I have started preparing for the presentation about a week and a half before the actual presentation, reviewing the slides, looking for appropriate figures and pictures, etc. The slides were continuously changing during this time. There was always an addition of something, or having to give more precision of other things. But the final slides were ready about 2 days before the presentation.
I did not prepare a speech text for my part of the presentation because I find that it distracts me if I write down the exact words I want to say. Then during the presentation I would have had a tendency to stop and think what were the exact words that I had planned to say. So I just prepared my speech in my head, from the flow of the slides. I did rehearse the speech in my head a few times while playing the slides though.
Just before the presentation, I told myself not to move around and fidget. I know that is one of my main weaknesses in presentation. However, as soon as the presentation started, I could see my feet moving. I was conscious of it and I could not stop myself, not without losing focus on what I was saying. I do it out of nervousness and habit. Even when talking on the phone I cannot stay in one place. Being nervous also made my throat quite dry. Halfway through my part, I could feel my mouth drying up.
I also didnt want to go over the time limit, so I had to skip a few parts that I had wanted to say.
Overall, I think the presentation went quite ok, even if I babbled a few times and even had some uneasy pauses which seemed to last forever. I think I did a bit better than at the peer teaching presentation. So that is an improvement.
