On Greatness and Presentations
Dear Avid Reader,
I was in a class recently. And in this class, I was assigned to participate in a group project. I hate group projects.
No seriously, I HATE them.
In my MBA career I have been a part of three group projects. In my final class, I will participate in my fourth. Each of these group projects have a presentation element to them, in that there is a company or large idea that must be presented to the rest of the class. I love presentations.
Seriously, I LOVE them.
So Which One Of The Two Will You Talk About First?
I want to talk about presentations first. I wasn't aware of my love of presentations until late in my undergraduate career. I should have noticed my ability and love during my Directing class. In this class, we had to present to the class the emotional feeling of a play. This was to help us with being able to convey our directorial vision to actors and staff. I choose I Hate Hamlet, and for my presentation, I chose to play some awesome They Might Be Giants songs. And it worked, my presentation was a success.
But it wasn't until later that I was assigned a full-on, official presentation. Looking back, it was striking that I didn't have more presentations. But I was a theatre major and I guess there is little need for formal presentation skills when you are in the theatre.
But my first presentation was assigned in my last semester as an undergrad in my Contemporary Drama class. Everyone was to choose either a significant theatre movement or person and present that topic for twenty minutes, as well as turn in a paper. I choose Antoin Artaud and his Theatre of Cruelty. My presentation was awesome. I used video, my thoughts were complete, I conveyed them well, everything went way better than I thought it would.
Afterward, I thought about how much I had learned from doing this and how sad it was that I was not able to do something like this in all of my previous classes. But as I graduated I was more thankful that I would never have to be in class again.
But Alas, It Was Not My Last Class
When I arrived at my first post-graduate class, I was intimidated. I mean, here I was, a guy with a useless B.A. in Theatre of all things, in a room full of accountants and business majors. I kept thinking, "Don't make a fool of yourself. Just keep quiet and maybe they'll let you slide on by and pass".
It was there in that Economics classroom where I received my first assignment. Pick a any economic topic and present it to the class for 15 minutes and write an eight page paper.
I was terrified.
Long had I forgotten about the triumph in my theatre class. I just wanted to finish in the middle of the pack. So I prepared...diligently.
I made a PowerPoint slide show. It was my first attempt to make a PowerPoint, ever. But I quickly became an expert. I began fooling with the animations. I added a lot of graphics. I just did things that made sense to me. I became a powerpoint ninja on that day.
When I arrived at class, the teacher picked me to go first. I was so freaked out. But, when it came time to give the presentation, I approached the presentation as if it were a show and I fell back on my theatre experience. That last sentence sounds corny, but it's true, for real true. I thought of the class as an audience and I remembered that I needed to project and plant my feet. I spoke slowly and clearly. I was engergized.
After the presentation, I sat down and prayed that I didn't look like an idiot. But as it turned out, I had the best stuff in the class. Everyone else just sort of tried to cross the finish line. I was stunned, and excited.
There was a second presentation that was assigned for this class, twenty minutes and tweleve pages. And this one was truly great. I mean after the presentiaton, the professor said "I've never thought of it like that before". That high stinkin' praise right there and you know it is! And for the second one, I tried out more stuff. I tried to use the animation functions in new ways. I had classmates coming up to me and asking where I learned all this stuff. This was only the second power point I had done EVER.
It Ain't Braggin' If It's True
Ever since then, I've looked forward to the presentation in each of my classes. And I have always tried to do a GREAT job. But all of my classmates always try for adequate. They want just enough to finish. Which works out great when it's individual projects, but this is also why I hate group projects.
You see, I am trying for greatness. I want everyone to say, "Wow. That was awesome. That James really can put on a show. I must remember to hire him when he applies for a job". And I cannot for the life of me get anyone else to try for that. They just want the grade and the degree. This undermines my entire plan for greatness.
In my latest group project, I pushed for there to be deadlines and a continuity to the presentation. I tried to take the reigns of leadership because I simply cannot wait for consensus. It is much to frustrating. I learned this early on in my other projects.
But they all blew off the deadlines and turned in their stuff late. They didn't care to work hard on it at all. They knew that all we had to do was talk collectively for 20 minutes and we'd basically be home free. If it was boring, fine. If it was rambling, suits them. If thoughts didn't flow neatly into one another, whatever.
And I realized something, I was the only one pushing for rehearsals and deadlines. I think they'd would've been fine with waiting until the week before it was due and then slapping it all together, which wasn't a far cry from what happened in my opinion. Once I realized this I realized I could never force them to want greatness. And that to me was the truly sad part.
If they didn't want to make the best possible project, no matter what deadlines I created or rehearsals we had, we would never make the great project that I envisioned. So we didn't. The project was mediocre. I still got an A, but it rang hollow because I couldn't lead my group to greatness. I could get them to see my vision.
Am I alone in this? Am I the only one that cares about getting further than the finish line? I look around my program at my fellow Master's canidates and I wonder about these things. How will I get these people to want greatness? These are going to be my fellow co-workers, bosses, subordinates. Am I able to spur them on to more than the finish line?
Is anyone?
I was in a class recently. And in this class, I was assigned to participate in a group project. I hate group projects.
No seriously, I HATE them.
In my MBA career I have been a part of three group projects. In my final class, I will participate in my fourth. Each of these group projects have a presentation element to them, in that there is a company or large idea that must be presented to the rest of the class. I love presentations.
