I take pride in the fact that I have teamwork skills and work well in a team. This was evidenced during our class assignment where my involvement was very active. I am very active in contributing to the group work and go beyond the work given to me for research. As thus, my contribution is usually too much and may sometimes lead to redundancy as I end up doing parts reserved for my fellow group members. However, despite my active involvement, I give fair chance to others to contribute equally. This is pointed in the fact that I do not impose my ideas on others but let them contribute equally. In addition, I like giving people a chance to talk and I am a very good listener. Actually, I only give my contribution on subjects that have not been given already. My listening skills help me to command respect amongst my group members and they all listen to me whenever I talk. My tolerance for other people’s ideas is a strength that helps people to follow my directions.

In addition to the listening skills, I am a very reliable person as witnessed by my output during group works. As thus, my group members can rely on me to deliver on any job that I have been assigned. This I achieve using my time management skills and my ability to prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency. This ability also enhances my chance of leading others coupled with my leadership skills. I am always at the forefront leading in data collection and subdivision of tasks. For instance, I end up leading others in division of tasks therefore helping group members to take tasks that they are most comfortable performing. This has the advantage of winning me new friends and accomplices because they trust me. Moreover, taking the lead helps me to sharpen my leadership skills. On the other hand, it has the disadvantage of filling myself with too much tasks that may weigh me down at times. In addition, I am more prone to stress and depression from non-cooperative group members. To improve on these disadvantages, I can stop taking things personally and not being too emotional about tasks assigned. In addition, I should practice leading from the back as I can be able to view all my followers and guide them.

Presentation skills

My high affinity for leadership positions means that I end up making most of the presentations on behalf of my group members. As thus, I have ample experience in making presentations dating from my junior school days to my current education level. It is only through making more presentations that one’s presentation skills can be enhanced (Bradbury, 2006). Before giving a presentation, I focus on my skills and strengths in a bid to keep my mind away from feeling frightened. I do exercises that help in relieving tension during the presentation. This habit helps me in gaining confidence before and during the presentation thus guiding me in maintaining the discussion on the topic.

However, despite taking time to prevent distraction, I always feel a bit nervous just before the presentation. This is perhaps due to the size of the audience that may lead to me accumulating anxiety and therefore nervousness. Nevertheless, this nervousness is overcome by maintaining eye contact with the target audience to ensure that they concentrate on my presentation. In addition, I always ensure that I engage my audience through asking random questions to gauge their level of concentration. Through this, I can know when to either halt the presentation or find ways to make it more interesting to the audience. My greatest worry before any presentation is that my audience may not be very interested in my presentation and that they may get distracted halfway through. However, this is countered through the confidence I get from having a commanding and audible voice. In fact, my audible voice is one of my greatest strengths and my leading source of confidence.

After the presentation

The presentation was very smooth due to the support that our group members accorded me. For instance, during the question and answer session, they were quick to answer questions that I was not very comfortable answering. In fact, it felt like the presentation was a combined effort among the group members with each member of the group taking a pivotal role. However, we failed to cap our presentation time and exceeded the time that we were allocated. This was in part due to the time wasted in switching the presenters among our group.

The ability of the group presenters to maintain eye contact with the audience was effective in improving the concentration and therefore avoiding distractions during the presentation. In addition, our time was better managed compared to other groups that exceeded their allocated time by far. Another strength has to be the manner in which all the questions raise were handled with each presenter handling questions that were related to their assigned parts in the entire project. Our PowerPoint presentation was very effective and this made the audience more engaged. This fact can be attested through the many questions that arose after the presentation. The only challenge we had was in time management as we didn’t finish the presentation in the time allocated. This can be improved through the arrangement of presenters according to their sequence of presenting thereby minimizing time used in switching from one presenter to the next.

References

BRADBURY, A. (2006). Successful presentation skills. London, Kogan Page. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=18776.

 
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