Ok, I’m going to be honest here. I’m
basing this final post (FINAL POST YEA!) completely on how other presenters
have done it so far. Hey, I’m just a freshman guy. Like everyone else who
presented today, I have felt a great sense of relief. I’m looking forward to a
stress-free week in gifted. Since I finished, I’ve been able to concentrate on
other things in my life such as baseball. I feel that I have a more balanced
life now that I’m not worrying about a big presentation. Although I think
spring break might have helped with that too.
Overall, I felt very good about my
presentation. My goal was to have a more audience-involved TED talk compared to
the first few that were given, since my project was more that kind of style. So
I think I’ll get into the grading portion now.
Time: I timed myself when I practiced,
and I was always right around the 4-mintue mark, which gave me an ideal amount
of time to actually preform my tricks at the end. I could really tell when I
was up on stage, but I felt that my pace was good.
Visual Component: I know my PowerPoint
wasn’t exactly a work of art, but I wanted to be the focus, not the screen. I
try to use slideshows as my “note cards” also.
Content: I feel that I got my major
points across. I talked about my process a lot, which I believe was important
versus just doing tricks for 4 minutes. I thought the Globetrotters theme music
was a nice touch when I did show off what I had learned. I thought my soccer
intro was good too, even though I don’t have good enough voice infliction to
completely pull off what I was trying to do. As far as my conclusion, I just
hope Nike doesn’t sue me for patent infringement when I shared the “Just Do It”
theme.
Organization: I usually struggle with
intros, transitions, and conclusions. When I was putting my script together, I
took me a while to find a way to get all of my ideas to flow together. But once
I did, I thought that it turned out really well, especially for me.
Delivery: I know that I knew what I was
talking about, but it was difficult for me sometimes to phrase things so the
audience could understand them. I always assume that people are well-versed in topics
that I am, basketball for instance (Where did that come from?). When I
presented, I struggled to get the words out a few times. That is why I stumbled
a little. I bet you could tell that it was difficult for me to explain who the
Harlem Globetrotters were to Ian. For me, it was like trying to describe colors
to a blind person.
The TED Commandments: My topic wasn’t
one that was going to be world changing no matter what way I twist it. So I
stayed with a more casual theme. I do think that this is the best talk I’ve
ever given, even though I haven’t given many public talks. As far as connecting
with the audience and showing the real me, I think that was the best aspect of
my talk.
In the end, I think I was worth about a
26/30. My talk won’t be world-changing, and there was definitely room for
improvement in my delivery. This is one of the first projects I’ve ever enjoyed
doing, and I now have developed the lifelong skill of being a street performer!
This is Jeremy S, future Globetrotter,
singing out.
