“The Magic Porridge Pot”
Peer Feedback:
Strengths:
-Continually asking the audience questions
-“I liked how you made the pot appear physically through actions”
-“I liked how you got into character”
-Leaning towards the audience
Areas for Development:
-Potentially too long to keep kids attention
Image 1 Image 2
I title the first image as ‘keeping the gears turning’.
I title the second image as ‘Running away with time’.
Self-Reflection:
Strengths:
-Keeping the audience engaged
-Actions were appropriate and sufficient
-Enthusiasm was high throughout
Areas for development:
-Don’t exhaust myself
-Vary tone more
-Watch timing
My Thoughts:
Before presenting my story to the group I was feeling slightly apprehensive as I did not have my ‘script’ in front of me. On top of natural nerves, I felt an extra pressure as I was telling the same story as one of my peers before me. I noticed that their presentation was rather different to mine which made me question my interpretation of the story. However once I got started on telling my story I did not care that I didn’t have my ‘script’ , I forgot it existed which allowed me to connect with my audience much more than if I had had it there in front of me. This made my story telling more natural as I was unable to get hung up or stumble on the missed or mixed up details. Furthermore, once I had got going I got into the flow or presenting and got absorbed by the story. Soon was in the full swing of my own presenting style and interpretation of the story, again forgetting about the presentation of the same story before me.
During my time telling my story I noticed one or two of the audience members becoming slightly distracted by other presentations in the room, making it impossible to make eye contact. However, I did not let this throw me off course and I continued going. Occasionally I threw in a question to the audience, varying between asking them to come up with a detail for the story and asking them to recount a part of the story with the odd participation of ‘helping out a main character’, this proved an effective way of keeping my audience’s attention and helped them and their ideas to become a part of the story.
I felt I must have been telling the story nice and clear as none of the audience members asked me to repeat anything or to reiterate any parts of the story. I felt quietly confident as I was telling my story, once I had gotten over that initial apprehension, and I got increasingly comfortable in my presentation style as the audience participated more.
After I had finished telling my story I received the above feedback from my peers which was all positive, however in order to get balanced feedback I had to push them to provide me with at least one development point. Personally after telling the story I was slightly exhausted so this highlighted as an issue that needed some serious thought.
Overall I felt that my story came across quite well to my audience. This was a worthwhile exercise which highlighted my strengths in the way I present stories to a group of people and showed me some areas for development. I found that I need to adjust my ‘performance’ slightly to make this a fully appropriate presentation to make in front of a group of children as it was being delivered to a group of adults as though they were a group of children.
Analysis:
Strengths:
-Continually asking the audience Questions
I did this to ensure that my audience were giving me their full attention. Asking questions made sure that they were listening and taking in what I was saying to them. This also proved to be a simple method to encourage audience participation.
-“I liked how you made the pot appear physically through actions”
At first I didn’t notice I was doing this, it just happened naturally but it proved to be an effective way of keeping my audience engaged as they came to expect this action and visually see this part of the story.
-“I liked how you got into character”
Again this came naturally to me, telling the story had to involve some kind of performance. The nature of the story meant that it required the characters to be brought to life through actions, stance and my voice. This made the story more exciting and made the whole presentation much more exciting to the audience.
-Leaning towards the audience
I was more aware of this action, it was happening naturally but I was also doing it on purpose at the same time. I used this very simple gesture of stepping forward or leaning forward to emphasise the point I was making but al so to prompt my audience to know that I was expecting an input from them.
-Keeping the audience engaged
Through using multiple techniques I was successful in keeping my audience engaged with my presentation, without their engagement and participation my presentation of the story would not have been as successful as it was.
-Actions were appropriate and sufficient
While preparing my story I was not sure about what actions I could put into it which gave me concern. I decided that I would let whatever actions came through on the day take hold. Thankfully the actions were a success and worked with the story, as far as I could tell my audience enjoyed the actions along with the story.
-Enthusiasm was high throughout
Throughout my presentation of the story to my audience I managed to remain enthusiastic and energetic. This helped to keep my audience interested and engaged as they bounced off of my enthusiasm and became enthusiastic about the story as well.
Areas for Development:
-Potentially too long to keep kids attention/watch timing
Although there was a time limit of 10 minutes for telling the story my audience highlighted that my story was much longer than the rest although within the allocated time frame. It was pointed out that it could be difficult to keep the attention of an audience of children if the story goes on for too long and gets too complex. This is an issue I will bear in mind for the future and keep an eye on the time I have and the time I am taking to deliver the story.
-Don’t exhaust myself
Immediately after telling my story I was slightly out of breath and I was exhausted. I had put on a very energetic performance with had tired me. This alarmed me slightly as in my future career I will have to be enthusiastic most of the time so it’s not good if I’m exhausted after telling only one story. I realise that I have to dial down on the energy and enthusiasm in my story telling if I want to survive a whole day, not get rid of them completely just don’t put in quite so much.
-Vary tone more
I felt that during my presentation that I was not varying my tone enough. Although I was changing voices for specific characters I didn’t feel I was altering my tone for the rest of the story. I will work on this and be more aware of how I am saying things in my stories.
I named this picture “keeping the gears turning”. I called it this as I felt it highlighted my strength of keeping the audience engaged and I kept them thinking about what had happened in the story. This image immediately jumped out at me and I thought it fitted perfectly.
I named this picture “Running away with time”. I called it this as I felt it very clearly highlighted my issue of being aware of the allocated time. I thought it was an easy picture to remember. Before I found this picture I knew I wanted one with a clock so I grabbed this one as soon as I saw it.
