Nicole Echevarria- Reflection 1

                I want to start this reflection by introducing our four groups, the pros and cons that we each learned from our presentations and the recommendations that our team leaders talked about how we did. As we were given our first presentation in class, I think we all did a very great job but there were a few things that might have been done better to help us prepare for future presentations.

 

                 To begin with, group 1 they did a great job with their presentation. Especially being the first to present can be nerve racking. Their topic talked about how to get started on a speech which involved the main parts of public speaking that shows technology, to research, present, and engage with the audience. Observing everyone from the group, I noticed how organized and detailed they presented each of their slides. The first two were sharing chapters and I like how well they presented their points and the way their speech flowed. There was another member that stood out which caught the audience attention and made his part interesting while presenting. I was interested in how well their group performed during their presentation. There were only a few details that I noticed that could’ve been improved which they were reading of notes, but they gave it their best effort and kept the lesson from being boring.

                  Next with group 2, they had good speakers in their presentation. Their topic states about developing and researching your speech which includes the purpose of public speaking which explains its goals to inform, persuade, or for a special occasion. I like how good they explained their points and how well they performed by attracting the audience. Most of the members in that group were confident and knew what they were talking about. There was a student that was absent the day of the presentation for their group, but he made it up with an amazing performance, he didn’t need notes to look at, everything was mostly said off the top of his head which kept it very entertained how he captured the audience’s attention and how confident he spoke. Overall, this group helped me learn a lot about their chapter and engaged me as a part of the audience by using illustrations.

                  Group 3 made a good impression with their presentation. Some of the members came in formal attire which made them appear professional and credible. Their topic talks about how you would present yourself and your ideas which includes for a speech to engaging with your audience and to reinforce your message. This group made their information clear which made their slides easy to follow and gave good examples from their chapters. I’ve noticed how they kept eye contact, didn’t look much at their notes and reached their time limit which we each had 30 minutes to present. In general, they were a great group when detailing their information on their slides.

                  Lastly group 4 which was the group I participated in. I think my group members did great on each of their slides. Our topic was about the different types of speaking situations which includes informative, persuasive speaking, understanding argument, distance speaking and group presentations. We were clear and detailed with our power point and good when communicating with the audience. I noticed while editing our power point slide, we kept it simple and easy to follow when we would present. We kept our power point organized using Canva by making it colorful and stand out for the audience. The only thing that could’ve improve from our group would be trying to not read off our notes. It felt tense to stand up in front of people but hopefully we can reduce it for our next presentation.

 

                  During my part of the presentation, I was very nervous. I feel like I did well on my slides and my speech but the only mistake I did was not looking up to the audience which I would like to improve. I know that it’s important to look up and try to engage with the audience. I must try to take a big breath and try to relax while speaking so I can be able to look up and speak clearly.

                  After we all finished presenting our team leaders gave us advice and their opinions on how we did with our presentation. They are the ones who made sure each of our groups were on task to finish their presentations. As they observed our groups some of things they said was that most of us didn’t look up as much and we should improve on trying to look up towards the audience. One of the leaders gave advice that looking up doesn’t mean you have to look at someone specifically when speaking, you can look straight at a wall instead. They also mentioned how they noticed how nervous we were which its normal, but they gave advice that if we feel like we can’t speak or were speaking to fast or choking up our words that we should pause take a big deep breath and continue with our speech. I mostly related and agreed with what they said, and I know that we can all try to improve.

                  In conclusion, I can say that all our presentations did a great job for it being our first presentation for the class. Every group had their strengths and weakness while presenting and hopefully we all by the end of this class we’ve improved our skills. We learned a lot each other and with more practice we can get even better. I’m sure our next presentations will show how much we’ve progressed.