Final presentation -International Christian University-

Self-Reflection

a) The process of preparation and rehearsal
b) The effectiveness of the introduction
c) The persuasiveness and organization of the content in the body
d) The conclusion and Q&A
e) Use of visuals
f) Body language: Eye contact, facial expression, gestures, and posture
g) Use of voice
h) Other points (as you like)


a) The process of preparation and rehearsal:
Unlike other presentations I had so far in this class, it was a GROUP work and therefore powerpoint visuals and the speech content needed to be shared with my members beforehand. Unfortunately, we did not have time for rehearsal. However, we spent so much time on making slides after the class as well as at home using emails. Despite the fact that we couldn't make it to gather up for rehearsal, we were prepared enough for our presentation in terms of making coherency in our individual speeches. Each of us (Mai, Sho and myself) was working very well for research and creating PP slides.

b) The effectiveness of the introduction:
The introduction was made by Mai, and I believe it was very effective as she proposed a question with impressive slides she made. The way she connected the question to our theme (ICU)was also very effective and natural(Global issues, How could they be solved, What we need, People who can take actions needed, ICU is providing active human resources). Rather than starting the presentation simply from the introduction of ICU, I think that making general question helps more to grab the audiences' attention.

c) The persuasiveness and organization of the content in the body:
I believe that the organization of the content was very well done as we spent a long time on making PP slides. Each of us successfully connected our individual speech to another, and moreover, mentioning our names and reflecting what others talked about in our own section made the presentation very organized as a whole.
In terms of persuasiveness, we could have made it better. As Matt gave us a question in the Q&A session, we did not clearly mention how much money on what we would be spending on if we received the financial aid. This vagueness made the entire presentation less persuasive compared to others, which the plans for spending money was clearly stated. We had been aware of this problem before the actual presentation, but could not propose the plan since we had no time and also since we were not sure at all about the ICU's real expense distribution. We tried to achieve persuading the audiences by vocal controls and non-verbal expressions, and it seems we were successful in doing so on the video, but could have been even better by changing the content.

d) The conclusion and Q&A:
The conclusion Sho made was effective as the slides he made were also visually impressive. Each of us made sure about the question by restating what the audience said, and answered clearly.

e) Use of visuals:
Thanks to the great techno-genius Mai, I'm sure that the visuals of this presentation was very much sophisticated. We used a lot of pictures which certainly worked to gain the attention. Just for the future presentation, a little bit less use of words per slide could make it even better. The theme was rather a serious one, so the AEP members told me that they took time to read the text and to understand the main message of each slide.

f) Body language: Eye contact, facial expression, gestures, and posture:
My personal goal for this presentation was to make strong, persuasive body language. Compared to the first presentation I made in this class, I improved in controlling these non-verbal communication. Although I had notes with me while presenting, I tried not to look at them too much and instead I focused on making eye contacts. Our topic was about our own university and so that we had been discussing that we should not be too serious. Watching the recorded video, we were all tranquil, and were making gestures appropriate to the topic.

g) Use of voice:
What I think I improved the most through this presentation is the use of pause and stress. To show my confidence and calmness, I used pauses as much as possible and for the words which I thought were important like "harmony in diversity"and "essential", I put stress. There is even more to improve, but my use/control of voice was appropriate and worked to create the persuasiveness in the speech.

h) Other points (as you like)
I realized that I sometimes make "fake" smiles to hide my nervousness. It makes myself seem less confident. For the next future presentation, I hope to quite this habit.