Neyva Gonzalez

April 23, 2020

Professor A. Shaw

Honors Sophomore Seminar

1. Activity One: Academic, Personal, and Professional Goal Setting:

1. What did you enjoy about this presentation style? What do you feel you did well during the
presentation?
I really enjoyed that I got to present to a lot of people over three different sessions. It
didn’t feel like I was rambling on too long with one group of people. Further, I liked that I
learned how to make my presentation better as the groups went through. I feel that I did really
well on improving as the presentations went on. I learned the speed that I should be presenting
at, the amount of information I should give for each slide, and the parts that I should highlight
throughout my presentation.

2. What about this presentation style did you find challenging? What area do you feel you could
improve in?

I found it challenging to have to speak in such a quick amount of time. During my first
round, I did not even finish my presentation because I added too many details and felt that my
audience had missed out on learning about one of the life areas that I had written about. I feel
like I could have written a little less on my presentation so that I had a more measured margin as
to what I could go through quickly and add the details while conversing with the people who
were watching my presentation. When I was watching presentations, I thought everyone talking
at one time would bother me, but I didn’t even notice when I was actually presenting.

Add-ons after semester reflection:​ I think that this may have been my favorite presentation style
out of all of them. This may be because I miss seeing and talking to people now that I’m alone
most of the time, but I really enjoy presenting and talking about the things that interest me. I am
also very proud of the presentation I made. It birthed my signature emojis on the edges of my
PowerPoint-style that I utilize now! The first presentation really showed my strengths as a
student, and I am happy that I got to keep becoming a better student throughout the semester. I
definitely think that I talked a lot, though. Even though I am very proud, I have learned over this
semester to sum up my points for a presentation. I often have a lot of things running through my
head and want to say them all at once, but this type of thinking is not best when presenting.

2. Activity Two: Involvement to Impact:

 1. What did you enjoy about this presentation style? What do you feel you did well
during the presentation?

I really enjoyed moving around actually. I felt like staying at the station made me feel
like I was doing one very long presentation, but the movement from group to group
helped me shift from one presentation to another. I also enjoyed that people were
surrounding me this time if that makes any sense. Usually, the groups would create a
semi-circle and I would stand in the middle. It made me feel like a presenter more than
last time which felt more casual. I think I did really well in explaining in-depth about
every single aspect of the diagram, especially because I was physically holding a paper as
opposed to crouching over a computer. Generally, I feel like I did better with the
audience this time around than last time.

2. What about this presentation style did you find challenging? What area do you feel you
could improve in?

As an audience member, I thought that it was kind of difficult because I felt very
stagnant. Movement really helps my mind click into a different presentation, but they
kind of felt like a blend of presentations. Otherwise, I think that as a presenter, the only
thing that I found challenging was to get all of the information presented within the time.
I talked very fast so I did get everything done, but I could improve in shortening my
sentences so that I don’t have to talk so fast.

Add-ons after semester reflection:​ I will admit that moving around made me a little anxious. I
did not admit it during my reflection for some reason, but I remember not understanding or
processing that the presents had to move. It was very odd. I have never done anything like it
before. Although I appreciate thinking back on talking to people, I do remember the significant
amount of anxiety that I had. I do think this an excellent presentation style, though. I am going to
rank this one in third just because I freaked out a little at the beginning, but it would probably
move up to two once I got used to it! Also, now that I am thinking about the semester, I dearly
miss being around Honors people. The whole group has a friendly vibe where not everyone is
your friend, but we all still talk and are comfortable around each other. Besides the anxiety and
missing people, I enjoyed this presentation style.

3. Activity Three: Experiences and Internship Brainstorming:

1. What did you enjoy about this presentation style? What do you feel you did well during the
presentation?

I really enjoyed being able to record myself and watch myself back. That sounds a little
egocentric, but it helped me make sure that what I had said was what I meant to say. If I did not
mean to say what I had stated, I could always go back and re-record myself as opposed to trying
to explain myself further to try and resolve the mistake. I think I did pretty well in explaining
myself and definitely felt like this is the best that I've explained any of my projects because I got
to delete the take that I didn't like and put in the one that I liked. Although I don't think that this
style will be employed in classrooms much once we continue face-to-face classes, I think it's
really beneficial for business presentations or tutorials that I might do in the future.

