Joshua Galvez - Reflection 1

    On the day of presenting for Group 1 and Group 2, I couldn’t attend due to health problems. But I was sure that even if I wasn't there during Group 1's presentation, they did an outstanding job being able to show what their assigned topic was about and presenting it to the class. My group (#2), had to present without me which caused guilt to fill my mind but based on their feedback it seems like it went smoothly. The next day after the day of presentation, I was able to make up my part of the presentation. I had small index cards ready and was feeling nervous. Despite being two slides that I had to make up, I managed to impress people because I went off script from the cards, not in an off-topic sense, and still delivered the messages I needed to speak towards the audience.

    Even if I couldn’t attend the scheduled date to present with my group, I was able to watch Group 3 & 4 present. Their presentation was very informative, and I could tell they showed interest in the topic they were assigned. They described their topics with a lot of details, probably too much probably. One thing that I noticed frequently was how both groups read from their written scripts. It's smart to have written down what you want to say but you risk losing the audience's attention. Group 4 was the one group that had this problem as few members read from their scripts and stayed glued to the script instead of speaking their minds and interacting with the audience. This led to a lack of attention towards the presenting people from group 4. Despite this, group 4 maintained an organized system when it came down to presenting their calm tone while speaking. Group 3 presented with intent and a prepared mindset, they also showed signs of preparation during their presentation.

    Unlike group 4, there were just about less participants which read from their script. One thing that caught my attention was how at least one member of group 3 managed to speak towards the audience without sticking towards their script for too long. This got me hopeful as they can represent an example to other students on how to present. Overall, all the groups did an outstanding job with their presentations giving their own unique personality and little tones to their works. The first time doesn’t have to be perfect but that doesn't mean it can’t be great. We all learn from our experiences and learn how harness the knowledge and implement it on other works. Our presentations will change and evolve as we learn how to perform better with our perspectives of presentations.

    When it comes to presenting, it means to speak and make interactions towards the audience instead of just reading everything straight from the paper or presentation. After everyone presented, the group leaders had to give their general opinion on each of the group’s performances. The first thing they wanted to point out was how all groups did an outstanding job giving their first impressions. However, they talked how it was very common to them that all the group members mostly looked at their scripts instead of speaking from their minds. This I can understand as most of the classmates had some rather monotoned voices as if they lost something significant from a TV show. But I’m not there to criticize as I’ve done similar things with index cards and in high school with a three-page script. Getting back on track, they recommended all of us to start using index cards or memory next time we present so that not only can we save time but also keep the attention of the audience. Another thing they wanted to point out was how my makeup presentation went great to them. One of the group leaders complimented how I mostly “Spoke from the heart,” it made me feel a bit proud of myself. They complimented how because of my prepared mindset on how I would present, more information was recorded into everyone’s minds compared to listening someone reading off a script for an extended period.

    I really wonder how Group #1 came up with their presentation and how they performed it. Reflecting on all our presentations, we can all learn something from both our classmates and teammates to make something different each time. Communication can help all of us be prepared with our sections while also allowing modifications to be made with the same concepts. My team had the good idea of making the transitions of the slides smooth while changing our turns and talking about smaller subsections of our cover on the chapter we were assigned to. If your team doesn’t speak with each other (which I’m sure everyone does), then there can be misinformation and lack of direction that would usually lead to conflict and difficulties to occur. Everyone needs to perform their best while keeping in mind that everyone won’t have the same idea as you do, everyone is not a psychic so ideas will sure to crash. I also learned to ensure to keep in touch with your teammates and your mentor or teacher to clear any doubts you may have on your work with the class. 

    Overall, the group leaders appreciated the effort everyone placed onto their presentations. I’m excited to see how we can improve for our future presentations as we would probably move into more deep topics to present. And hopefully, less people will read from their scripts to focus more on the audience when it comes to talking about their section of their presentation. All of us have potential that usually one does not believe in themselves that they do. Each presentation will help us adjust to being not only more social to our group but also learn how to develop a voice so that our audience can hear out what we wish to speak with others. Public speaking is a class preparing us mentally to speak out towards whoever we wish to persuade and the more we practice, the better we’ll prepare ourselves.