Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Oral Presentation Reflection

I am proud of the whole team as the oral presentation was done at a higher standard than I initially expected. The efforts that all individuals of the team were excellent as we all have outdone ourselves and improved as compared to the beginning of the team’s formation.

The Slides:

As the coordinator of the team, I was in charge of the compiling of the slides. I was greatly inspired by Brad’s ‘clean & simple’ style and I tried the ‘simple is better’ and ‘picture story’ methods together for the first time in my life. Pictures and words leverage on the pictorial and audio method of input into the human brain while stories leave an impression in episodic memory of the audience. Therefore, I am delighted to witness the effectiveness of the ‘new’ slide design and I will continue to use and refine it.

The Play Making:

The effectiveness of a team depends on the synergy rather than summation of individual strength of the members. We are able cover the weakness of one another during the presentation and the Q&A section. It is almost impossible to know every detail of the project but it is vital to know who has the details at the ‘back of his/her hand’. I am very happy to see the way we developed each other’s persuasion during the Q&A in a ‘fluid’ manner where the ‘transition’ is smooth.

I also anticipated the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of our presentation, which is the weak relevance with URA. Therefore, we laid ‘ground works’ like defining the roles and details of various civil service departments for each team and gave out hand outs to explain their roles. We also gave URA a more advisory role rather than the operational role in the proposed project in order to keep URA’s linkage to the presentation. This argument was weak but we managed with the ‘smoke screen’ effect of our ground works.

My Delivery of Presentation:

I am very much a Mandarin speaking person and most of my stage experience is with the Chinese language. For years, I have been borrowing my Chinese experience into the English field. In recent 2 years, I am able to speak and think with both language separated and independently. However, I know my command of my English vocals still has much to improve. Thus, I only use simple words and avoid complex words that I will most likely stumble. I think I should sing more English songs rather than Chinese ones on my Karaoke sessions =)


Presentation Videos:

  • Part 1 of 3 : http://youtu.be/zRVjmeGg1Oo
  • Part 2 of 3 : http://youtu.be/VWXKcYHw8YY
  • Part 3 of 3 : http://youtu.be/RFV8XFhqsQI




15 comments:

  1. Hey Yu Tian!!

    It took you just 5 seconds into your team's presentation to catch my attention! All thanks to your very creative use of a question at the start of the presentation.

    You also had an extremely high level of energy during your presentation that clearly exudes enthusiasm and confidence. You've also managed to show clear correlation to portions presented by the other members of your team and you had a good summary that shows the chain of thought at the end of the presentation. All these had made your presentation very cohesive and persuasive.

    In fact, I thought that your enthusiasm was so overwhelming that you were almost to the point of being "jumpy" with lots of movement that can be distracting at times. You also spoke a lightning speed that can be a little hard to keep up with at certain times.

    You've also handled the Q&A session exceptionally well with tremendous understanding of the contents as evident by you answering most of the questions posed. However, this also demonstrates a slight shortfall in courtesy when you did not give a chance to other members of your group to answer questions. Thankfully you've recognized this point towards the end of the Q&A session and managed to allow certain members of your group to respond to questions.

    I felt that there's just so much that I can learn from your team's presentation!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yu tian~ I could tell you put in ALOT for this presentation. And you definitely did a superb and amazing job! I really liked the style you presented! Though I must admit that you jumping around without a very fixed stance was a little distracting as I didn't know how to juggle between you and the slides haha!

    I loved the way you used questions and emphasised certain words to bring to our attention. It was a really confident and professional setup and I thought it worked very well for your audience=). One minor point though, I thought you used 'right now' a little too much and you were going quite fast sometimes so it would definitely be better if you slowed down slightly.

    BUT! You were still an excellent speaker and I would love to hear more from you! =))

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Yu Tian,

    I love your presentation style. Even if you had a Chinese accent, I still love your energy, your excitement and speed. Don't slow down Yu Tian, maintain your speed! Haha!

