. I'm glad that you fixed everything and you're practicing hard! We're so close!
KT
Sunskruthi -- I definitely agree about your assessment of your presentation. It went exceptionally well, and I am so proud of the work that you've done. I think your project has only gotten clearer and more important as we've gone through the year, which is exactly as it should be! I think that your latest practice, earlier today, was definitely improved, and if you make those final touches, you'll surely have an exemplary presentation. You've got this, girl!
ReplyDeleteSunskruthi!! We are so close to being done! Push through the last like 2 days and give a beautiful, hot, sexy, presentation, and blow everyone away!!! I'm glad you gave such a great presentation and that you got such great advice from people! Eye contact, hand gestures, and that type of stuff are always good to engage the audience and make the presentation more clear and easy to follow. Good luck on Friday! I really think you will be amazing! Don't get nervous, speak slowly, I have faith in you! You are almost done! And for the oral defense part, just make sure to talk slowly, and explain the justification and the why behind all the decisions you made (I had problems with that, so just saying :)). Good job Sunskruthi I'm proud of you!!!!
ReplyDelete