This is the blog for COM315, a course at Purdue University that works to enhance students' abilities to communicate technical information comprehensively. We work collaboratively to develop projects online and offline and enhance our skillsets.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Discussion for Week 3
What features in presentations stood out to you the most? What aspects of presentations did you tend to notice on the whole? What role does delivery play in a presentation? What would you change about your delivery in the next presentation?
I thought all the presentations were really good. The thing I noticed the most was trying to stay within the time limit. When I was giving my speech, I talked pretty fast because I had a lot of information to convey in under four minutes. Delivery is very important in a presentation. They way you act and present yourself is generally just as important as the information you are talking about. In my next presentation I will try to speak slower and at a more steady pace. We will have a larger time limit so it should make things easier.
One of the biggest things that I noticed was that some people seemed to have to rush through their presentation because of the amount of information. I believe one reason for this (and I am guilty as well) is that not everyone practiced before giving their presentation. Even if you did practice, it is very hard to practice under the right conditions. Delivery can make or break your entire presentation. If your delivery is fast paced, your presentation may be too short. If it's too quiet no one will be able to hear one. One of the things I'd like to do in my next presentation that works with delivery is to just make it feel more natural. I know I felt a little rushed as well as flustered. However, next time we have a longer time limit to work with so that should make it alot easier as well.
All of the presentations were do well. One thing I notice though is some of the conclusions were lacking. I know that conclusions can be hard but if you end your speech with "and that's it." it kind of takes way from the professionalism of your speech.
I thought for the amount of time we had to prepare our presentations they were very good. Something I picked up on was the tempo to which some of the presentations were given and it varied given the amount of content to be covered. Delivery is everything in a presentation, that's what it really comes down to. I would really like to feel more relaxed and be more confident. Sometimes when I give presentations my brain goes blank so sometimes I end up saying something twice or going out of sequence with my topics. I really want to try and fix that for the next speech.
I liked all of the speeches but I think some speeches lacked on their introductions. Intro's got better towards the end of the speeches but I feel that it is important to know who is speaking and why they are speaking to us about a given topic. I think the time limit was difficult because I didn't really know how much the audience would understand the technical aspects of my topic. To explain something technical in an easy to understand way I think more time is needed to supplement the idea. With that being said I should have chosen a less technical speech.
The parts that stood out the most in presentations to me where how each speaker emphasised their points with body language. Some would move their arms while others would raise their voice to show excitement. As far as the role delivery plays within the presentation, it has to be the most important. Someone could be presenting on the least important, worst possible, boring topic ever, but as long as they show energy and make the audience feel like they need to know the information to survive, the topic nor content don't play much of a factor anymore.
I think everyones presentations went great. 2 i remembered the most were the significance of the shape of a beer glass and also the Technology Education student who talked about his major and different things they do in the shop, he also passed around the mallet handle which was great. I practiced my time quite a bit but somehow i still went over. So for my next presentation i am going o try and focus a little more on time but not too much.
It seemed like several people had experience with public speaking. Some flowed really well and were really easy to listen to. Others were presented well but some of the material was kind of hard to follow. For the most part they were all better than I had expected.
I noticed that numerous people, myself included, seemed to make a point from their outline, and pause and look back at the outline then present more information. The pauses seemed like a very uncomfortable one for most. For the next speech I intend to attempt trying to make my presentation flow much more efficiently without those long pauses where I just stare at the outline... There were a few people that had great deliveries; no pauses great transitions and very firm outstanding points.
While I don't like to be negative, I think it is often the things that people don't do, or do that are not "kosher" in a presentation that we notice most. For example, how many times have you sat through a presentation where you start noticing how many times the person says "um" or "ok" or "I mean" and begin counting. Unfortunately for humans, we seem to notice this most when people give us body language or voice inflection that insinuates nervousness or unpreparedness. I think that confidence, preparation, and practice goes a long way in a speech to adequately communicate your information and get your audience involved in what you are actually doing. Depending on what visual aid you use can also impact your audiences' divulsion of the information you are communicating.
Next presentation, I would probably prepare a little more and not read from my outline as frequently.
The features that stands out the most in my mind were the good visual aids, whether it be detailed pictures or websites. The aspects of the presentations I particularly noticed were the introduction: based on how they happened determined how much attention I paid to the presentation in general. The delivery plays a role as far as keeping the attention of the audience. I will make my delivery more smooth next time I present.
The things that stand out the most to me in a presentation is, without question, the use of the words/phrases; um, uh, ok, and like. I was expecting more people to have issues with delivery rate(I know I did) due to not being sure how much information they could cover in the allotted time. I talked too fast which I'm sure didn't allow people the proper time to process what I was discussing. Next time around I will slow down a bit.
The thing that stuck out to me was the use of powerpoint. Nearly everyone in the class utilized powerpoint for their visual aide, which wasnt surprising because that is what we are accustomed to. The other thing I noticed was the use of fillers like um and ok. Since that was our first speech I think they will be used less in the future because everyone will become more comfortable in the new class setting.