    But its up to you actually, your friends ask you to slow down, but personally, I don't find it a problem. I saw your video, you were fantastic, you have lots of power. I think thats your advantage coming from a Chinese background----when you don't have as good an English proficiency, you tend to make up for it in POWER and ENERGY and PERSUASION in terms of your attitude, demeanour et cetera. On the contrary, I may have better English speaking proficiency, but I don't nearly have half as much energy as you did.

    Cheers to Yu Tian!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Yu Tian,

    I personally felt that your presentation was really enjoyable! I felt that you definitely showed the most important thing when you presented - you managed to show your passion for the topic. (Whether that was faked or not, I'm don't know of course.) You were really energized, confident and clear in your presentation. And I was impressed with the way you used imagery to enhance your presentation, especially at the start. It really made an impact!

    I guess if I really had to point out a weakness, it would be that you were abit too rushed towards the end of the presentation. It made your presentation slightly inaudible because of that.

    Overall, I still enjoyed your group's presentation tremendously! Kudos to a job well done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey man!

    Superb job! Persuasive, energetic, using appropriate analogies in the introduction to allow audiences to identify with your cause, sincere, all these made your presentation an exceptional one. You have pinpointed the problem with accuracy, and explained it in a way that the audience are utterly convinced that it has to be solved. Your solution is a creative one, and it highlights the effort that you group has put into the project. Amazing presentation.

    I'm sold!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Yu Tian,

    I liked the energy that you brought to the presentation. However, the way you presented made me feel like I was in an army camp. I don't know how to explain but perhaps you could be gentler but still assertive.

    Knowing your weakness and how to work around it is good. For future presentations, you can work on your diction. For instance, you pronounce your 'd's like your 't's, and your 't's sounded too forced. Watching more channelnewsasia will help.

    Nevertheless, I still think you did a great job. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to agree with Michelle on Yu Tian's diction, he does have a bit of a Latino accent. Maybe he should learn Spanish. The delivery, however, was very charismatic and almost as fiery as one of Hitler's speeches. Prestazione bravissimo!

    In addition to Channel News Asia, I would also recommend the British Broadcasting Corporation to Yu Tian.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Yu Tian! I am here to comment on your blog! :)

    Since the peer teaching lesson and the OP, you are always full of energy. This is very good! Because it shows that you are always confident and ready. But I have to agree with Michelle that you got the army style of presenting. Maybe you can try a gentler approach?

    ReplyDelete
  9. hi yutian,

    I like your presentation,it was loud and clear.
    You have maintained a good eye contact with the audience. You are so confident and have maintained a good posture and gesture throughout the presentation.

    Lastly, good luck for your final exam :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Yu Tian,

    One thing that stands out in your presentations is that you are so charismatic. It's hard not to listen to you, you had the undivided attention of the whole room. You started and ended your group presentation on a high.
    Also I think you lead your team incredible well, everyone worked really well with each other and I have to say it was one of the best presentations I've seen.
    You sometimes talked a bit too fast so slow down a little but otherwise you were brilliant and your slides were simplistic and not distracting but at the same time very informative.
    You seem to have a natural talent for getting people's attention and I think your going to be an excellent teacher :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey Yu Tian,

    It was an outstanding presentation from you. You were very persuasive and you managed to effectively engage all your audience. You had good eye contact and made an effort to relate the pictures on the slide with your presentation topic. You had a good posture which exudes much confidence. In particular, I really like what you wore for the presentation that made you look professional. However, you could have spoken a little slower and reduce the amount the content on each slide as I felt that your group to some extent was “data damping”. Overall, I must say that you have succeeded as a coordinator of the group as your entire team did a wonderful job in delivering the topic to the audience.

    Great effort!

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi everyone. Thank you for your encouragement and feedback. I appreciate them very much.

    @ Ben: Yup! Agree that I am too ‘jumpy’ after watching the recording. Especially in the intro portion, I was almost walking from side to side in small steps. Thx for pointing that out =) I also agree that I was a bit too carried away answering the questions. You are really sharp to notice that I began to give my teammates more airtime at the later portion of the Q&A.

