I presented second in class on our last day of presentations Monday, 9/18. This provided me with the advantage of having seen other students perform, allowing me to observe what to include and what to avoid in my own speech. This made me more confident in the tools I needed to utilize in my presentation.
I was satisfied with my body language and movement, appearing comfortable in front of the audience. I moved around my space, using hand gestures and motioning to my props, all while facing the viewers. I believe my incorporation of the props went well and engaged the audience. I also avoided using filler phrases, such as, “Umm.” My fear was that I would become nervous and stutter or resort to fillers, but I was proud of how I avoided that. I felt comfortable in front of the audience of our class.
Something I could have improved upon was my reliance on my notecards. Looking down to read off of them cuts off my eye contact and engagement with the audience, and projects my voice downward, also making me appear unprepared. This was not extremely noticeable and did not fully divert my presentation, but more practice could have made this less of a concern in the moment.
The beginning of my presentation was surprising with my slideshow not cooperating. I was not able to use it, but I did not want to let this impact my confidence in my presentation because “the show must go on.” I adapted and projected a picture instead and let my props and speech do the rest of the work, which I was happy to see in the video. Something else I did not expect was to forget to discuss the influence of my artifact on public policy. I included it later in the speech, and after watching the recording I see that it was incorporated quite naturally, so I am happy with my recovery. Lastly, I did not expect to misplace my notecard props within my own bag at the beginning of my presentation. In the moment, fumbling for them felt like it took an eternity, but after watching the recording, I see my search was not so extreme or uncomfortable.
