Hi Yong Sheng,

I have to disagree with your contention that you are not born to be a good speaker. Nobody is born to be a good speaker and only by training and experience that one can be a good speaker. I admire you and your group mates’ audacity to deliver your presentation without any aids. I think that your group did indeed perform well in terms of presentation. Each one of you did present yourself as knowledgeable about your content and clearly lay out each part in logical manner. Each one of you also showed great verbal and non-verbal communication with the audience.

However, I also share your belief that there are many different styles of presentations that are appropriate for a particular occasion. My contention is that presenting a difficult concept such as a project proposal in a formal setting to an authority requires the use of some sort of visual aid to help them understand. For example, even if I am a great presenter (which I still think I am not although I strive to be one), I will not dare to try to present my FYP presentation without the use of any visual aid such as PowerPoint. However, this is just my personal preference and others may prefer your style since it really focuses on you as the presenter and also shows the authority that you are knowledgeable about your proposal.

Regards,

Eric
 

Hi bro,

You did well! I could see big improvements in your presentation skill since our peer teaching, not least of all the sheer confidence needed to present without visual aids. The refreshing way your group's presentation was structured definitely helped to make it memorable. You didn't come off as nervous, because your presence dominated the room, your voice projected very clearly and there weren't any filler words ("uhh, as in, basically, like...") at all in your speech.

I was reminded of a helpful point when you mentioned the encouraging acknowledgement from members of the audience. People tend to bounce their emotions off each other. As presenters, our own feelings always 'take dressing' from the general vibe of the environment. At the same time, the audience is taking is emotional cues from you. Depending on what effect you are trying to create, taking the first step to be relaxed/enthusiastic/confident/emotional yourself and exuding that emotion often creates the intended effect in the audience, who will then mirror it back to you. This is quite an advanced concept that I'm also having difficulty with, but worth trying next time.

All the best in future presentations!  

Thanks for the comment Eric!

Yes I agree with what you said too. Perhaps when we are doing a sales pitch like what Laura had mentioned in class, we do not need any visual aids because what we are selling just the strengths of the product? However, if we are presenting some forms of data in which it is important for the audiences to remember, a good graph may be a good visual aid.

Nevertheless, Thanks for your encouragement!:) And all the best for the OP for your FYP!:)  

Thanks Han!

Yes, I totally agree with what you said. This advanced concept requires more practices i guess. However, you certainly did well during your OP. I think you are already at this advanced stage that you are protraying! -Thumbs up!(:

Nevertheless, thanks for your encouragement! See you around~

Cheers,
Yong Sheng  

Hello Yongsheng!

Congrats you survived OP too! (: I personally think your performance was good! Compared to the mock OP, I actually thought you made your explanation on the account system much clearer this time round. Your pace was fine, you were very sincere and engaging, and if you were really nervous, you must have been hiding it pretty well! I only sensed it sometime halfway through your presentation, when you faltered for a split second, but you managed to quickly regain your momentum and I thought that was worth mentioning! Good job!

And I totally agree with your last point, something which I felt your group has proven it with concrete actions. Not every presentation requires visual cues, not every presentation works well with Powerpoint or Prezi or Haiku etc. I was really in a dilemma when Brad asked us to choose between yours and Yeawen's team, because I was really convinced by your team's presentation, even though their idea was more practical. I think your group maintained a pretty consistent stance throughout, and this is visible even through the camera lens!

On a side note, since the first lesson, I've always found you to be a decent speaker, because your pace and pronunciation and articulation have never had too much variations. I encountered that once again during the elevator pitch! You really sound very sincere so it's easy on the ears! Practice what we've learnt from this module on future presentations, I'm sure you'll wow your audience even more! (: And thanks for your encouraging smile during my turn too!

We're all speakers in the making! Keep it up!!  

Thanks Hui Yun,

My group had a discussion on how I should present the part on the account system after receiving feedback from you and your group that it wasn't very clear. Thanks for identifying that too! I am glad that you think I did well given that I was really nervous from the day before till the presentation. You really think I am a decent speaker during the first lesson? I used to think that I am a person who had the ideas and thoughts yet unable to articulate properly. Nevertheless, thanks for your encouragement!

Hope to see you in any future modules which require presentations and we shall be the effective speakers by then!:)

Cheers,
Yong Sheng  

(From Chandra. I posted for him as he encountered difficulty when attempting to post.)

Hi Yong Sheng,

I think you did well in your presentation. I liked your style of presenting where at times you used hand gestures when you were listing out points and when you wanted to emphasize a point. One thing that I have noticed in you is that sometimes you tend to speak really fast. Its ironical that this statement comes from me. But it happens to you at times. I am not sure if it is because of nervousness. But try to change it consciously. I can understand what you are saying but it takes a bit of processing time. In a scenario when you do not use slides and just go on speaking, this could be a negative point. However, this time I think you spoke well, convincingly and had a very formal outlook. Just as I mentioned for Ronald, some of your team members didn't have the best body language when your other team-mates were presenting. However, your body language when others were presenting was pretty good. On the whole, a good job Yong Sheng. All the best!
 

Thanks Chandra,

I am glad that you liked my group's presentation! Yes, I was really nervous during the presentation that day. Usually, I would only be nervous at the start of the presentation. However, I was caught in the nervousness till the end of the presentation this time round. Thanks for your feedback!:)

Cheers,
Yong Sheng  

(From Sai. I posted for him as he encountered difficulty when attempting to post.)

Hey Yong Sheng,

I probably one of the few who was in total awe after your presentation.I felt that the gamble of not having any slides payed off as that forced you to talk in a slow,clear and concise manner.Though at times in the past you probably spoke a little faster as compared to the other speakers in your team,I felt that that this time around your body language as well as your tone had a very formal outlook and thus the entire presentation had a convincing appeal on the audience In reality , I am pretty sure you would have convinced the stakeholders to use your solution.  

Thanks Sai!

I am glad that you felt that my group's presentation was good! I spoke too fast during the OP as I was too nervous. Thanks for all the constuctive feedbacks from all of you! I will improve on my presentation skills and put it to good use in future! :)

Cheers,
Yong Sheng  

Hey Yong Sheng!

Congrats for the well performance! I have not really sit down as an audience to look at your presentation before since we were in the same peer teaching group, but I must say that you did quite a good job this time round. Nevertheless, I can sense that you were really nervous at the start, but you slowly gained your composure and managed to present your content clearly eventually. Your nervousness was definitely uncalled-for as it is evident that you know your stuff well, just like what you have mentioned in your blog. Hence, don’t put too much pressure on yourself the next time you present and you will undoubtedly put up an even more stunning presentation!
 

Hi Yea Wen,

Thanks for your kind words! I will remember all the feedbacks you have given and improve on myself!

Cheers,
Yong Sheng