What I have learned from my previous workshop

 

Workshop cover page

On October, me and my classmates have held a workshop about “Contemporary Issues in Event Management”. Our lecturer required each of us to choose different topics related to the current problems in the event industry. The topic that I have chosen is “Environmental issues related to event management” after considering many other interesting subjects. My workshop lasted for about ten minutes, including my presentation and interaction with the audience, which includes my classmates and lecturer. As a part of the course’s requirement, we also recorded videos about our performances. Before implementing this workshop, I had prepared in term of content, presentation as well as my spirit. This step is necessary because it can help increasing productivity, reducing being overwhelmed and decreasing anxiety. Additionally, the experience comes from previous projects has surely supported me doing this workshop.

As for the self-reflection of this workshop, I will talk about my strength and my weakness, which may need improvement. In my opinion, in term of strong points, the structure of my presentation is clear. The presentation is divided into three main parts, namely, introduction (topic and purpose), main body (context, opportunities, challenges and solutions) and lastly, conclusion. My work has been logically ordered, with every point clearly stated and the material that follows for each one. This can help my audience understand my content better as well. In addition, my lecturer commented that I had provided lots of new information related to the topic. The information that I gathered is quite trustful as I have searched for several different academic sources and some other materials that related to event industry. In addition, before applying that knowledge to my work, I thoroughly read and verified it. Particularly, I used fact and data as evidence to support my main ideas as well as provide credibility. However, there are some points that I didn’t do well. About the content of my presentation, the link between event management and environmental issues is pretty weak, which my lecturer had pointed this out for me. It is true that I didn’t be able to tell how event managers or professionals respond to the environmental problems that impact on events. This happened because I may have focused too much in finding information for other points and forgotten to consider the above idea. Moreover, the reason for this issue can be my lack of critical thinking during preparation process. As for the presenting, I also have made some mistakes. At the beginning, I didn’t introduce myself, which I think is a silly mistake to forget a simple task like that. When I talked about the content, I was nervous that I couldn’t speak fluently and also forgot some parts of the speech. I realized that I didn’t prepare my speech that much, and as the result, I failed to deliver my whole idea to the listeners. On top of that, this is my first time to do a workshop alone so I wasn’t confident. My lecturer has mentioned that I lacked of eye-contact with the audience. I should have put more effort in the preparation process.

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once and you’re good. It’s the thing you do that make you good”  

<Malcom Gladwell> 

I can’t agree more with the above quote. From my perspective, what I didn’t do great can be improve if I take more time and effort. For the speech, I should prepare some notes, write down the key points rather than memorize the whole paragraph. Then, I should rehearse a lot so I can speak more fluently and naturally. Some tips for this are to speak in front of the mirror or have a friend or family member as the audience. Eye contact is also vital during presentation. Maintaining eye contact with the audience during a presentation might help you establish a rapport with them and sustain their interest. Additionally, it makes them feel involved and communicates your message directly to them. Body language can contribute a good speech. When speaking in front of the listeners, using positive body language can help you connect with them and hide any nervousness you may have. Furthermore, to improve the content of the presentation, I should ask and check with my lecturer more carefully whether any adjustment is needed.

All in all, the workshop is an interesting experience for me. Despite not doing it perfectly, it was a chance for me to conduct a workshop by myself rather than doing it as a group, which I normally do and prefer. Furthermore, I believe that this workshop is a learning opportunity for me as I am aware what I have done well and what I am lacking and need more improvement. Gaining more self-awareness will undoubtedly aid in my future self-improvement. And perhaps in the future, I'll be able to plan more fascinating events with the skills and knowledge I've received from this course, if I choose the career of an event manager. 

Sources:

1. https://collegemarker.com/blogs/importance-of-preparation/
2. https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/cippet/writing-structure#:~:text=Structure%20is%20important%20in%20academic,a%20given%20structure%20or%20template.
3. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-evidence-body-paragraphs-the-help-in-homework/
4. https://preply.com/en/blog/public-speaking-english/?campaignid=20504874611&network=g&adgroupid=159787509584&keyword=&matchtype=&creative=683017191544&targetid=dsa-2190352096711&placement=&loc_physical_ms=1028580&device=c&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=stu_sem_generic_web_0_eng_gb_multiplesub_xx-dsa&hsa_acc=8729743047&hsa_cam=20504874611&hsa_grp=159787509584&hsa_ad=683017191544&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=dsa-2190352096711&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA1MCrBhAoEiwAC2d64TwjXuQVgF35S1X2LQ7VwX-ZojYvtz-EPHvmKqQOqmdDVMwC57ZDexoCNz0QAvD_BwE
5. https://www.coursera.org/articles/public-speaking
6. https://virtualspeech.com/blog/importance-of-eye-contact-during-a-presentation#:~:text=Positive%20eye%20contact%20helps%20you,message%20on%20a%20personal%20level.
7. https://www.mindtools.com/aejjzul/body-language