Therefore, this statement might very well be true however what I learned from Mary McNulty’s talk on Friday was that being comfortable in front of an audience can come naturally or can be an acquired skill through practice. Mrs McNulty briefed us on the key elements of a good and bad presentation. Some of the good included being informed on a topic and confidence. Some of the bad were such as being fidgety and clearly nervous. She then requested groups of us to separately walk up in front of the class and greet them and act confident which I think made us all feel a little bit more comfortable with each other. 

Personally, I would not might presenting in front of a group if I was well prepared on a topic . I obviously would need practice to perfect my skills but thankfully I would not place public speaking up anywhere near ‘death’. 

In response to Leigh’s statement of  ‘’I personally believe peoples fear of public speaking is mostly to do with the fear of being judged’’  I myself think this is very true for a large amount of people as I stated above , however once we realize that people are not there to judge you personally it gets much easier to put it past yourself and overcome this fear.

 

During Marys session I learnt a lot of different key tips for a good presentation. For example, you need an introduction, the main body (3 key themes) and a conclusion. It is also very important to be engaging and interactive with your audience. Overall, I found the session with Mary was very helpful and I learnt a lot.

 

In response to Daniel Q's entry I agreed that society can be very judging and giving a talk in front of a group of people can be very daunting. Yet realistically the audience is just trying to take in the information you are giving them not paying much attention to you as such. 

In response to Eliza Connolly’s entry, I firmly agree that it is extremely important to be “engaging and interactive” with the audience. By just reading out points from a power point you will quickly lose the audience’s attention, while also giving the impression that you have no passion for the subject in which you are speaking about. 

Therefore, this statement might very well be true however what I learned from Mary McNulty’s talk on Friday was that being comfortable in front of an audience can come naturally or can be an acquired skill through
practice. Mrs McNulty briefed us on the key elements of a good and bad presentation. Some of the good included being informed on a topic and confidence. Some of the bad were such as being fidgety and clearly nervous. She then requested groups of us to separately
walk up in front of the class and greet them and act confident which I think made us all feel a little bit more comfortable with each other. 

Personally, I would not might presenting in front of a group if I was well prepared on a topic . I obviously would need practice to perfect my skills but thankfully I would not place public speaking up anywhere near
‘death’. 

In response to Leigh’s statement of  ‘’I personally believe peoples fear of public speaking is mostly to do with the fear of being judged’’  I myself think this is very true for
a large amount of people as I stated above , however once we realize that people are not there to judge you personally it gets much easier to put it past yourself and overcome this fear.

 

1.     Introduction 

2.     The Main Body (with 3 key themes)

3.     Conclusion

 

Overall, I found Friday’s session with Mary McNulty very helpful and informative and hopefully with the information and tips she gave us, I will not find public speaking as much of a daunting task as I once did. 

 

In response to Eliza’s entry, I agree when she says that oral professional communication can be a leant skill with practice. I defiantly agree with this statement as like anything in life, you need to practice it to get better at it and the more you practice it the better you will become at it. I believe that oral professional communication is a very important skill to have and can be very beneficial no matter what type of career you go into.

In the lecture on Friday with Mary McNulty we learned a lot about the key notes to the art of public speaking. Mary showed us how to present to the audience. Firstly, you must introduce yourself, your topic and your theme to the audience. You must dominate the space and have your body open. Most importantly you must not read off your slides and must make eye contact with your audience.

In response to Harrys Entry, I agree that if you did not do debating in school, public speaking is an overwhelmingly under trained skill. I think we should have been encouraged more in school to participate in public speaking tasks. This would of allowed us to prepare better mentally to prepare presentations in front of an audience and would not have students dreading to speak in front of the class.

In response to Daniel Lucey’s entry. I also am going to try focus on presentation skills such as “body language, facial expressions and eye contact” . Mary spoke about this a lot and I found it interesting that everyone was intimidated being at the top of the class as this is something we will all hopefully get used to over time.