Self-reflection of my performance "5 things happened to me in 2019"

In our first class we were given a very interesting task. We were supposed to make a presentation about main events that happened in the previous year and tell about them to the audience. Honestly, I did not expect that we could perform in front of people the day we had our first class. Fortunately, we had some time to prepare for this activity, though I still felt quite nervous because our speech was recorded in a video. Videos were needed for self-reflection of our performances, so our home work was to point out 3 things that we liked about our speech and 3 things we wanted to improve.

Here is my video:

In my opinion, my performance about the last year was not as bad as I thought it could be, though there were many mistakes that I did. I would like to mention advantages of my speech now.

·                   First of all, I was satisfied by the way I made people laugh and they gave some feedback to me. Besides, I consider that I can be proud of myself because despite the fact that I was super anxious, I still tried to smile and my speech sounded more or less natural.

·                   Secondly, I liked that I appealed to the knowledge of my group mates about a Japanese musician Akira Yamaoka. I knew that somebody would answer to my question because I remember that at least one person was familiar with his music. However, I disliked the way I did not answer to the feedback I got; I should have said something like “Oh that’s good that you know him”. Sadly, I just ignored it.

·                    Thirdly, I found it great that I was honest with people that listened to me. I did not try to lie on purpose to make impression on the audience. I may be not quite right, but I think it is necessary to tell the truth while giving a talk in front of a public, because otherwise they will not have trust in you. Obviously, one should avoid being too perfectly frank, but, in my point of view, telling true facts about personal life and feelings lets people to be closer to a speaker. It causes empathy and credence.

As for disadvantages of my performance, I bet there are more than three of them. 

·                   The first thing I was mad about my speech was that its speed was so slow and I made so many pauses. It shows that for now I do not have enough skills to talk on the spot or talk after a short preparation effectively.  I kept saying a word “and” and used it as a filler. Unfortunately, I guess one can get annoyed by hearing this word so often. I should have used other linking words and connectors. Also I need to learn to speak without making pauses. Additionally, I disliked that I failed to finish my talk correctly because it is logical to make some conclusions about your speech and thank the audience for attention. I did not do it and realized that it was wrong only after watching the video.

·                   Apart from making mistakes in grammar, I also used very primitive language and simple vocabulary. I did not think of making my speech sound more beautiful and interesting. Thus, I should work on enhancing my vocabulary and learning grammar rules.

·                   The next thing I was disappointed by is related with body language. First of all, I made unnecessary movements that looked quite strange. For example, it was not really nice to see in the video that I tried to adjust my glasses so many times. Secondly, I sometimes avoided having eye contact with the audience. I looked at them, but I glanced at the smart board all the time as if there was something so important that helped me to keep speaking. I should not have done it because eye contact is crucial while giving a public speech. Moreover, it was wrong that I paid attention to the person who was coming through a door because professional orators do not usually get distracted by anything.

Taking into account what I said before, I came to a conclusion that there are a lot of things should be improved about my public speaking skills.

So, that is it for today’s post. I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading it, I will be glad if you share your opinions about it in the comments below.

It's Sai

22.02.2020