Fearless... Not

Now that I am done with my other deadline (hurrah!), here's a recap of what I feel about my presentation.

I remember vividly that my first presentation in NUS was done with Stephanie during our first year first semester. Indeed, I was not keen at all in presenting. Well, nobody was! Since then, never in my wildest dreams did I think of voluntarily taking a module with a lot of presentations. Well, things do not always go the way you planned!

It was like any other Mondays, except I did not feel like it was a typical Monday. As I approached S9A-0103, the butterflies in my stomach started fluttering. Taking in deep breaths helped, but only for a while.

Class started, The Vans were presenting in front. Initially, it was easy to concentrate, but then I started noticing my stomach churning. I fidgeted in my seat, thinking "Oh boy, I seriously need the washroom." I scribbled a note over to LinHui, "Pssst.... Toilet!" She smiled and nodded in agreement.

Fast forward 20 minutes later, before we knew it, it was finally over! I thought I improved in my presentation this time round as compared to the previous peer teaching. I recalled that I stayed rooted in one spot throughout peer teaching, except for the tutorial sessions. Now, I seemed more comfortable moving in front of the room during this presentation. Also, I thought my eye contact with the audience improved quite a bit. I had my eyes lingering at one person longer than I did during peer teaching, although I admit I kept staring at See Chai and Stephanie more than the rest, which I think the reasons are rather obvious *grins*.

It was also my initial plan to bring my cue cards up while presenting, to say truthfully. It was practically my Bible! I thought that even if I would not be using it, at least it would give me a sense of comfort. That was until I read Deenise's blog Monday morning that totally struck me. I know every single detail of the project at the back of my hand, then why would I even need those? Besides, it would be nice to step out from the comfort zone to learn new things. It proved to be a wise move as it gave me more comfort in moving my hands and engaging myself with the audience. Previously, I had my hands full with one holding my cue cards while the other holding the remote during peer teaching!

However, I have to admit that I feel much more at ease during my peer teaching, feeling more prepared than what I felt during the oral presentation. I suppose the tiny glitch had to do with how nervous I felt at the time.

During the preparation of the presentation, I colour-coded my notes just like what I did for my peer teaching as I am a visual learner. It proved to be useful. As given during the feedback session for the Firebenders, it would be better for us to include some visual aids in our presentation slides. Nonetheless, our team has done quite a nice job in keeping the slides the minimalist style but yet still informative.

Working with LinHui, Ranmali and Ye Thu Win was indeed a great pleasure. Everyone was equally committed to the project, giving ideas, organizing and composing our smashing proposal and our oral presentation afterwards. Late night meetings at Central Forum armed with our laptops would probably be the fond memories I hold dear to my heart.