"Every cloud has a silver lining"

Few days ago I had the opportunity to present my research work in the department seminar. It happened becos I was "gatal" asking my supervisor about the possibility of having a practice talk before presenting in the coming conference at christchurch. I told her that I just wanted to present in front of her. To my surprise, she said it would be better if we go for the department seminar. Oh No.. (habis la aku..!) I was so scared and nervous to hear that it is the time to share the outcomes of the systematic review with the people in the dept and she is expecting a big number of audience. Oh No...! Since it was one the requirements for the PhD provisional goals, the expectation would be higher. So instead of having a 15 or 20 minutes, I was asked to give a 40 minutes presentation plus 20 minutes for Q&A. I know that I dont have a choice. Full stop. I have to pass it through and the sooner I get rid of it, the better it would be. Syukur Alhamdulillah I am happy that it goes well, am glad that it is over :D

I found that it was difficult and tough to gain back the momentum since I have not engage in teaching or lecturing for more than a year. I remember that the last teaching I did in UIA was in semester 1, 2006/2007 session. Nevertheless, "Practice makes perfect". I believe that even though it will not be a perfect one, at least with consistent practice and continuous learning, you can gain a considerable confidence in your public speaking. Below are some of the tips that I have used:

1) Create presentation slides and ensure that there is a continuity of stories between the slides
2) Browse in the internet to see video of some of the experts who give training on effective presentation, so that you can get some ideas on how to improve your talk. (Note: Youtube has a numerous good free video for you to watch, for instance type "effective presentation" or "Doug stevenson" on the search box)
3) Where needed, make some notes on what is key point that you want say on each slides
4) Where necessary, have a proper script for the welcoming part, such as greetings the audience, thanking them, introducing yourself, and there you go. The most important part is the first few minutes where you have to start your talk, after that insyaAllaah all the butterflies goes away :-)
5) When you have complete your slides, and have already practice it on your own, then seek a friend (preferably those in the same domain as yours) to comment on your slides and presentation. I really thank Yati, for spending her precious time to listen and comment on my presentation, and she has given a very good comment on my slides. Most importantly, she had pointed out what are the weaknesses in the slide, and propose some suggestions. I am so glad and indebted for her contributions. SO, Friends are really important. Have a good connection with them.
6) Practice, practice, practice. Since I had only one day for the practice, I make full use of the time to practice, no matter whether I was in the kitchen for cooking, or in the bathroom for showering, etc etc.
7) Last but not least, pray a lot!! HE is the one who always listen to our duas & prayers. Have a consistent hajat prayer, and do it as much as you can. You can also recite some ayah from the holy Quran: Surah Taha (verses 20-28 ), and Surah Al Baqarah (verses 32). After all the efforts, have confidence and Tawakkal to Allah.

I hope this is beneficial to you my lovely blog readers :-)