I think the time limit was a big factor in most of the prentations. I know I had 5-7 minutes I could have slowed down gave longer demo and maybe got more people interseted in it then just the computer savy people. I think the hardest part for almost everyone to not put in the fillers when they are thinking of what next to say. But I enjoyed all of the presentations timely and professional
I noticed pretty good eye contact across the board. For the most part, nobody's eyes were completely glued to their material. They made attempts to look up and make sure that everybody was following. Another thing I noted was that those who had powerpoint presentations were split in half: some were glued behind the computer, others made aconscious effort to stand in front of the class.
One thing that really struck me was that nearly everyone seemed to deliver their speech remarkably calmly and collectedly, without any really noticeable signs of nervousness. While a few people may have halted a little in giving the speech or used a lot of vocal fillers, they did not give off the impression that they were distracted by "stage fright" or anything. I expect that most people in the class, if not all, have taken a speech course before (this may have been required for entry anyway).
As for negative aspects, it seems to me that the area with the most room for improvement was the length of speeches: several speeches seemed to drag on well past the time limit and/or the ideal stopping point. This is not to say that they were badly performed; I just mean that they could perhaps have been made shorter without any detriment to the content. Of course, in some cases it's possible that the speeches were within the time limit and just seemed longer in my mind; I was not timing the speeches myself.
I feel that although delivery is definitely important in a speech, it is not everything. For example, you can have a teacher who's a fairly dynamic speaker and still, perhaps, struggle to stay awake if the subject he teaches is considered truly boring. Conversely, it's definitely possible to overlook poor delivery in a speech if the subject is highly interesting to its audience. I noticed a lot of interesting subjects in this class's speeches so far, and if I had not been told to observe how good people's deliveries were, I might not have really noticed how they were saying what they said, instead mostly concentrating on what they were discussing.
That said, however, delivery definitely does make a difference. In general, the audience forms more of a bond with a dynamic speaker and tends to focus more attention on him. A bad speaker, on the other hand, may distract the audience from his material by making obvious mistakes, or he may fail to make his message clear.
Regarding my own delivery, I plan to try changing nearly everything about my own performance for the next speech. There were problems with my first speech in nearly every area. Although my subject matter, level of knowledge, and level of energy were praised by some, I gather from the advice given to me by many that I seriously need to practice eye contact, that I need to use better gestures, and that I generally need to stop looking so nervous while speaking. I also need to work on my talking speed and smoothness more, as well as on staying within the time limit. There are likely more areas for improvement as well.
Similar to what others thought, I felt that the presentations overall were great. Topic choice was fairly unique across the board as well. A couple of things that I want to improve are my verbal fillers and the length of the speech. As far as the speech goes, I think if I were to follow my outline a bit better the presentation would have been a bit better on time.
I thought all the presentations were really good. The thing I noticed the most was trying to stay within the time limit. When I was giving my speech, I talked pretty fast because I had a lot of information to convey in under four minutes. Delivery is very important in a presentation. They way you act and present yourself is generally just as important as the information you are talking about. In my next presentation I will try to speak slower and at a more steady pace. We will have a larger time limit so it should make things easier.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest things that I noticed was that some people seemed to have to rush through their presentation because of the amount of information. I believe one reason for this (and I am guilty as well) is that not everyone practiced before giving their presentation. Even if you did practice, it is very hard to practice under the right conditions. Delivery can make or break your entire presentation. If your delivery is fast paced, your presentation may be too short. If it's too quiet no one will be able to hear one. One of the things I'd like to do in my next presentation that works with delivery is to just make it feel more natural. I know I felt a little rushed as well as flustered. However, next time we have a longer time limit to work with so that should make it alot easier as well.
ReplyDeleteAll of the presentations were do well. One thing I notice though is some of the conclusions were lacking. I know that conclusions can be hard but if you end your speech with "and that's it." it kind of takes way from the professionalism of your speech.
ReplyDeleteI thought for the amount of time we had to prepare our presentations they were very good. Something I picked up on was the tempo to which some of the presentations were given and it varied given the amount of content to be covered. Delivery is everything in a presentation, that's what it really comes down to. I would really like to feel more relaxed and be more confident. Sometimes when I give presentations my brain goes blank so sometimes I end up saying something twice or going out of sequence with my topics. I really want to try and fix that for the next speech.
ReplyDeleteI liked all of the speeches but I think some speeches lacked on their introductions. Intro's got better towards the end of the speeches but I feel that it is important to know who is speaking and why they are speaking to us about a given topic. I think the time limit was difficult because I didn't really know how much the audience would understand the technical aspects of my topic. To explain something technical in an easy to understand way I think more time is needed to supplement the idea. With that being said I should have chosen a less technical speech.
