So, I gave my presentation this morning... ugh. I despise public speaking (as I'm positive everyone in class could tell). My face gets red, I fidget, I wring my hands, my voice goes soft and I let my sentences trail off.... My poise is definitely my weak point when it comes to presentations. I always end up losing points for saying "um" too much as well, although I think I did fairly well in that respect today. Content-wise, I think my presentation was solid. The only critiques I received were about my technical terms, not about my essay itself, which I think is a good sign! Prof Thompson even commented on how well I had synthesized my evidence. That made me feel really good because I haven't actually received very much feedback yet so it was nice to know I'm on the right track. It feels good to have the presentation over with! I'll admit I was kind of dreading it. Not because I wasn't prepared, but just because I hate standing and speaking in front of groups.
I was surprised at how different everyone's essays are going to be! There are so many directions that people are going in to explore identity and blogging, it's really interesting. I was also surprised at how many people didn't seem to have some sort of thesis pinned down as of yet. I would never be able to write any sort of draft without even a weak thesis. Overall, I really enjoyed seeing everyone else's presentations so I could see what sort of blogs were being explored and where in the essay-writing process the rest of the class is at so far. I'm feeling much more confident about what I have written and I'm ready to begin revising!
I thought your presentation went really well honestly, you were a little wordy with information but you touched on everything you could have touched on. I felt like so much information was there just that the amount of info was overwhelming. Narrow it down and at interest, it's going to be perfect!
ReplyDeleteYou sell yourself short. Despite your nerves, you seemed so calm and collected. :) You did a fabulous job sharing your findings and are clearly right on track to put together an interesting and complex argument. I can't wait to read the final version.
ReplyDeleteWhat changes would you make to your power point if you were to revise? In other words, how would you rethink the digital writing portion of the presentation?
It is true that people are in such different places at this point. It might surprise you to hear how some of the presentations that are still skeletal will come together at the last minute--some people just can't work without the pressure of a fire under their behind. Of course, some people will struggle all the way through the process...