    @ Jac: Sigh… yup, I was a bit too fast near the conclusion portion. I looked at my watch and I was worried of running over time. I also knew that I have the tendency to speak fast.

    @ Mark: Hey! Thank for the encouragement. It’s nice to hear that from an apt English user such as you.

    @Mabel: Hi. You are not alone in pointing out my ‘too fast, too furious’ at the portion near conclusion. I watched the recording and I concur =)

    @ Edwin: Yo Buddy! Haha, guess who helped to inspire the energetic style? You! There’s never a dull moment since the day we started to band together in year 1. Ask Jon too =)

    @ Michelle: Thx for pointing out my dictions. I have problem fixing my English pronunciation since I was little. On the other hand, can you enlighten me about my army camp style? I watched my own recording and I still cannot pin point it.

    @ Isaac: Yo! Haha, I am honoured to be described as being similar to Hitler’s style to speech. I have personally watched some video of his speeches and I am a big fan of such style despite being unable to understand German. LoL, the use of passion is to make up for the short fall of my English and my initial stage fright years ago and I am glad that it turns out fine.

    @ Adeline: Haha! Army style again? Got to help me to point out where went wrong =) The funny thing is I thought I am already toning down. You are right when you suggest that I can learn from Edwin’s style of being passionate while still gentle. Talk again sometime ok?

    @ Micheal: Thx for the encouragement =) All the best to your finals too.

    @ Uttara: Thx for the encouragement. I really hope I can be a great teacher in the future. I guess the speed issue is very obvious, so I will work on it for the next presentation to come.

    @ Eunice: Thx for the complement. It is so heartening to hear praises from a competent presenter as you. I agree that my speed is a little too fast.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello Yu Tian,I really enjoyed listening to your presentation as it was filled with passion :) You exuded great confidence and the delivery of your slides was smooth and while I didn't think your Chinese accented English was a problem (honestly speaking,I don't think you have an accent), I did feel that your presentation was very 'army-like' as the others have pointed out. It would be great to tone this down a little because it can be intimidating to the audience but other than this minor issue,I think you did a great job overall :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi YT =)

    Overall, I thought that your oral presentation was very good. I think that you are a very good speaker and this is not only based on my perception of you during ES2007S’s oral presentation, but also on other presentations which you have given. More specifically, what I thought was excellent about your ES2007S presentation was that you were clearly energetic and enthusiastic when you spoke. These are excellent traits to poses and in my opinion, are the most important prerequisites of good public speaking. Considering that I’ve mild ADHD, you displaying such traits helped me to pay attention to your presentation. Maybe you may have students with ADHD too, so it think it’s important for teachers to display enthusiasm so that we find it easier to pay attention to them haha :P.

    I think that you are a charismatic speaker who has a good grasp of the principles of giving effective presentations. However, and I’m sure that you know this; I believe that the main weakness of your presentation was that you made some grammatical errors in your speech. This would harm the quality of your public speaking as grammatical correctness (part of the 7Cs) plays a role in effectively conveying one’s message to his audience. I have felt frustrated at times, when I’ve listened to certain lecturers who, by virtue of incorrect language use, have impeded my comprehension of their words. In order to improve one’s English, I would suggest that you immerse yourself more in the English language. For example, reading English books, watching English movies and shows, and even playing more English role playing video games can help to improve one’s English. I choose this particular genre of games because I find that they (the good ones at least) involve rigorous use of English that is of a high quality. To improve spoken language skills, you could try hanging out more with English speaking people. Like me for example haha :P.

    ReplyDelete
  15. @ Paula: Thx for the complement =) I am glad that we were able to work together. It seems that the unknown ‘army like’ factor is bugging my presentation. Hm… I still have not figure it out yet.

    @ Jon: That’s very encouraging! I am glad that you are so frank about your condition. Yup! Hope my style helps my students to understand the topics better in future. I agree my grammar worsen as I move from the written form to the spoken form. Guess I will have to immerse myself in the English language more often. Haha, I will definitely have lots of chance to practice speaking good English with you since we are going to the same specialization.

    ReplyDelete