Presentation Critique

My presentation was not that bad! I feel as if I did a lot better than what I thought I did. When we wrote the free write about how we thought our presentation went I wrote about how I forgot a lot of words and could not think of them. I thought that I stumbled on words a lot more than I actually did in the presentation. What I did write about that was true and something that I really need to work on is practicing. I’ll be honest in the fact that I did not practice this presentation. I hate practicing in front of the mirror because I feel stupid, but I feel a lot stupider when I get up there and stumble on words because it is the first time I am presenting this topic. I believe that if I practiced even a total of two times in front of the mirror at home I would get a lot better score on my presentation grade. The scores I received from the class were really a lot better than I thought they were going to be as well. I didn’t receive below a 4 in any of the areas. Something that the student scores told me that I did not realize I needed to work on was my volume. I got a score of 4.2 on volume so that tells me I could be a little louder. After watching the video I do agree with the fact that I should be a little bit louder. That is something I would have never realized if I had never watched the video or gotten back my scores from the presentation.
While watching my presentation something that I noticed a lot was the common problem of saying “um.” I said it constantly! I said it when I couldn’t think of the word I wanted to use, I said it when I was introducing the next topic, and I said it when I was done with that topic. I knew I had to of said “um” a lot, just because it is one of the most common mistakes in presenting, but I had no idea I said it that much. That is something that without seeing this video I would have never known I needed to work on. Another thing that tends to be a common mistake as well is my lack of eye contact. That is something I knew I needed to work on even before I watched the video of my presentation. For this particular essay, it was about an image. I looked up at the image the majority of the time during my presentation. I really need to work on eye contact and looking at the audience for my next presentation. I also need to work on my hand gestures. From the class scores I got a 4.4 on gestures and that was my second lowest score. I hold my note cards with both hands for the most part and need to steer away from that.
I think that the best way to change my presentation would be to first look at the St. Martin’s Handbook the day before I give my presentation. Then, remember those guidelines while I practice my speech at least once or twice in front of my mirror at home. I never really get too nervous when speaking in front of others, although a little more self confidence could help me a lot in the long run.