Ariana Acosta- Reflection 1
My Opinions on the First Presentation of the Year
Starting off the semester with a project was a blessing and a curse. It was scary at first because im a freshman in college and was really scared to be presenting to a classroom with students I didnt really know. I know many other students can agree with me when i say it was nerve-racking. The good outcome that I got from this project was that I was able to make friends along the way. I started the semester with a wonderful group of helpful peers. I was able to create friends that can make the presenting part if the project a bit easier. As an outcome from that project, i made many new friends and now have a wonderful group that im comfortable to talk with in class. If this project would have never taken place, I probably would still have been sitting on my own because I find it difficult to open up and get the courage to talk to people. This assignment made that easier since I had no other choice but to communicate. I'm also extremely grateful for that because I was able to connect with other students that were just as nervous as I was.
Now to get started on my opinions on the other presentations. I formed some positive opinions as wellas some negative ones. I hope my negative opinions dont come off as rude, but people take it as constructive criticism. To start off with the good, I noticed most of the groups were ready with what they were going to present. they had all their information and knew what they were speaking about beforehand. I find this extremely important because it helps the audience when it comes to the listening part. As part of the audience, I was able to rely on the groups and knew that with the information I was receiving was also going to be reliable. I trusted the groups and trust that the information I was receiving was also going to be reliable. I trusted the groups and knew that with the information i was receiving, i am only going to belearning the best of information that I can get. They shared many great tips that I even took into consideration for when it was my turn to present. We were able to see how the first presentations would go and take things into consideration.
Another great thing about the presentations were that the students did somewhat engage with the audience. There were some students that didn't really do that which I will get in depth about when I speak about some of the negative opinions I formed. As I was saying, some students did engage with the audience by making it feel more like a conversation, and less of a presentation. I found this extremely helpful because I felt like I can understand more, and it wasnt as boring. As someone who has ADHD, I struggle to stay engaged. So when the speakers were engaging, I found iot a bit easier. I was focused on what they were saying and not looking around the class counting down the minutes until I was able to leave. It made their presentation easier to process with all the information being shared, and understandable. it also made me feel included, and that it wasnt just a burden of information being thrown on me.
To start off with some of the more negative opinions I formed, I noticed that some students did not engage. While a fair share of them did, others did not. I understand that this was our first presentation, so it wasnt going to be perfect. This did serve as a lesson on what not to do for the next presentations. Some of the speakers had brought a device up front with them. While it is ok to have a device and look down maybe once or twice during the presentation to keep yourself on track, it is not ok to read a whole presentation off your device. This was a good example on what not to do. The way it should be is that people can look down every now and them to stay on track or remember some points they want to go in more depth about. When everybody is reading off a device, it feels less like a conversation and more like a lecture. it was alot of information being thrown at us, and alot to process. I also found myself less concentrated on what was being said and easily distracted. It was extremely hard to have to sit still and just listen to someone read off a device for 30 minutes. there were some moments where I found myself dozing off and getting sleepy. It also made me feel like some of the speakers were not as prepared as others. They were just reading off the screen and not even making eye contact. Maybe next time, just try and look up a little more and minimize the amount of reading from the device. This will make your presentation alot better. It will also leave a good impression on your professor. They will feel like their students were [repared and learned something from their lessons.
Im going to be adding a video on presenting that I find extremely helpful and maybe you guys can too
Great reflection and visuals. You are an excellent writer.
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