Presentation Critique

This document is a critique of a presentation, analyzing various aspects such as platform presence, organization, use of visual aids, presentation content, and rapport. It provides suggestions for improvement and includes references.

Running head: PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
The inspirational video presentation, which was selected for the paper, is a TED Talk by
Alison Ledgerwood who works as a social psychologist and an associate professor at
University of California (ted.com, 2019).
https://www.ted.com/talks/
alison_ledgerwood_a_simple_trick_to_improve_positive_thinking?language=en
Platform Presence
Stands stiffly or seems unnatural Posture and body language display confidence
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Few gestures, or jerky and unnatural Gestures are appropriate and convey interest,
energy, or enthusiasm
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Attire is inappropriate Physical appearance is appropriate and professional
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Speaks in a monotone or couldn’t be heard Tone of voice is expressive and audible
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2PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
Does not vary expression Facial expression is varied, natural and appropriate
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Little or no eye contact Strong, direct eye contact
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Spoke to the screen, overhead, walls Spoke directly to the audience
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Organization
Objectives/purpose were vague or ambiguous Objectives/purpose were clearly stated
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Slow, shaky start Well thought-out opening
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Disjointed, did not flow well Good structure, logical flow
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Lost attention and interest of audience Held attention and interest

3PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
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Abrupt ending; inconclusive ending Strong closing, with good summary
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Use of Visual Aids
Misspellings, incorrect grammar Correct spelling and grammar
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Aids had too much information, too busy Aids were carefully designed and easy to read
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Used only one visual aid Used multiple visual aids
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Presenter could not operate equipment Operated equipment competently
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Aids detracted from presentation Aids added clarity and emphasis
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4PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
Presentation Content
Dull, dry, boring Friendly, enthusiastic, held interest
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Unnatural humor or in poor taste Used humor appropriately
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Poor examples, little detail or support Used relevant examples, detail and support
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Use of slang, jargon, acronyms without defining Used natural words appropriate for the group and
topic
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Consistently too fast or too slow Varied pace
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Material seemed vague, objectives not met Main points explained clearly and objectives met

5PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
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Presentation was too long or too brief Managed time effectively
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Rapport
Seemed unresponsive to audience Demonstrated a caring attitude
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Little effort to connect on personal level Connected with audience in a positive way
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Used too little or too much self-disclosure Used appropriate self-disclosure
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Sidestepped issues or questions Clearly addressed audience concerns, questions
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6PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
Panicked over unexpected situations Handled mishaps or problem situations
comfortably
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Final Comments:
I was impressed with:
 I was impressed with the utilization of natural words instead of heavy psychological
jargons, which were easily understandable for the audience.
 The examples used for the presentation were simple and not too crowded with words
and figures, which made it easier for the audience to understand and relate the content
with the depicted examples.
 The content or views were backed with relevant studies and researches, which
contributed towards the believability of the speaker’s statements.
 The synchronization of the presentation slides with the statement presented was
efficient and effective.
 The Presentation was delivered with the reflection of efficient utilization of time.
 The content and statements were effectively supported with data and experiment
results.
 Maintained an appropriate amount of eye contact with the audience.
 The speaker used a range of varied expression in the span of the presentation.
 The aims and objective of the presentation or ‘Talk’ was clearly depicted by the
speaker.
 The flow of the content of the presentation was effectively structured.
 The presenter was reflected the ability of handling the presentation equipment
efficiently.
 The PowerPoint presentation aid added clarity and believability to the content.

7PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
 The examples utilized for the presentation contributed effectively towards the
objectives for the ‘Talk’.
 The speaker also tried to connect with the audience in a personal level by stating an
incidence of a conversation with her husband; the conversation was used as an
example in support of the objective.
 The issues with ‘being stuck to the negative’ were clearly defined by presenting
examples like ‘the Economy Vs. Consumer confidence’.
 Lastly, I was impressed with the state of calm in the speaker’s voice, which reflected
the proper understanding of the content and the associated theories.
Suggestions for improvement:
 The speaker can improve and/or increase the use of hand gestures and body
movements, which will reflect the confidence and enthusiasm in the delivery of
content.
 Although, the speaker maintained her calm but the tone and frequency in the voice
modulation could have been better for engaging the attention of the audience.
 Although the attire was decent but it can be a structured in a better way for the
addition of professionalism (Mitrovic et al., 2016).
 The initiating statement of the presentation was an attempted humorous beginning,
which did not hold any relevance to the content or topic to be discussed in the ‘Talk’.
 Although, the presentation included learning elements but it lacked the enthusiasm for
holding the similar interest of the audience.
 The ending could have been better with an effective and with an audience interactive
statement, which could have left the audience in thoughts of bringing change to their
life.
 For optimal results, the speaker could have used more than one visual aid to make the
presentation interactive with short live experiments.

8PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
 The elements of humor in the video presentation were without context and with
unclear motive like in the beginning and at the example of her husband.
 The presentation was a little slow than usual with minimum variation in pace.
Adapted from “Sharpen Your Presentation Skills” by Resources Unlimited, Johnston, IA

9PRESENTATION CRITIQUE
References:
ted.com (2019). A simple trick to improve positive thinking. [Online] Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/alison_ledgerwood_a_simple_trick_to_improve_positive_thinking?
language=en
Mitrovic, A., Dimitrova, V., Weerasinghe, A., & Lau, L. (2016, December). Reflective
experiential learning: Using active video watching for soft skills training.
In Proceedings of the 24th international conference on computers in education. Asia-
Pacific Society for Computers in Education.