2. What about this presentation style did you find challenging? What area do you feel you could
improve in?

I found it very hard to look at the camera. As I looked back at all the clips, I can see
myself looking off to the side, and it's because I feel a little awkward talking a computer. I'm
sure that if I did this presentation style two or three more times, I would be able to look at the
camera the entire time to simulate eye contact, but no matter how many takes I did, I always
found myself looking away. I also think that I could improve the volume. I speak very loud, but
my laptop's microphone isn't very good, so if this becomes commonplace, I would definitely
invest in a better microphone.

Add-ons after semester reflection:​ I’m sorry, Dr. Shaw, but this was by far the worse
presentation style. I know that it was a necessary experiment because of our situation, but I hated
it. I got really anxious and was incredibly sweaty. I did like being able to correct my mistakes,
but my presentation felt a little fake. You know when you’re going to confront someone, and you
don’t know what to say, so you come up with something to say. Then, you rehearse it again and
again, and when you finally say it to them, it sounds so ingenuine. That’s kind of what this felt
like. I feel like presentations should be organic, and this one let me be a little too perfect. Also, I
hate looking at myself in the video. I like hearing myself, but it’s so weird seeing yourself.
Maybe I’m weird. I don’t know.

4. Activity Four: POE Brainstorming:

1. What did you enjoy about this presentation style? What do you feel you did well during the
presentation?

I really liked interacting with Dr. Shaw and being able to see her respond to my
presentation! I think I did pretty well in my overall presentation, including my PowerPoint, my
speaking style, and how well I presented the information. When I make a presentation, I always
make sure to add a little more information on the slide so that I am not just repeating what it says
on my slide. Further, I always expand on something else I didn’t mention on the slide, so I think
I did quite an excellent job during my presentation with Dr. Shaw. I also didn’t get nervous, so
I’m quite proud of myself! As I mentioned in previous assignments, I usually get nervous when I
do presentations, but I think that not being able to see someone physically reduces my
nervousness.

2. What about this presentation style did you find challenging? What area do you feel you could
improve in?

I found it challenging to set up the WebEx meeting. I had been in WebEx meetings, but I
have never had to host them or share my screen. I logged on about ten minutes before my
presentation to be able to figure out how to share only my PowerPoint on my screen, make sure
my mic and camera were working, and to get used to seeing myself on the screen. I don’t think
that I could necessarily “improve” in this because I quickly learned how it worked. Still, I do
believe that if this online manner of educating students continues, I could learn how to navigate
more meeting services such as Zoom so I can present to various faculty members who prefer
different services.

Add-ons after semester reflection:​ This presentation absolutely saved my sanity! You never
know how much you miss your professors until you haven’t seen their faces in real-time in a
while. It was such a breath of relief to hear someone else’s voice and mannerisms and have them
be so genuine. You make me so happy, Dr. Shaw, and I had been very distant from that fact
since I hadn’t seen you in so long. Also, every time I make a new presentation, I am more and
more proud. I think I have a good eye and can make things look aesthetically pleasing and
making Powerpoints helps me improve that skill. Lastly, I have figured out how to work WebEx,
Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Facetime as of today, so I’m glad I achieved that goal!

5. Summary:

Rank your preference of presentation style. #1 being your favorite style. #4 being your least
favorite style.

1. My favorite was presentation style one where I presented, and everyone else moved.
2. My second favorite was the WebEx meeting, where I got to present to Dr. Shaw by
sharing my screen.
3. My third favorite was the presentation style, where the presenters had to move around. As
mentioned, it could move up my list, but today, it is number three.
4. Lastly, my least favorite was the presentation, where we filmed ourselves and attached it
to our PowerPoint.

List 3 “take-aways” or “things you learned about yourself” as a presenter AND how you will use
this knowledge in the future.
1. Do not talk too much. I have a lot going on in my head all at once, and I want to dump all
this information out on my audience, but then they’re going to be overwhelmed, and I’m
likely not going to finish my presentation. In the future, I need to summarize information
so that it is concise but still informative.
2. Always check your grammar both verbally and in your presentation. I have been used to
running all my work through Grammarly even if it a simple paragraph because there is
always at least one grammatical error, so I will continue to do that as it has yielded me
good results. I would also practice my presentations beforehand to get an idea of what I
might say and how to say it best.
3. Lastly, always compliment people on what they did well. I appreciate all the great
feedback and encouragement everyone has given me, and I could like to pay it forward to
every presentation I see. Even if it’s just a thumbs-up or a “You did great!” you can make
someone feel so much more confident and proud of their work! I’m so glad I took this
class and learned all these valuable lessons and so many more!