Reflective journal 3
It has been 3 weeks since we first engaged student presentations as the general mode of pedagogy. One thing I could say, it has been successful thus far, considering how the presenters were generally well-prepared and delivered substantial speeches. Compared to last year whom we were still amateur, inexperienced public speakers, we have now transformed into presenters brimming with pride and confidence. As a whole, the presenters could be seen putting in their greatest effort in the crafting of their scripts and preparing their show time on stage. Through these presentations, numerous intriguing ideas have struck my mind which proved great help in further discussions in class.
Different presenters have shown different styles in presenting. The expectation that Mr. Corr and Ms Yeo pinned on us was not to be as good as Steve Jobs, who is an extremely polished and charismatic public speaker, but to present our true self, our innate ability to showcase our body language and to present with clear themes as well as keeping our audiences hanging on our words. As the presentations progressed into week 6 and further, it is vivid that many presenters have tried different forms of presenting styles. Ranging from one who blabbers away with zest to one who relies on visual aids to give them an edge over the others, also, from one who uses the most advanced technology(ipad) to one who made us stare in awe and disbelief when he concludes his speech.
I would like to point out a few cases which I feel it is only fair for me to give them their due credit. Firstly, I would like to applaud Alcander for his firmness when he started the ball rolling. Being the so called ‘pioneer’ of this speech presentation not only gave him excessive amount of pressure, but he is also seen as the benchmark in the eyes of the whole class. Not only had he shown qualities of a true man, he also put up a dazzling performance by limiting his reference to script as little as possible. Another example I would like to cite would be Junyi’s near-wonderful presentation. It could be said to be perfect if he does take a little notice of his facial expression throughout the presentation. His speech was succinct, content was in-depth and his vocal was crisp and clear. As Mr S.Lim have said, ‘When we make a speech, we’ve got to internalize our content, know what we are talking about, and then naturalize.’ I believe Junyi has inherited his precious teachings. Basically, with this high standard of presentation made, I believe that the pressure for presenters down the stretch would be relatively high for they fear that they are unable to match up to that benchmark. Will this kind of competitiveness in class bring others to greater heights? Who knows? Lastly, I would like to talk about myself. I know myself well, I am never an excellent presenter, and I know I can never be one. I tell myself, as long as I tried my best, it is all worthwhile. In that short span of 5 minutes, I had an unprecedented high amount of adrenaline rush and my hands were sweating profusely. To be true, the above description was a bit too exaggerating. But the horror and anxiety indeed got the better of me.
From past experience, I can conclude that listening to a single person rant about a particular subject can be really boring, mainly due to the fact that his view of the situation is usually obscured and would only elaborate on notions gathered from similar viewpoints. On the contrary, hearing different individuals’ takes on a subject leaves us with more information and facts evaluated from different perspective. This, in turn, provides invigorating revelations for us listeners and help to keep lessons alive by evoking our train of thoughts in alternate ways.
Another interesting aspect regarding the presentations is no doubt the different methods of presentations employed by the pupils. Sure, it is easy to squeeze any thesis into a single speech, as well as to deliver it fluently, but it is often inevitable that the audience miss out on a mentioned point, and is lost by the time he recovers from his confusion and thoughts. As an alternative, many presenters have scribbled and illustrated their main points on the board to complement their speeches. It is very useful and practical, as it serves as a mean to remind the audience the contents mentioned, as well as enhancing their understanding of the speech.
In conclusion, I believe in reaping what you sown. As long as an individual works hard and prepare for his turn, it would be fruitful after all. Hence, I would like to end off by acknowledging my classmates’ efforts they put into their presentations.
