6.3.2019

The past lessons have been about slide design, so for today, Mr. Paterson introduced us to the presenting aspect of a presentation through an example. From this, I learned the importance of practice, as well as being able to improvise. When Mr. Paterson was doing his speech , I noticed that his hand gestures were helping the audience pay attention. Like how an intermission can charge the dopamine in one's body through adding puns, perhaps sudden movements in the speaker may help ignite the nerve cells. I was searching through the web for videos of past winners of an English presentation contest. The winners of 2018 can be seen simulating a good example and a bad example of helping a person. They were not only explaining the difference but also acting it out which by reading the judges comments, were given praise. Since I was only able to remember that particular scene, a sudden change in body movement and the use of stage may be a method to increase dopamine. In Mr. Paterson's case, the part when he explained to us about the peeling of the bark using special tools was memorable, in which he reenacted it with his hands. Though a reason for me remembering this can be because I saw the video, a partial cause can be from Mr. Paterson acting it out. Whether this thought is not true, I've learned that there is a strong connection between memorability and adrenaline.

When it comes to presentations, I think the motto "practice makes perfect" can be applied, in terms of improvising as a way of practice. I've heard that improvisation can help improve communication skills since it forces you to come up with something on the spot. If a person only follows a script for when buying vanilla flavored ice cream, it would help with communicating smoothly, and no mistakes would be made. However, if the ice cream parlor runs out of ice cream, the script will become no use. Creating a script and practicing it for the presentation will help the audience understand the concept, and this practice will be really effective for that particular presentation. Despite that, that practice may not help you from buying ice cream since a script about classroom design is not going to get you anywhere. When I first heard of having to practice, the image that popped into my mind was writing a script and practicing to memorize that information and interpreted practice makes perfect as writing a script will create a perfect presentation. If we practice using improvisation, though it takes more time than reading from a piece of paper, not only can the audience understand the main factors, it can also help with daily life. The more we get used to thinking on the spot, the more we can challenge ourselves, whether it be sharing ideas in a group meeting, or just some small talk to the neighbors. Some people may prefer to memorize from a script. Although a script can help, it can only help in a particular situation.

With what I've reflected today, I was able to rethink the definition of practice. In the musical world, practicing can be defined as repetition because improving technical skills will need time and constant do-overs. This can also be applicable to presentations because repeating the key information will help build a coherent speech. In addition, I've learned that the tools of improvisation can be utilized so that I can utilize my vocabulary to the fullest, and also enjoy having eye contact with people, rather than focusing on remembering lines.