My Presentation Reflection/Day one (Sep. 8th)

Today was the first day of presentations, and everyone was practicing and mumbling their speech all morning up until class started. Everyone was so nervous and some were hoping they would be chosen today and others begged they would not have to present today. The first presenter had been saying he did not want to present on the first day, for the past few weeks so when he was chosen, I was a little worried for him. However, his presentation was very fluent, entertaining, and most importantly engaging. After hearing such an amazing presentation that absolutely exceeded my expectations, I suddenly became nervous. I had been practicing my presentations several times a week since the summer holiday had started, to the point where I did not even want to hear my voice give this speech nor look at my self in the mirror as I practiced at home. So, not even an excellent presentation changed my eagerness to present today. Luckily, I was chosen to present last, which was inconceivable because when I pray for certain things, the reality is always the opposite. I was sleep-deprived today because I was busy doing some other work last night, and so when I practiced my presentation this morning, I was stuttering and trembling on words, so my confidence level descended. This resulted in taking a lot more time than I usually do, so I prepared a few phrases or sentences I could omit if I was going overtime.

My presentation started, and weirdly enough, my energy level was excessively high. I was grateful to have ample energy and decided to utilize this to make my presentations enthusiastic. A goal I had had since I first presented for Mr.Paterson was to not deliver an ordinary presentation in this relatively homogenous group. I think each presentation (at least the one's today) were all great, but to a stranger, they probably seem no different, so making sure I did the best to my ability and stood out, is something I kept in mind. The computer was laggy at the beginning and a whole bunch of slides flew past, and due to my nervousness, I did not realize my slides were the other way around until I spoke halfway through my second slide. I stayed calm and quickly adjusted to this technical issue which I was later complimented about, by the teacher. Everything else flew past, and before I knew it, I was already saying my conclusion. Reflecting on my presentation now, the reason it flew by was probably because of my passion and urge to successfully finish my presentation (it is undeniable that I spoke a little too fast at times hehe). 

After the presentation, Mr.Paterson made a point on how this book was very close to "The Breakfast Club". When I was researching this book, I came upon a reader's review that said this book is very similar to The Breakfast Club, and the author had actually replied to this author saying that was one of her inspirations. When the teacher said this, I was so so glad and relieved I went the extra mile and made sure I gathered every information I could possibly find related to this book. My confidence would not be this high if I had only gathered rudimentary information and prepared a weak foundation. I was given a few comments on minor tweaks I should make and hearing the teacher say that those were the only thing I should change was incredibly relieving. As soon as I got home, even before writing this blog post, I changed what I was told. One of the pieces of advice I was given was about the text on the slides merging into the background. This was something I had thought about as well, but if I changed it a little, another place would get covered. Moreover, on the computer, the font was somewhat visible so I left it as is, but on the projector it was illegible. The other comments I was given were things I genuinely did not know of, so I was very glad I was informed because this is definitely something I will apply to future presentations. 

Overall, I am not entirely satisfied nor devastated with my presentation today, so I'd like to help those who will present from today forward!! So grateful for an environment where I am constantly inspired by my teachers and peers! 

notes:

Fuma- very inclusive presentation, detailed

Mako- low voice, 

Umeno-  showed the book, many slides

Myself- 

talked too fast, white slide on light pictures, use customized links

high-resolution pictures were great