Since doing my HNC and HND I have had the opportunity to present to the class and to industry professionals. We have had a selection of scenarios to including informal class presentations at the end of projects, and my personal favourite, the enthusiasm assignment, for which I presented the work of Mr Bingo. I managed to include audio/visual clip and some dynamic features that the Keynote program can run. We also presented in class to Chris Malbon, Penny from Mammalcreate, The lovely ladies at Tree Aid, then we had the opportunity to visit Fanatic, Halo and will be seeing Mr B & Friends to present work at their offices. This is always more nerve wracking leaving familiar territory. I find going first is often a good strategy for me as I don't have time to overthink anything. The audience has nobody to compare you to and my peers who are watching are less focus on me and are more concerned with their own presentations at that point. Although this worked against me when we presented our portfolios to Halo as my peers were able to learn from my mistakes and I found they got to demonstrate a much wider repertoire of skills and work than I did.

The bigger the audience the more daunting that can be too. Breathing, slowing the pace down and knowing your subject so well that you don't need a script or written prompts can really help with nerves and being able to articulate your ideas in a way that you might do in a one to one session. I also like to pick key people to talk to, so I can trick my brain into feeling like I am having a conversation, which is far less intimidating. The other thing I found that helped enormously was to be sat down if possible, It feels more natural and reduces the desire to move or fidget which can be distracting to the audience.

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In terms of improvement, this is difficult because I feel I perform quite well at this task.

For future successes, as mentioned above:

• A really thorough understanding of my project or subject is helpful.

• Going first or early on if there is a group. 

• Sitting if appropriate 

• Speaking directly to key audience members (the person who is either marking your project or deciding whether to hire you!)

• Lastly, I might ensure I have either an amusing anecdote or some interesting facts to convey as an aside to draw the audience in, and hopefully make me/my work more memorable.

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