iSpeak Chapter Presentations Reflection

 

iSpeak Chapter Presentations Reflection

 

Where to start, Public Speaking is so incredibly important, and it’s a shame that it is often overlooked as a skill/ability. As Professor Sinkoff said – public speaking is an art, and it should be widely regarded as one. I chose to take this course because I would love to further my public speaking skills and knowledge in order to use them effectively throughout my career. Although I’m a Computer Science major and I may not need public speaking as much as a business or law student, it’s a skill that is sure to come in handy no matter what you decide to do. Eventually, you will want to present an idea or simply communicate with someone, and you will want to do in an effective fashion. Having the experience and the confidence to speak publicly and give presentations is beneficial in almost any job or field you can think of, and I could not be happier of where I am currently. Moving forward, I hope to keep improving and polishing my public speaking abilities.

Moreover, it has been quite a fantastic experience to be able to take part and participate in this class. I love the setting, the environment, and the energy that seems to be present ALL the time, and I think this is due to everybody being willing to give a hundred percent of their effort. First and foremost, I would like to point out that Professor Sinkoff and our two class leaders have done an excellent job facilitating the class for all the students. They have been great in answering all pending questions, informing the students, giving news and updates, and aiding us in presenting and completing our assignments. Secondly, working in a group setting is always a great thing. You get to interact with others and build friendships along the way. I feel lucky to have gotten the group I was assigned as I believe they are all hardworking, fair, and responsible students. Everyone participated in did a great job in preparing our presentation. However, all the groups delivered excellent presentations on the iSpeak Public Speaking book chapters. Truly informative and captivating presentations, and they were all delivered in an appropriate and enthralling fashion.

Starting with Group 1’s (my group) presentation, I think we did a great job throughout the entire presentation, especially for being the first to present with no prior example. Being first to go is always tricky, especially in a classroom environment, simply because you don’t know what to expect. We presented chapters 1 through 3 which spoke about preparation, worst-case scenarios, public speaking tips on how to deliver a great presentation, and tips on minimizing nervousness leading up to a public speaking event such as a speech or presentation. Although we ran into a few issues, including the drilling noise upstairs that made it difficult to hear, it wasn’t really something within our power to solve. Despite the noise, I would say our only flaw was that we took too long in presenting to the point where we could not finish asking our questions at the end. For future reference, we now know not to use videos that are too long and take up much of the allotted time. Other than that, I would like to believe that we did a great job in organizing and delivering the information to our audience, and hopefully, they were all able to grasp the key factors of our presentation and the message we had.

Moving on to Group 2’s presentation, I was genuinely impressed that they were able to put together such an excellent presentation despite a few members of the team going MIA and not doing their part of the work. I know what that feels like, as I have been in multiple group settings where some members don’t pull their own weight and leave it to the rest to take care of the assignment. Group 2 presented chapters 4 through 6 and spoke about arranging and choosing topics/content for presentations. They did an excellent job in dividing and distributing the material amongst themselves despite having fewer people. They also did great in getting all their key points across to the audience.

Group 3’s presentation, like the previous ones, was nothing short of excellent. They presented chapters 7 through 9 and spoke about resources and technology in the presentation process and choosing visual resources and the words you use to convey your message effectively. An important part of the presentation process is to be clear with your audience so they can grasp and understand your key points. I think group 3 did a great job in getting that point across and they also put an emphasis on technology and visual resources. They spoke about how it’s possible to have “too much” when it comes to visual aids in your presentation and to refrain from overwhelming your audience with too many visual resources. Group 3 delivered a clear presentation, and it was straight to the point.

Last but not least, Group 4’s presentation was probably my personal favorite. They presented chapters 10 through 12, which spoke about informative and persuasive presentations and notable occasion speeches. First, I really liked how they were all dressed in formal attire, and I also liked the energy they brought to class. It truly seemed like they were very passionate about the message they were delivering to the audience. They covered the topics well, and their presentation was overall very informative. It was a lot of information, but they did a great job organizing themselves and not overloading the presentation with too many details. They did a great job of staying within the allotted time to allow for comments, questions, and conversations at the end, which was also an impressive aspect of their presentation. Very informative, clear, and concise, so kudos to them.

           In conclusion, I believe everyone did a fantastic job in delivering their messages to the audience and effectively presenting their topics. There is still room for improvement, but we still have a lot to go as a class. Hopefully, we can make the most of our time in this course and keep improving.