Project Proposal Presentation

Before any project can begin it needs proposed to the right people. In a final years case it's so they know what you're doing incase it is either lacking or over reaching in terms of content and expectations.

When else but Week 1 would you expect to propose your project. 

A very daunting task worth 7.5% not exactly something any student can risk losing so early!

Understandably there are dozens of final year students and only one board of lecturers and professors to hear them all out, so a time limit needs set. This is where the time old favourite Pecha Kucha comes into play.

For those of you unaware of this style of presenting its a time and slide limited powerpoint, 20 slides at 20 Seconds a piece (20x20). No rushing forwards or oops let me jump back, its not unlike an elevator pitch it's quick, clear and concise. Not that any of that matters to me, i'm that sorry case of ummms ahhhs and dramatics flailing (hand gestures) when faced with public speaking. 

Wish i was exaggerating but to any of you unfortunate enough to see me public speak about my own work, will know its just awkward for all involved. 

In a meeting or public speaking discussing someone else's work is a different kettle of fish, it only seems to be my own ideas. I will have plenty of opportunities to try remedy this as there appears to be a presentation and or critique every other week this semester.

Not that nerves is an excuse, bad public speaker or not you should always try face it head first and don't just not show up, but at the same time it can be disheartening to know you've essentially lost 7.5% before you've even begun the project. 

So let's stop beating around the bush and begin ! 

As it is a proposal there will be specific things i will want to cover, the general basics of who what when where and why, then elaborate with alot more whys and hows. 

Part of me thinks how will i fill 20 slides when i have nothing more than the initial facts but then the other part of me says how will i contain my nervous rambling to seven and a half minutes.

But i'm getting ahead of myself! first thing is first, compile and layout all my facts and research so far and see from there what i have too much off and not enough of. 

Hopefully my content and visuals will make up for my lack of public speaking skills. 

After compiling to work i have tried laying it out in an attempt of a narrative.

This reflective blog, my personal academic diary, sketchbooks and at least two journals will be key assets in terms of project management and self analysis, if a journal needs to be shown for group discussion down the line in a few weeks it will likely be the less messy and chaotic of the two. So far one has the tidy key points i need to remember and will likely bring into meetings, the other is chaos and all i'm doing is compiling work for a proposal. 

When planning a narrative i start in very basic structures, such as a start middle end, topics in this case will be what the project is from the clients perspective and what it is for me. those two topics overlap but are inherently different. 

Basic plan is as Follows. 

Start: Introduction self/project

aims for the client

middle: deliverables

how this will achieve my aims 

end: whats next.

As i begin the power point i will aim to restrict each of those topics to 4 slides each. preferably with four associated sub topics, creating 20 slides with purpose.

Time and task management will be key in professional workflow in this module so alot will be planned and even coloured coded which gave me the idea to colour code the slides by topic. a swatch of five colours gradient from initial discussion to deliverables and end.

Because the project is in such early stages and still needs proposed and confirmed it is more discussing what the project is what ill do and where it could go from there but that's mostly bullet points and headlines. Not overly interactive or flowing with content but then again that's the point of both a proposal and pecha kucha.

Hopefully the panel will have an idea what i'm aiming for and be able to tell me if its a lost cause.

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Thirty minutes early translated to an hour and a half early thanks to buses and presentation scheduling running behind. Panicking in a stress filled hallway flipping through a flashcard notebook doesn't cover that hour and a half of preparation time.

The actual presentation went alright, which is a nice way of saying it was possibly the most mediocre presentation of the day and a bit of a waste of time but it could've gone alot worse.
I followed the cue cards for about 6 slides, veered off and only noticed i needed cue cards by slide 13, no point in even fumbling by that stage. 

Obviously nervous, not a good presenter when it comes to my own work, NOTE TO SELF: must work on the latter before VIVAS.

Feedback was focus on the NHS aspect of my project and put the self branding on the backburner, which is understandable but i do foresee long periods between correspondence between myself and the client further into this project where i would need to use my time wisely.
Otherwise i think it was just a general A.OK and i got the go ahead to continue, to sum up i've once again worked myself up into an anxiety filled frenzy where there was just no need.

Onwards and upwards !