Today’s class Kyle was preparing us both mentally, physically and intellectually for our upcoming presentation in a week’s time. This lecture will talk about how to structure, guide and present presentations with a few tricks and tips to stay in tune during it.
This is a great experience for me as if I’m being honest I get quite nervous even thinking of presenting something as when I’m under pressure I can lose concentration or things just zap out of my head. I decide and it was a huge relief to see Kyle cover some of the things he did today. Additionally, Daniel covered something similar but it was good to get more insight into this lecture.
Although, as Kyle explained, it’s good to feel nervous as it keeps us alert, humble and more concreated at the task at hand. This is refreshing to hear as it makes me look at my nerves in a different light other than just “It’s the end of the world type scenario.”
What does creating a presentation involve?
- Story – A good story allows for a captivating delivery, this makes the presentation more fluid and less static all the from the beginning, middle and end.
- Planning – I need to understand what my topic is, what does my audience (Kyle) needs to know and what material do I need to include.
- Preparation – I need to be prepared both digitally and physically such as by bringing a script, pdf file and even handouts.
What creates a good story?
A presentation is more than just notes on a gradually transitioning screen. It is a story, an idea that the presenter is there to share. Like every good book, it has a compelling story all the way from the beginning to the end. It also needs to be coherent and simple, whereas a novel shares its story through the written word, in a presentation the presenter is building an overall idea with the viewers. For this, we are the novel and we must confine this novel to be absolutely coherent and precise about our idea.
It should be memorable and unique to the audience as there is no point in sharing an idea if it’s just lost in the wind. Kyle showed us a great storytelling president John F Kennedy. He explained about his speech during the preparation of the moon landing and how Kennedy didn’t use sophisticated language or go into detail about the mission, instead, he just explained, “I want to put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of this decade.” This short sentence was short yet effective at presenting his ideas to America and the world.
Structuring the presentation
Beginning – Outling the story is key in this part, this can include an overview of the work/material that will be presented.
Middle – This is where the story is in its prime. This is structuring and dissecting the ideas that I will be presenting. In this part, I should talk about ideation, challenges and what I would do differently.
End – Concluding the presentation, perhaps an overview of all the material covered.
The Narrative
When planning something it is best to do so on paper, this is also the case for crafting the narrative for the presentation. It’s also important throughout the presentation to create an iconic and memorable experience, this can mean using immersive facts or using funny memes. We also need to be aware of time limitations so as I have said before I must be coherent and to the point. This can also mean repeating the same phrases over again.
When explaining to myself I need to practice at home, this can often mean creating rough cuts or practicing in front of others. I find this part extremely important as it makes me more confident in what I will be doing but also allows me to become more concentrated on the topic at hand.
The best way to explain myself is through repetitive techniques such as some rhetorical techniques Kyle has provided which include:
- Repetition
- Rhetorical Questions
- Metaphors
- Alliterations
- Humour
What not to do:
- More visual less written words – less is more
- Too many slides
- Errors, alignment issues, forgotten text and grammar mistakes.
What have I learned?
Today’s class was extremely helpful in learning about all the ins and outs of presenting a presentation. Often enough I can get myself in bad habbits by over-thinking topics like presenting thus putting more pressure on me to perform well this, in turn, can twindle my confidence untimely putting myself up for failure. This is why I like to think confidence comes first over storytelling in my case as without confidence I can’t tell a good story. Overall, I think this class was extremely beneficial to me in giving me the boost and knowledge I need to create a presentation. I will now begin to sketch up my presentation.