So, it’s probably no surprise that I was nervous about
presenting for journal club.
I had prepared – a lot. My slides were done, my notecards
were made, and my presentation had been practiced many times (including at
4am, in a lounge… sorry people who live near me!). But it still didn’t feel
like enough.
I guess it was a good thing when I finally got up to the
front of the room, heard a beep, panicked and thought it was the timer
starting, and leapt into my speech. Turns out it hadn’t been the timer, and I
was just confused. But it saved me time worrying, which was great, since I
hadn’t spent time worrying silently (not silently) beforehand (I had. For like
a week.).
In all seriousness, the worst part was the anticipation.
Although my presentation was by no means fantastic, I felt infinitely better
after it was over. It actually reminded me of my cross country skiing and
running races in high school; I would be extremely nervous all day before the
meet, but as soon as I started, the nerves completely left.
For that reason, one thing I would definitely go back and
change if I could would be to present earlier. I chose to go on day 8. However,
after I had seen how well everyone had done presenting on day 5, I think it was
more stressful. What if I was the one person who really messed up while
presenting? I also would have chosen to go earlier within the WF day 8 group,
since, as I said earlier, the anticipation was a bit rough.
The other thing I would have done differently is practice
more. Yes, I had run through the presentation quite a few times, making the
goal time. But if I had done it a few more times, I might have been better
prepared for any surprises that were thrown at me during the actual
presentation.
In summary, I really should have started my preparations
earlier and presented earlier. Though, that’s much easier for me to say now
than it would be to have actually done it, with my other classwork. But we’ll
see if I can manage a bit better in the future.
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