Thursday 12 April 2012

Reflection on OP


OP is over ;p Zi Hao and Ariele, we made it!! Remember the social engineering bit? Haha!! Anyway, it was great working with you guys throughout the entire process of coming up with directNUS  and eventually conveying the idea within an 8-page proposal and 20 mins presentation ;) Thank you for all your efforts!

Overall, I think I did pretty well for the OP as I managed to keep calm and talk logically, establish good eye contact with my audience and remember key points to say without the aid of a script. But, I also feel that there is room for improvement. I could have:

1)      Been more focused during my OP as I was slightly distracted when Titus who was sitting in front of me held up a camera to capture something.

2)  Had greater engagement with my audience to sustain the personal appeal of directNUS to each audience member as set up by Ariele.

3) Made potential challenges faced by directNUS more relatable to my audience by appealing to their person experiences (eg. their views on current bus arrival timings as reflected on electronic boards at bus stops).

4) Improved on the transition between the “expenditure and manpower needs” part to the “challenges” part to make it flow more seamlessly.

5) Changed my position periodically to make the presentation feel less dead.

Nevertheless, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to present my idea to an audience and be on the enriching learning journey of ES2007s!

10 comments:

  1. Hi Shi min,

    For both the mock and actual OP, I thought you managed to maintain excellent eye contact! There was a good variation in tone and during the actual presentation, I felt that you spoke in a very soothing manner. I would say it was sincere but it did came off a little less enthusiastic, because you spoke in a somewhat 'corporate' manner? Hmm.

    I only had a problem with the many 'ok's that you said. I counted 8. You might want to work on that.

    Nonetheless, there was an appropriate emphasis on the important part and your articulation was very good. Compared to the mock, there was hardly any dependence on prompt cards/slides. A very confident speaker, but towards the end, you were stammering a bit. Other than that, it was a great presentation!

    Well, with regards to your reflection, it may not be the wisest to make a conscious effort to move about/switch positions. I think it's best to know what works for you so that you may be more at ease and more comfortable before your audience (:!

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    1. Hi Kristyn! Thank you for your descriptive comments! 8 okays?!!! I will definitely take note of it. Regarding the switching of positions,I will bear what you say in mind. Nonetheless, I would like to give it a try haha! All the best for your finals! See you soon ;)

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  2. Hello Xi Min,

    I don't think you did only a pretty well for your OP, I thought you did a fantastic job!! (: I enjoyed your presentation because you sounded really professional. Although you were confident with your ideas, you did not sound pushy. That is not easy to achieve!

    I could tell that you were distracted when Titus took out another camera to film your presentation. Although your tone remains the same (which is really commendable), it was obvious that you slowed down, and you gave a funny expression. So you might want to take note of that. But apart from that, your presentation was really good! (:

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    1. Hi Gladys!Thank you for your kind comments and Toblerone;)I guess next time I must be prepared for possible distractions from the audience then. (I never knew...) You did a great job for your presentation too. I always thought you were soft-spoken, but when it comes to presentations, your ability to project your voice is amazing!!

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  3. Hi Xi Min,

    Like Kristyn and Gladys, I thought you did an excellent job for your OP. I was quite impressed by how soothing your voice was, not to mention you were clear and well articulated. Like the mock OP, you maintained good eye contact even though I was seated right at the back.

    I agree that you could have had greater engagement with your audience, perhaps by asking questions that are related to the specific parts you were presenting. I also have to go with Kristyn to say that putting in a conscious effort to change your position might not be a very good idea. This is because it might seem a bit staged and unnatural. That being said, you could just be natural.

    All in all, great job and I really like the idea of directNUS.

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    1. Hi Joel, thank you for your comprehensive comments! i didn't know my voice was soothing... does that mean sleep-inducing? haha. Next time, I try to engage more my audience by asking them questions when appropriate then. Like I said to Kristyn,I would also like to give the walking around thing a try haha ;)

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  4. Hi Ximin!

    Like I mentioned in my comments to Ariele, I feel that directNUS was probably the most professional group in class! I really like the idea and I hope that you guys will propose it to OSA :)

    As for your delivery, I think you did a fantastic job! I think you're one of the few people who showed poise while speaking calmly and confidently. Plus your voice is really soothing! What I liked most about your delivery is your ability to SMILE! Overall you managed to exude a relaxed air about you while maintaining a level of professionalism.

    Well done Ximin! :)

    Tanisha

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    1. Hi Tanisha!! Thank you for your kind comments;) I didn't know my voice is soothing and I smile while talking haha. Thank you for making me feel good about myself ;)

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  5. Hi Xi Min!
    Sorry I'm late for comment on this~So surprise that you make so clear self-comments, I think that's one of the reasons why you can be such a good speaker, like the Chinese idiom says: "精益求精"!! As I mentioned in my post, you did a great job with your natural expressions and nonverbal skills! I believe every audience will be attracted by your presentation, so lucky to have you as a groupmate with directNUS work. Yeah, good luck to your finals!

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    1. Hi Zi Hao, no problem ;) I always liked your remarks in Chinese, because they are so refreshing as they stand out from the sea of English words, haha. Thank you for your kind comments and it was great to have worked with you, a foreign student, for this project. It gave me a different kind of exposure.

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