Hello All:
This week has been an especially crazy week of emotional ups and downs for the entire senior class. As college decisions came out, I just wanted to say how proud and excited I am for each and every member of the Class of 2017!! From becoming new blue devils to sun devils, cardinal to bears, we killed it!! Anyways, in the world of AP Research, I have still been hard at work on my presentation and slides and am so excited to share my research with the BASIS Scottsdale community.
Ideally, a powerpoint interacts with the presentation and supplements the information being said by the speaker. A great presentation flows seamlessly through the paper in an orderly fashion and does not get too bogged down in every detail included in the paper. A great powerpoint keeps the audience engaged in the presenter's speech by providing visual aids and emphasizing key terms. A presentation should follow a script and the powerpoint should be built in to the script rater than separately. That being said, my presentation definitely fits some of those categories but not all of them. I feel like I use the slides to keep the audience engaged, especially since I added animations and pop ups to go along with exactly what I am saying. I also added some audience participation pieces to my presentation in which I ask the audience to think of numbers and then demonstrate some of the effects briefly. I think I can cut even more of the details out of parts of my presentation, since there are definitely times when I try to explain the nitty gritty to my audience. I also feel like I can still improve a few of the slides by adding more pictures or changing some of the backgrounds. The problem I have had with changing backgrounds is that sometimes the text becomes hard to read, so I will have to find a balance.
Originally, I approached my AP Research presentation very similarly to a Seminar one, but I have now realized that they are very different. In Seminar, we are just explaining and synthesizing others' arguments, so the slides are more minimal to complement the speech. However, in Research, we designed our own methods and got our own methods, so we need to use more dynamic slides to engage the audience in our thinking process as well as keep them focused for a significantly longer presentation.
My plan for practicing the presentation is to record myself numerous times and watch what
I do well and badly. In order to become fluent with the presentation without sounding robotic, I plan to learn the ideas I need to cover as well as key phrases to use rather than a word-for-word script. Since my powerpoint has many animations, I will be able to stay on track by pairing key phrases with animation sequences and clicks, so I can keep up with the slides without sounding so unnatural. Recording myself will help me see awkward things I do with my body and hands and gain the perspective of my audience while practicing. I am really excited to do present my findings and hopefully will perfect everything in the next week or so!! (540)
Max!!! I just wanted to say that your concept of an ideal presentation is top notch and I agree with all of it.
ReplyDeleteI especially 100% agree with you when you say that our Research presentations should only focus on what is ESSENTIAL to conveying the whole argument. So look over it a few times or even keep an eye out while you're practicing and don't be afraid to cut out what seems redundant or extraneous. Even if it seems like it was necessary for the paper, it may not essential for conveying the proper presentation. Moreover, I really like your idea of recording yourself and watching for possible improvements. This is what we kinda did last year in Seminar and it worked like a charm because we could see ourselves and how ridiculous we looked moving or legs too much or how many times we say the word "um." Sometimes people will miss or forget certain feedback during the presentation -- you for sure will because you'll be busy presenting. Thus, recording yourself on top of practicing maybe once or twice with someone else should be a great strategy. Keep it up man!
I agree with your entire analysis of what an ideal presentation is! I think recording yourself could be good to help see problems in the beginning, but I feel like you are going to start seeing less and less problems as it goes on as you will have seen yourself doing this so many times or you will be way too nit picky and hard on yourself. Is there anyway you can have other individuals watch you? You need others input so you do not just rely on yourself. Other than that you are on the right track and I wish you luck on your presentation!
ReplyDeleteHey max!! I'm also super excited for the class of 2017!! Go blue devils!! Go big red!!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you think an ideal presentation is. I also didn't think of the Research presentation as needing to show our thinking process because WE created the research, but you are so right. I also think your plan for practicing will help you be successful in making sure your presentation is perfect. Just make sure you get feedback from people too! Good luck!
Saara, this comment is not robust enough.
DeleteMax -- I love the plan you have for recording and watching yourself present. I know that can be an excruciating process, but I think it's honestly the best thing to see where you weaknesses lie. For you, as we've discussed in your meetings, I think you most struggle with pace and eye contact. Try to make sure that you make an effort to speak slowly, and look at the people in the audience -- avoiding staring at the ceiling or the floor.
ReplyDeleteI'm really excited to see your updated Powerpoint today and see how your new presentation goes!