Thesis Presentation Reflection

My individual expectations for a thesis presentation are 1) it is formal, and 2) it is representative of a yearlong research project.  I just always think to the presentations when I was a ninth grader.  Those are what I want mine to emulate.  I do not want to bore people; I want them to be interested in what I am doing.  I think the greatest challenge to completing a professional and engaging thesis presentation is forming it to obtain the right response from the audience.   For me the most terrifying part of it will be standing on the stage.  Just thinking about it makes me want to abandon everything.  The one thing that I am depending on is excitement.  By that I mean loving my thesis so much that my energy and excitement transfer from the stage to the audience.  If I were to design an assignment to help a student prepare for this presentation I would have the presenter practice again and again and again to gain confidence.  The more you do something the more comfortable you become.  My presentation will be entirely scripted.  I will not be able to function if I do not have something memorized, otherwise everything I learned would be instantly erased from my mind and I would be frozen on stage.  Since I am doing a fun thesis that I want to be able to demonstrate on stage using another student, I hope that this would connect me to the audience more.  I do not want people to be bored by me nor do I want them to laugh at me.

I went to the thesis rehearsals on Friday, but could not go on Monday.  I was fascinated with Brad’s thesis because his PowerPoint was thorough and aesthetically pleasing which fit his topic in how to make New Orleans’s waterways prettier.  He seemed nervous and his presentation was scripted.  Chris’ presentation was enjoyable because he seemed to really know what he was discussing in his slides.  His enthusiasm for the plankton translated well when instructing the audience.  Chris centralized his presentation around the process and protocol of him working in a lab because that was the “big thing.”  Madison was quite entertaining in her rehearsal on Friday.  I did recommend that she not be as peppy when she presents because it was distracting and, in my opinion, made it not as serious.  In my mind these presentations are serious and formal, although the audience would love her as we did.  I think these presentations showcase the different types of people who are presenting, which gives me a better idea of what to expect and what to think about this aspect of thesis.