Presentation Self-Analysis Sample

Presentation No.1 Reflections and Self-Analysis
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First of all, my goals for this presentation were as listed here. I will refer to these below as I self-analyze and set goals for my next presentation.

1. Successfully achieved purpose / main message?

Reflection: My goal was to convey my passion about the importance of eliminating "exploitation of the weak" in this world and hopefully ignite a similar passion in the audience members by explaining what each of us can do. I was able to do somewhat, but not enough.

Ideas for Improvement: For a short presentation of 3 minutes, I think my topic was too broad and didn't become specific enough to have impact. Focusing only on child labor may have been better, including specific cases and stories. Also, my ideas about what we can do seemed too general and vague. I needed more time to research and consider the topic.

2. Use of voice? (rhythm, emphasis, pausing, variation)

Reflection: My goal was to speak in a fairly, slow serious low key tone to match my message and let the facts speak for themselves. My voice was basically what I wanted it to be, low and serious, but some parts needed more passion.

Ideas for Improvement: I want to speak with even more passion and emphasis and variation. I need to rehearse that. I want to avoid sounding flat by deliberately planning and practicing some extreme variations of volume or rhythm.

3. Use of body language? (posture, gestures, eyes, face)

Reflection: My goal was to stay calm and controlled with a sincere expression and little movement except for a few gestures, but I saw several points that needed improvement.

Ideas for Improvement: For my next presentations, I want to speak without holding notes. Also, I put my hand behind my back and that was a nervous gesture. My body was swaying slightly, so I want to stand straighter. Also, I checked my watch for time, but I want to avoid that.

4. Use of visuals?

Reflection: My goal was to use a few full screen images that show exploitation of the weak. My first slide was effective, but the second slide seemed unfocused with too many images. The third slide had just my key words for what we can do. No visual impact.

Ideas for Improvement: I needed more time to find images or videos that could illustrate my points. My ideas for What can we do? needed to be more specific more in advance of the presentation so that I could brainstorm good ways to use images rather than just text.

5. Preparation & rehearsal process?

Reflection: I started polishing up my rough draft just a few hours before the presentation period, and finished the final version of my slides just a few minutes before the presentation, and did not do a full rehearsal before the video recording. As a result, I felt my content and delivery really lacked polishing.

Ideas for Improvement: For the next presentation, I want to finalize the content at least 24 hours in advance so that I can make some final adjustments and practice my delivery. Also, I want to ask a partner to give me feedback on my rehearsal.