Preparing and Presenting

Last week, I finally presented my research speech on my studies in neuropsychology. Admittedly, it was difficult to condense advanced clinical research into a generally applicable and presentable format that would appeal to everyone. Despite this challenge, I believe it encouraged me to adopt a new mindset and view my research and readings from the eyes of an individual who had never been introduced to neuropsychology. I needed to ultimately retrain my thinking as to how I would teach them about a foreign concept, all under 10 minutes. I believe I was successful in gathering the main ideas of my research and interview assessments, and further enhanced my presentation by employing recognizable examples that would pique the interest of my audience. For example, I knew that talking about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) would be a difficult task as the name of the condition itself seems daunting, but I chose to effectively tailor it to my audience by describing a famous NFL star who suffered from CTE and relating it to contact sports, such as football, hockey, and lacrosse, that many high schoolers play. I am very proud of my research speech and believe I did a good job simply explaining it to my audience, but there are always areas where I can improve. I feel as though my voice was shaky and unconfident, so finding that power within myself to expressively convey my message will be something I will continue to work on in the next months before Research Showcase. I am excited to continue viewing my peers' research presentations and learn from their utilization of good verbal techniques and volume to enhance my own public speaking abilities.