Whether you’re doing arts, science, or business we’ve all had to suffer through a presentation or two during our college life. It’s even worse having to do a group presentation when there’s always one person who doesn’t turn up until the day of the presentation and somehow pulls it off miraculously. Whether you’re flying solo or tackling it with a team, here are some of the thoughts we all have during a presentation in college.

1) Powerless Powerpoint:
You’ve just slaved over a ten slide, colour coordinated power point only to have the file come up as corrupted or unable to open the morning of your presentation. We’ve all been there, you walk to the computer put the usb in and it’s your worst nightmare. All those late nights, meetings, and research are useless and all you want to do is curl up into a ball and cry. Moral of the story always email yourself a copy or your tutor to be safe.

2) The ‘Stage Fright’:
It happens usually during your first presentation in college, you’ve rehearsed what you were going to say, made out flashcards just in case, and suddenly you’re mute wondering where the hell has my voice gone. Or else you reach a ridiculously high pitch that is almost inaudible. We’re all crying on the inside at this stage, your face might say the presentation is going fine but in your head you’re thinking ‘Did I always sound like this?’.

3) The ‘Day Dreamer’:
Usually occurs more in group projects, it’s when your focus slowly sways while someone else in the group is talking and your mind veers away from the project briefly, ‘Might go to Boojum after this or college bar, I deserve it this presentation was stressful’, but bear in mind your tutor is watching you like a hawk so best to keep your eye on the prize until the presentation is over.

4) Questions Really?:
You’ve just explained your topic, given ample examples and suddenly your tutor comes out with a bunch of questions poking holes in your project and you’re thinking ‘Y tho?’. Usually it has something to do with sources, where you got your statistics from etc, which is fair enough but you’ve already listed all of this on your handout. To add insult to injury a classmate decides to join in this inquisition and the feeling of betrayal is mutual across the group.

Aileen O’Leary

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