Conor Ward

Professor McLaughlin

April 26, 2015

Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric

TED Talk reflection

When I began to prepare for my TED talk, I was not sure where I should begin. I felt as

though I had a lot of information from my research paper that I could use. However, I knew that

I could not use it all. So to make the best presentation and argument that I could, I decided to

read through my research paper and make note of my strongest points. I then took these points

and tried to find corresponding examples and quotes to provide evidence to support these points.

It was after these steps, that I had an idea of what I was going to discuss in my TED talk. Once I

found the points, examples, and quotes that I was going to use in my presentation, I began to

search for images to use in my slideshow. In my search for images, I tried to use the ones that

would best correspond with the points I was trying to make. Additionally, I found the story of

Kobe Bryant to help support my assertion that Social Media helps to facilitate open conversation

between athletes an fans. I decided to use this story in particular, because I originally came

across it during my original research, but was not able to find a place to use it in my paper.

After putting together my main points and slideshow, I decided that it would be time to

practice. I went about this process by first creating a quick outline of the points I wanted to make

and then assign them to the corresponding slides. I then walked-though my talk by going through

each slide, looking at the outline, and then simply talking about what I planned to say there. This

helped me get a sense of what point corresponded with each slide and what I wanted to say to

provide evidence for each point. After this, I began to present to myself by going through the

whole presentation and simply talking about my main points and the evidence I used to support

them. This made the project very manageable, because I was simply able to talk through my pre-

sentation as opposed to regurgitating a pre-written argument. After I felt confident with talking

through my presentation, I decided it was time to present it front of people. I ran through my

project several times in front of different groups of friends, until I felt confident that I was ready

to present in class.

Before my presentation, I was very nervous and sat in class running through the presenta-

tion several times in my head. However, once I got up to present I was less nervous and I would

like to think that my presentation went very well. I did not get tripped up as much as I thought I

would. Overall, I think the presentation went well, but I was nervous about the timing, because I

seemed to have gone through the presentation quicker than usual, but this is likely a result of me

being nervous and not having a proper grip on the time I took.

In conclusion, I think my TED talk ran a lot smoother than I expected it too. Addition-

ally, it was definitely of great relief when I finished. It took a great load off of my back and I no

longer had the presentation looming over my head. I definitely view this as a positive experience,

because even though it was nerve racking at first, I was able to complete the project without any

major miscues, or at least without any that I know of.