Blog Post #7 TED Talks

Today for this blog post, we analyzed some TED Talks featuring people about our age so that we could explore what makes a good presenter. In addition, I will be discussing some strengths and weaknesses I have in presenting as well as what I can do to overcome these weaknesses.

Here are some qualities of great presenter and why they are important (these are some things I should consider while presenting) as well as tips to make a good presentation:

5 Qualities of a Great Presenter:

1. Confident-this is important because it brings power to the presentation, and shows I know my topic. If I am confident, there is a less chance of me stumbling verbally.

2. Organized-this is important because it makes it easier for the audience to be involved in my presentation, and the listener can see my framework.

3. Authentic-this is important because I can speak from experience, and the audience will know they have skin in the game. This means they know they can learn something from my presentation, or that it can be important to them.

4. Generous-this is important because the more I give, the more the audience connects with me and the more they will take away from my presentation. If I am generous with my time, it will show that I am interested in the audience's observations. In addition I could give away my company's product (if I had any).

5. Engaging-this is important because the audience will be able to connect the stories I tell in my presentation with the important learning points.

5 Quick Tips:

1. Let your passion show

2. Make them laugh

3. Optimize your shots

4. Use powerful visuals

5. Simplify your messages

Before presenting, I should reflect on my strengths and weaknesses as a presenter. This is so I can know what to improve in my presenting, and how I am going to overcome my challenges. My strengths as a presenter would be eye contact, and being confident because I memorize my presentations, so I don't end up using note cards. This way, my full attention can be on my audience, and I won't verbally stumble since I will know what I am going to say by heart. The fact that I won't have any note cards will allow me to maintain eye contact with my audience throughout the whole presentation. In addition, I am quite organized since usually I plan out when I am going to interact with my audience, and I always have my presentation split up into sections, so I know what I am going to focus on when. My presentation would be authentic because I have been writing poetry since first grade, so I would have experience in writing as well as would have experienced the first-hand emotions of wanting to share or publish my work, but not being able to because of my lack of confidence. Finally, I would be quite generous, because at the end of my presentation I would be willing to answer questions. This would show my audience that I value their questions, opinions, and comments about my presentation or topic.

Things that may be challenging for me when I present during the Exhibition is probably being engaging. This is because I have a hard time putting emotion in my voice meaning, sometimes I end up sounding monotone. In addition, when ever I do a PowerPoint or poster, I end up putting too much text on my slides or paper. So, I need to work on simplifying my messages and just getting right to the point.

What I will do to overcome these challenges is ask my dad to present my presentation for me, so that I can see what it should sound like, or how I should change the emotion in my voice based on what I am talking about. This would be helpful because my dad has had professional experience in presenting, since he has to make and present presentations as part of his job. In addition, I could try presenting in front of others and get their opinions on how I could improve in my tone. When it comes to simplifying my messages, I could take out the little details that I would normally put as text on my PowerPoint and poster, and instead just write the main ideas. In my presentation, I could verbally add in the details and build upon my main idea while I talk and present.

In conclusion, using the TED Talks I determined what makes a good presenter. In addition, I reflected on myself, and determined my strengths and weaknesses in presenting, as well as created a plan on how to overcome my challenges. With that, I conclude this blog post.