Problem solving/critical thinking, and technical expertise are the two competencies that I was best able to emphasize and verbally express in the presentation. By going into the details of my past projects, I have demonstrated not only my abstract thinking skills, but also my passion to apply my ME major in solving practical problems. The inclusions of software competency and past nanotech research experiences further consolidate my technical expertise. However, effective communication is the one competency that I feel I wasn’t able to convey adequately. This aspect is also critical for the research position, and I should have mentioned more about experiences of how I collaborated and communicated with research partners.
In terms of strengths, my opening and main body obtained the highest marks from the feedbacks. This shows that I have clearly outlined the goals of the presentation, thus enabling the audience to follow my flow of ideas. Another strength is that I have effectively answered the questions posed in the scenario with specific details and examples. These elements add to my credibility and make the sell more convincing in general. The first area of improvement is my ending. I did not successfully structure the presentation to have enough time for a proper ending, which felt rushed. My verbal communication is not strong either, as I should have been more confident and spoken louder.
I have received multiple feedbacks about my volume. For instance, one of my peers suggested that I “speak louder and make eye contact.” Indeed, I have realized that my volume was too low to effectively engage the entire audience. I could have been more considerate about the audience sitting at the back and spoken with more confidence and higher volume. Another peer feedback is that I should “have a more obvious end to your sell.” In response to this problem, I could have used one of the common phrases to sum up my presentation, and include a short conclusion at the end to make the structure more complete.
In response to the feedbacks and self-evaluation, I have come up with three action steps to improve my future performance. During the drafting phase, I will be more aware of the importance of each section in the outline. Upon completion, I will check if I have written effective introduction, main body, and ending. During the rehearsals, I will familiarize myself with the presentation as much as possible. I will memorize the outline of my presentation so that I can be more confident. During the actual presentation, I will try to focus more on audience engagement and content delivery than the content itself. I will speak louder and make adequate eye contact with the audience members.
In conclusion, the grades that assign for my performance are: 6 for Oral Delivery of 60 Second Sell; 8 for Response to Behavior Based Questions; 8 for Effort on Written Reflection Paper. I gave Oral Delivery the lowest point because I believe that the consistency in peer feedbacks reflects a real problem in my presentation style. This is also an area that I wish to improve on the most. Response to Behavior Based Questions obtained high marks because I was very prepared for the questions and gave satisfying answers. The overall evaluation for the entire assignment is thus averaged at 7.3 points.