Individual reflection is the evaluation of one self’s actions and behavior during a particular event (Quinton and Smallbone 2010, p. 127). Conventionally, it is our thoughts about how we carried ourselves during the event. Through this process, we try to analyse how things unfolded as we genuinely think about what we did or did not do and why (Quinton and Smallbone 2010, p. 128). The purpose of an individual reflection is to identify what influenced our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and actions and improve on them (Husebø, O'Regan and Nestel 2015, p. 371). Some of the most common types of reflection are experiential reflection and reading reflection (Nestel and Bearman 2015, p. 351). In experiential reflection, we focus on what we have gone through whereas, in reading reflection, we think critically about what we are taught. When reflecting, an individual usually tries to find how to improve future actions (Nestel and Bearman 2015, p. 354).
Reflection on Our Power Point Presentation
The professor gave us a topic to research in groups of 3-4 students after which each group had to present their findings. Given that I wanted a good grade in that unit, it was paramount that I considered my group members carefully. The teacher also gave the condition that each member of a group had to participate in the presentation. Therefore, I took the initiative of looking for cooperative classmates who wanted a quality grade like me. In order to ensure that everyone was fully involved in the project, everyone was given an item to research on for a few days. Being their leader, I kept reminding them to work on it to avoid last-minute rushes. Indeed, it is a common knowledge that no one can do an excellent presentation on what they have not adequately researched on. Thus, with the professor’s condition in the back of our mind, everyone did their part, and we finally agreed to meet to compile our work and prepare for the big day, which was the day for presentations.
Preparing our group for the presentation involved meeting thrice every week, with each member presenting their item before the others. Suddenly, trouble struck as two members in my team were not very cooperative, with late arrivals and absenteeism from meetings. It was frustrating; nonetheless, the other members went about their work correctly. During our mock presentation, I also noticed that another member was timid and nervous when presenting but we worked on that until he was comfortable.
On the presentation day, as we watched other groups deliver their work, I was pretty confident about our chances of success. I knew that my group, despite some challenges, had done its best to score a good grade. Being their leader, I decided to be the one to introduce our project. I took it upon myself to encourage my scared members to toughen up since I felt we were ready. When our time came, however, things took a different turn. Usually, I am a confident person but being in front of so many people startled me a bit, but I was able to recover.
According to Bevan et al. (2008, p. 7), for one to succeed in any eye-to-eye presentation, confidence is necessary. However, we only get confidence when we have adequately researched our item. It is the mastery of the content and fluency in the language that guarantees an excellent presentation (Bevan et al. 2008, p. 11). At first, I handled myself well, but then within a few minutes, it was in ruins. I started to be nervous and could not maintain eye contact with my audience which is suicidal in such projects. My problems began when a section of students began complaining that I was not audible. As stated by Muir, Ryan and Drury (2010), this reaction completely threw me out of my game, and I was trembling. As the presentation continued, it worsened for me because I could hardly pronounce even some famous words, which led to loud complaints from the audience. Apparently, all the practice we had done was a waste of time owing to the kind of embarrassment that I had put myself through during the presentation. The study conducted by Boud, Keogh and Walker (2013) indicates that it is normal to be frustrated in such situations and indeed, I felt disappointed in myself because my group and I expected an excellent presentation. The other members were now shaking visibly. All I could do was to read to the other students what they already saw in the slides since I was so afraid that I could not explain what I had prepared for my short notes.
Just as Johnson and SSH (2008) identified in their work, some members of my audience started poking fun with cheeky behaviors here and there, which ensured that there was no chance for me to get back to my original game plan. Unfortunately, when my other group members took over, it was the same as their leader, disastrous! It was so bad that the lecturer had to cut us short because we totally lost our audience and the hall was now very noisy. In line with the research conducted by Hulme and Forshaw (2009), I realised that as a leader, I failed myself as well as my colleagues. The big question is that how were they going to be okay if their leader was already scared? From the expectations that my team and I had, it was a relatively poor performance. In any presentation, it is not easy to listen to boring speeches just like the one we delivered (Bailey and Garner 2010, p. 191).
Conclusion
Importantly, by reflecting on that day, I learned a lot. Being self-confident is as essential as it is to master the content. I can reiterate that I failed that day because instead of presenting to the audience, I felt as if I was addressing myself. Stage fright is a critical issue that must be dealt with if one is to succeed. Through individual reflection, I learned from my mistakes, and now, I believe am a better presenter.
References
Bailey, R. and Garner, M., 2010. Is the feedback in higher education assessment worth the paper it is written on? Teachers' reflections on their practices. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(2), pp.187-198.
Bevan, R., Badge, J., Cann, A., Willmott, C. and Scott, J., 2008. Seeing eye-to-eye? Staff and student views on feedback. Bioscience Education, 12(1), pp.1-15.
Boud, D., Keogh, R. and Walker, D., 2013. Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Routledge.
Hulme, J. and Forshaw, M., 2009. Effectiveness of feedback provision for undergraduate psychology students. Psychology Learning " Teaching, 8(1), pp.34-38.
Husebø, S.E., O'Regan, S. and Nestel, D., 2015. Reflective practice and its role in simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), pp.368-375.
Johnson, R. and SSH, Q.E.O., 2008. Feedback to students on their work and progress. Feedback.
Muir, M.M., Ryan, L.M. and Drury, H., 2010, September. Feedback in the Sciences: what is wanted and what is given. In Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (formerly UniServe Science Conference) (Vol. 16).
Nestel, D. and Bearman, M., 2015. Theory and simulation-based education: Definitions, worldviews and applications. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), pp.349-354.
Quinton, S. and Smallbone, T., 2010. Feeding forward: using feedback to promote student reflection and learning–a teaching model. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 47(1), pp.125-135.
