"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 :-)

An evening walk at St Heliers bay

Just to share some of the photos taken during an evening walk at St Heliers Bay last weekend. St Heliers bay is not far from the famous and hectic Mission Bay, about 6 km from Auckland city. These are also the areas where you can see multi-million dollar houses. (sorry dude, not in the pics.). Enjoy such a beautiful view of Allah's creation, subhanAllaah ...

Chepot yg kusayang

Inilah Chepot, nama sebenar ialah Spot, berusia 8 bulan 10 hari :-) berasal dari Glenfield, Northshore. Chepot nih lah peneman aku siang & malam, hidup mmg tak boring langsung dgn chepot sbb dia suka layan aku borak.. hahaa.
Mungkin ni minggu terakhir bersama chepot sbb tuan dia balik auckland hari ni.. dah cukup 3 bulan aku diamanahkan utk menjaga chepot.. Alhamdulillah chepot sihat, makin buntal, makin cumel, dan makin bijak! Nnt sure aku rindu giler kat chepot...isk..sedihnyer.. :-(

Salwa yg comel..

Saje nak display pose menarik Salwa si kucing comel berasal dari Albany, Auckland. Kucing ni mengingatkan aku pada Labun, kucing yg aku tinggalkan nun jauh di Tmn Perwira Indah, Gombak,. ape citer la labun tuh..
p/s: Wahai tuan empunya salwa, kasi la saya pinjam salwa barang seminggu dua.. plus food dia sekali ya! hehe..

The best Gun shop in NZ!!

Are you a serious shooter? Jgn tak sangka kat NZ ni ada kedai jual senapang & pistol. Hahaa..the best gun shop plak tu..Anyway I am not going to release the name of the place, takut nnt kang tak pasal2 plak ada org pegi beli senjata kat situ lps baca blog I nih..huhuuu....not my fault!

Panas.. Panas...!

hhehee.. best betui tgk result p/raya semalam.. itu lah.. hidup ini kan bagai putaran roda.. tak semestinya sentiasa berada di atas.. Tahniah diucapkan kpd yg menang...semoga menjadi pemimpin yg benar2 amanah dan adil memperjuangkan kepentingan dan hak rakyat jelata, jgn hampakan harapan seluruh rakyat m'sia.. Perubahan harus ditangani dgn jayanya.. rakyat harus berhenti dripd menjadi terlalu emosi..Bukan setakat perubahan, segala kesilapan yg telah dan sedang berlaku harus diatasi secara bijaksana. Tampuk kepimpinan yg baru seharusnya meneruskan perjuangan, bukan lagi masa utk berleka-leka..Justeru pemimpin harus lah bijaksana melaksanakan t/jawab yg telah diamanahkan demi menyelamatkan negara kita yg tercinta. Semoga Malaysia terus aman, damai, makmur, dan maju, daripada segala segi yakni, pembangunan rohani & sahsiah haruslah seimbang & seiring dgn kemajuan ekonomi.

Sekian dulu karangan dan liputan setelah melihat apa yg tersurat dan tersirat.. he hee.. :-)

Keputuan penuh p/raya:
http://pru12.spr.gov.my/spr/laporan/5_KeputusanKeseluruhan.php

Keranamu Chepot!

Malam semalam aku tido lambat betul..akibatnya aku mengantuk yg amat sangat hari ni... ni semua chepot punye pasal la... dia tiba-tiba sembelit..so aku terpaksa temankan dia..takut kot jadi apa-apa.. kesian betul.. ntah kenapa lately ni...dia selalu sembelit.. sebelum ni tak pernah cam tu pun.. agaknye mungkin sbb dia dah makin besar..makin panjang...makin kuat makan dan makin chomeyyy....huhuh nnt aku sure sedih terpaksa berpisah dgn chepot bila tuan dia dtg nanti... Oh chepot..kenapa kita harus berpisah di saat aku semakin sayang padamu...huk.. huk.. sob...sob..sedihhh...:-(

Siapakah chepot?? biarlah korang meneka-neka dalam kesamaran bak lagu Ibnor riza tuh.. haha dah 2 bulan lebih chepot tinggal kat umah sewa ni. Tapi baguslah dia cepat dapat menyesuaikan diri dan dah makin bijak skrang ni.. chepot...chepot la la la laa laaaaa... (ini lagu kegemaran chepot)

ok la takat ni dulu citer pasal chepot...