We began on a more serious note as the group presentations are starting. Generally, we were instructed regarding the tasks that we have to do, namely the reflection journal and the webinars which are actually known as Web seminar. It would probably be hard to do it like how the school is doing since we do not have access to the tools that the profs do but it would be interesting to think about how we can present effectively without an actual audience as the audience reactions do matter.
EBSCO Library Resources (2018, March). Webinar picture.
Since we are presenting to a huge spectrum of audience, the presentation should be able to cater to the general public. Putting a webinar into an internet presentation format however, does not require too much technology but it has its pros and cons as well. Typical webinar presenters keep their title interesting and their content simply because they are interacting with the audiences online but with an internet presence, such interaction is simply not possible.
Bonelli (2018, May). Q&A picture.
As such, the focus can be placed on having interesting slides and creating an informative Q&A slide to address concepts that are commonly misunderstood. One interesting thing I have learnt over the years, will be to purposely create obvious loopholes within the content. By creating such loopholes, the audience will get curious, puzzled and start asking questions that you have prepared for. Sadly, such an unorthodox method can only work if the content is planned really well and you would require a really good understanding of the audience to successfully guide them to ask the right questions.
As I looked for resources on how to interact with audience through an internet presentation, there was an article about authenticity. More accurately, it describes how authentic, open-ended question will reach out more to the audience because of how the asking and answering such questions can relay sincerity (Morgan, 2015). It keeps the audience active throughout the presentation, thus bringing more life to the presentation.
We then got started with the activities to get us ready, and I found that lifting the ribs made some difference to breathing. It would be interesting to explore what difference it would make to speaking and projecting of the voice. A discussion on keeping the rib cage expanded talked about how the breath energy will be preserved and managed by the diaphragm, allowing a better control over the breath pressure. The balance of breath energy and laryngeal muscle activity will allow a resonating sound in the mouth called a chest voice. It is a technique taught in classical singing but should not be used all the time because it is a complicated set of motion to maintain and would thus cause more distraction (Fraser, 2009).
Finally, we moved on to Rachael’s group presentation about Adolf Hitler. It was the first ever group live presentation we had, and the atmosphere was pretty tense because what they do today will set the bar for the next group.
The presentation started off strong and was really unique because of the ‘Heil Hitler’ salutes going on each time Hitler’s name is mentioned. They have done lots of research into to mindset of Hitler and presented how Hitler planned every action with a purpose. It’s something to think about because such dedication and careful preparation for presentation apply to us as well. There was quite an amount of content though and became more like presenting the life of Hitler than how his presentation preparation enthralled Germany. It could probably be better if more time was spent on explaining how and why Hitler’s actions worked so that we can take in all the information.
The energy of nervousness by the presenters only affected the speed of the presentation and I found it brilliant as they maintained control of the presentation from the start to the end. This is a problem that I am personally concerned with because I experienced stage fright before and had to make lots of effort to suppress the nervous energy each time. With Prof Matt’s comments on the presentation, I realised that every slide, every prop, and even down to our attire, the way we speak and how we speak is a part of the presentation. No stones are to be left unturned for the group presentation and I guess that is how my group should be prepared.
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