ReplyDeleteThe parts that stood out the most in presentations to me where how each speaker emphasised their points with body language. Some would move their arms while others would raise their voice to show excitement. As far as the role delivery plays within the presentation, it has to be the most important. Someone could be presenting on the least important, worst possible, boring topic ever, but as long as they show energy and make the audience feel like they need to know the information to survive, the topic nor content don't play much of a factor anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think everyones presentations went great. 2 i remembered the most were the significance of the shape of a beer glass and also the Technology Education student who talked about his major and different things they do in the shop, he also passed around the mallet handle which was great. I practiced my time quite a bit but somehow i still went over. So for my next presentation i am going o try and focus a little more on time but not too much.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like several people had experience with public speaking. Some flowed really well and were really easy to listen to. Others were presented well but some of the material was kind of hard to follow. For the most part they were all better than I had expected.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that numerous people, myself included, seemed to make a point from their outline, and pause and look back at the outline then present more information. The pauses seemed like a very uncomfortable one for most. For the next speech I intend to attempt trying to make my presentation flow much more efficiently without those long pauses where I just stare at the outline... There were a few people that had great deliveries; no pauses great transitions and very firm outstanding points.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't like to be negative, I think it is often the things that people don't do, or do that are not "kosher" in a presentation that we notice most. For example, how many times have you sat through a presentation where you start noticing how many times the person says "um" or "ok" or "I mean" and begin counting. Unfortunately for humans, we seem to notice this most when people give us body language or voice inflection that insinuates nervousness or unpreparedness. I think that confidence, preparation, and practice goes a long way in a speech to adequately communicate your information and get your audience involved in what you are actually doing. Depending on what visual aid you use can also impact your audiences' divulsion of the information you are communicating.
ReplyDeleteNext presentation, I would probably prepare a little more and not read from my outline as frequently.
The features that stands out the most in my mind were the good visual aids, whether it be detailed pictures or websites. The aspects of the presentations I particularly noticed were the introduction: based on how they happened determined how much attention I paid to the presentation in general. The delivery plays a role as far as keeping the attention of the audience. I will make my delivery more smooth next time I present.
ReplyDeleteThe things that stand out the most to me in a presentation is, without question, the use of the words/phrases; um, uh, ok, and like. I was expecting more people to have issues with delivery rate(I know I did) due to not being sure how much information they could cover in the allotted time. I talked too fast which I'm sure didn't allow people the proper time to process what I was discussing. Next time around I will slow down a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that stuck out to me was the use of powerpoint. Nearly everyone in the class utilized powerpoint for their visual aide, which wasnt surprising because that is what we are accustomed to. The other thing I noticed was the use of fillers like um and ok. Since that was our first speech I think they will be used less in the future because everyone will become more comfortable in the new class setting.
ReplyDeleteI think the time limit was a big factor in most of the prentations. I know I had 5-7 minutes I could have slowed down gave longer demo and maybe got more people interseted in it then just the computer savy people. I think the hardest part for almost everyone to not put in the fillers when they are thinking of what next to say. But I enjoyed all of the presentations timely and professional
ReplyDeleteI noticed pretty good eye contact across the board. For the most part, nobody's eyes were completely glued to their material. They made attempts to look up and make sure that everybody was following. Another thing I noted was that those who had powerpoint presentations were split in half: some were glued behind the computer, others made aconscious effort to stand in front of the class.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really struck me was that nearly everyone seemed to deliver their speech remarkably calmly and collectedly, without any really noticeable signs of nervousness. While a few people may have halted a little in giving the speech or used a lot of vocal fillers, they did not give off the impression that they were distracted by "stage fright" or anything. I expect that most people in the class, if not all, have taken a speech course before (this may have been required for entry anyway).
ReplyDeleteAs for negative aspects, it seems to me that the area with the most room for improvement was the length of speeches: several speeches seemed to drag on well past the time limit and/or the ideal stopping point. This is not to say that they were badly performed; I just mean that they could perhaps have been made shorter without any detriment to the content. Of course, in some cases it's possible that the speeches were within the time limit and just seemed longer in my mind; I was not timing the speeches myself.
I feel that although delivery is definitely important in a speech, it is not everything. For example, you can have a teacher who's a fairly dynamic speaker and still, perhaps, struggle to stay awake if the subject he teaches is considered truly boring. Conversely, it's definitely possible to overlook poor delivery in a speech if the subject is highly interesting to its audience. I noticed a lot of interesting subjects in this class's speeches so far, and if I had not been told to observe how good people's deliveries were, I might not have really noticed how they were saying what they said, instead mostly concentrating on what they were discussing.
That said, however, delivery definitely does make a difference. In general, the audience forms more of a bond with a dynamic speaker and tends to focus more attention on him. A bad speaker, on the other hand, may distract the audience from his material by making obvious mistakes, or he may fail to make his message clear.
Regarding my own delivery, I plan to try changing nearly everything about my own performance for the next speech. There were problems with my first speech in nearly every area. Although my subject matter, level of knowledge, and level of energy were praised by some, I gather from the advice given to me by many that I seriously need to practice eye contact, that I need to use better gestures, and that I generally need to stop looking so nervous while speaking. I also need to work on my talking speed and smoothness more, as well as on staying within the time limit. There are likely more areas for improvement as well.
Similar to what others thought, I felt that the presentations overall were great. Topic choice was fairly unique across the board as well. A couple of things that I want to improve are my verbal fillers and the length of the speech. As far as the speech goes, I think if I were to follow my outline a bit better the presentation would have been a bit better on time.
ReplyDelete