Monday, November 1, 2010

EDITED: STOP - Skywalk and Tunnel Oral Presentation

Preparation

Before STOP, we spent the time planning on how to present our research data and proposal. Our initial plan was to use PowerPoint slides, but we switched to Prezi to better organise the points. The meetings were usually after lessons and on weekends at the Science Library Seminar Room and tutorial room at FoE. They were spent redesigning and improving our Prezi, delegating tasks (such as scouting for future actors and actresses, and filming them) and rehearsing our lines.

Delivery

I could have improved my delivery by elaborating more about the tunnel and skywalk structure. I should have practised my points more, because I would have the tendency to forget. In this case, it was the structure. Like Sylvester, I also felt that our approach is unique and fresh (the sound problem was not part of the presentation).

Use of slideware

The switch to Prezi was motivated by 2 main reasons, the ability to change views on one integrated canvass and to post YouTube videos. Trying out Prezi for the first time allowed me to explore uncharted waters. Now I know the advantages of using Prezi, but this comes at a price of it dominating the presentation. I now wonder how I would have performed if I stuck to the PowerPoint slides. I’m reminded of the Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken.

Other comments

I believe that our proposal was unique, and was not expected by any of my friends. Some of the initial suggestions about the proposal topic included having more study tables and power sockets on campus, and improving traffic congestion on campus by changing the bus routes. We decided to go one step further, hence the skywalk and underground tunnel. This taught me one valuable lesson; any future presentations or essays needs to have a creative idea to make it interesting. (Without neglecting delivery.)

To Xiaoshi, Sylvester and Guo Chen; I am very grateful to have all of you as teammates. Working with all of you showed me what we can do when we get creative and cooperate. The journey, although with its ups and downs, was enjoyable, and I wish that we can have a chance to work as a team again in other modules. As pointed out by Rascal Flatts, Life is a Highway!

$W?h0w$

16 comments:

  1. Hi Wyhow,

    I like your team's creative presentation!!

    Your delivery was great! However, I felt that when the videos were played, it would be better if you sit down somewhere. Maybe because you were quite shy to see yourself on the screen, so you were walking around and covering your face with your hands. It was rather distracting for the audience because we all could see you clearly on the stage and in the video!

    On the whole, I have enjoyed your OP tremendously! Great job!

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  2. Hi Wyhow!

    Thank you for your tremendous effort in designing our proposal template and maintaining our slides on Prezi! I could still remember that faithful Saturday when our group stayed from 12 to almost 7pm in that tutorial room just to organise, edit and test out the audiovisuals we had. Without you, we would not have known about Prezi and without you, I wouldn't even bother to learn video editting! Thank you for being such an important element in our project team, I really appreciate all that you had done for us.

    Work hard for your MA modules! Or rather, let's work hard for our core modules WE LOVE MATHEMATICS(not) :D

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  3. Hi Wy How,

    Thanks for the hard work you have put in for the project.. YOU ARE SIMPLY AWESOME to introduce Prezi which really open my eyes to a new mode of presentation. Not to mention your superb video editing skills. I am really forturnate to have you as a group mate and look forward to having more chances in future to work together with you. :D

    PS: You really looked professional in the interview video.. (Y). ALL the best in your finals!

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  4. Hey Wyhow,

    I don't mean anything bad here, but I felt you looked pretty much like a magician on that day! Haha!

    Anyway, I felt you stood profesionally, with one of your hands behind your back. You were also confident with your delivery. However, you tend to focus too much on the slides.

    All the best for your exams!

    Cheers,
    Alvin

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  5. Hi Wyhow,

    Firstly, I think your dress on the presentation day was not that match. The top was a shirt and the bottom was the jeans which I don't think do go that well in presentation. Also, during the presentation you should have gotten yourself a seat. That would be more appropriate than standing beside the slides. You look too frequently at the slides as well.

    I didn't mean to be critical here, but I think you could improve in your future presentation. Nevertheless, I think you did a good job in your part. The tone that you speak was professional and the intonation and pauses are good. The confidence level was definitely up there too. Well done.

    All the best!

    Billet

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  7. The road taken doesn't always lead us to where we expect to go, but as the old cliche states, it's not the destination but the journey that is important.

    As I mentioned in my more formal critique, the creative effort made by your group should be applauded, as should be the very useful nature of your proposal. What would serve a guy as energetic as you best though is not a focus on what your team did but on the take away points you might gather from this experience. I appreciate your reflection, but I don't see in it the sort of critical introspection that will really help you in your next gig. Of course, I appreciate gaining insights into your prep process, but where I see serious value is in the comments left by your readers. Take note of those, my friend, and in 20 years your name will be mentioned in leadership circles as "the guy who speaks with such confidence, conviction and flare."

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  8. Hi Xi Xi,

    Thanks for your comments. After the presentation, during my tutorial, I realised I should've done exactly that. I'll sit down the next time I play a video of myself:)

    $W?h0w$

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  9. Hi Xiaoshi,

    Thanks for the compliments! Thank you for doing a great job leading the team, we should take other group based modules together in the future.

    $W?h0w$

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  10. Hi Sylvester,

    You're welcome. Aside from the (not so smooth) presentation, it was also a chance for me to test out the software for a presentation. I look forward to working with you in the future too.

    $W?h0w$

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  11. Hi Alvin,

    Thanks for reading my post. Maybe I'm a budding magician, lol. I've attended a presentation workshop by Mr Patrick Gallo of CDTL, he was the one who recommended putting my hands at the back.

    About the slides, I also noticed that I was too focussed on the slides.

    $W?h0w$

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  12. Hi Billet,

    Thanks for your comments. I will definitely improve my future presentations. This was actually the first time I used Prezi with my handphone because my presenter didn't work with Prezi, which was probably the reason I looked at the slides too often.

    $W?h0w$

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  13. Hi,

    Your presentation was one that was doomed by technology. It is tough luck and I think that technical stuff including the sound should be checked before the presentation. I think it would also helped if things were kept simple.

    About your delivery, I felt that that you were sometimes a bit "jerky". You had unnecessary pauses which irritated me. No offense but that is really how I felt and I hope you do not take it too personally. But, great confidence showed nevertheless.

    I also found a problem when reading your post. They were not insightful and were just barely scraping the surface of what is suppose to be written.I felt that you were writing for the sake of writing.

    However, your presentation was really fresh and entertaining despite the hiccups.

    All the best and see you around.

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  14. Hi Xing Quan,

    One of the reasons I wrote as such is that my group mates would also be elaborating on the presentation. Wanting to avoid repetition, I wrote more about Prezi, and I've also edited my post according to the comments I've received.

    $W?h0w$

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  15. Hi Wyhow, I quite like the creative idea of the presentation, and it's really another creative style to add to my list to dynamic presentations. Although not appropriate to the target audience as I shared with class, I think it's something that should still be commended on for the interesting use of presentation. I feel you don't have any problem with confidence as compared to myself, but I feel you can come out a bit more forceful/stronger to make you sound more convincing, and definitely an excellent choice for a marketing job. Keep up good work and see you around!

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  16. Hi Elgin,

    It's definitely something I would consider doing for my future presentations too, taking into account the audience.

    See you around!

    $W?h0w$

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