Seriously, I LOVE them.
So Which One Of The Two Will You Talk About First?
I want to talk about presentations first. I wasn't aware of my love of presentations until late in my undergraduate career. I should have noticed my ability and love during my Directing class. In this class, we had to present to the class the emotional feeling of a play. This was to help us with being able to convey our directorial vision to actors and staff. I choose I Hate Hamlet, and for my presentation, I chose to play some awesome They Might Be Giants songs. And it worked, my presentation was a success.
But it wasn't until later that I was assigned a full-on, official presentation. Looking back, it was striking that I didn't have more presentations. But I was a theatre major and I guess there is little need for formal presentation skills when you are in the theatre.
But my first presentation was assigned in my last semester as an undergrad in my Contemporary Drama class. Everyone was to choose either a significant theatre movement or person and present that topic for twenty minutes, as well as turn in a paper. I choose Antoin Artaud and his Theatre of Cruelty. My presentation was awesome. I used video, my thoughts were complete, I conveyed them well, everything went way better than I thought it would.
Afterward, I thought about how much I had learned from doing this and how sad it was that I was not able to do something like this in all of my previous classes. But as I graduated I was more thankful that I would never have to be in class again.
But Alas, It Was Not My Last Class
When I arrived at my first post-graduate class, I was intimidated. I mean, here I was, a guy with a useless B.A. in Theatre of all things, in a room full of accountants and business majors. I kept thinking, "Don't make a fool of yourself. Just keep quiet and maybe they'll let you slide on by and pass".
It was there in that Economics classroom where I received my first assignment. Pick a any economic topic and present it to the class for 15 minutes and write an eight page paper.
I was terrified.
Long had I forgotten about the triumph in my theatre class. I just wanted to finish in the middle of the pack. So I prepared...diligently.
I made a PowerPoint slide show. It was my first attempt to make a PowerPoint, ever. But I quickly became an expert. I began fooling with the animations. I added a lot of graphics. I just did things that made sense to me. I became a powerpoint ninja on that day.
When I arrived at class, the teacher picked me to go first. I was so freaked out. But, when it came time to give the presentation, I approached the presentation as if it were a show and I fell back on my theatre experience. That last sentence sounds corny, but it's true, for real true. I thought of the class as an audience and I remembered that I needed to project and plant my feet. I spoke slowly and clearly. I was engergized.
After the presentation, I sat down and prayed that I didn't look like an idiot. But as it turned out, I had the best stuff in the class. Everyone else just sort of tried to cross the finish line. I was stunned, and excited.
There was a second presentation that was assigned for this class, twenty minutes and tweleve pages. And this one was truly great. I mean after the presentiaton, the professor said "I've never thought of it like that before". That high stinkin' praise right there and you know it is! And for the second one, I tried out more stuff. I tried to use the animation functions in new ways. I had classmates coming up to me and asking where I learned all this stuff. This was only the second power point I had done EVER.
It Ain't Braggin' If It's True
Ever since then, I've looked forward to the presentation in each of my classes. And I have always tried to do a GREAT job. But all of my classmates always try for adequate. They want just enough to finish. Which works out great when it's individual projects, but this is also why I hate group projects.
You see, I am trying for greatness. I want everyone to say, "Wow. That was awesome. That James really can put on a show. I must remember to hire him when he applies for a job". And I cannot for the life of me get anyone else to try for that. They just want the grade and the degree. This undermines my entire plan for greatness.
In my latest group project, I pushed for there to be deadlines and a continuity to the presentation. I tried to take the reigns of leadership because I simply cannot wait for consensus. It is much to frustrating. I learned this early on in my other projects.
But they all blew off the deadlines and turned in their stuff late. They didn't care to work hard on it at all. They knew that all we had to do was talk collectively for 20 minutes and we'd basically be home free. If it was boring, fine. If it was rambling, suits them. If thoughts didn't flow neatly into one another, whatever.
And I realized something, I was the only one pushing for rehearsals and deadlines. I think they'd would've been fine with waiting until the week before it was due and then slapping it all together, which wasn't a far cry from what happened in my opinion. Once I realized this I realized I could never force them to want greatness. And that to me was the truly sad part.
If they didn't want to make the best possible project, no matter what deadlines I created or rehearsals we had, we would never make the great project that I envisioned. So we didn't. The project was mediocre. I still got an A, but it rang hollow because I couldn't lead my group to greatness. I could get them to see my vision.
Am I alone in this? Am I the only one that cares about getting further than the finish line? I look around my program at my fellow Master's canidates and I wonder about these things. How will I get these people to want greatness? These are going to be my fellow co-workers, bosses, subordinates. Am I able to spur them on to more than the finish line?
Is anyone?
The Next Post Promises To Be Better,
James
James
posted by James at 8:49 PM
4 Comments:
Bocks, your sentiments on group projects echos tirade that Claudia and I have often expressed when faced with the dreaded assignment. As usual, I find myself hearing my thoughts in your words.
I stumbled across your blog by wandering through others blogs. And I'm glad that I did.
I hope everything is great with you and your lovely wife.
My blog is: jranddaisha.blogspot.com
I hope you'll check it out and we can get back in touch.
Daisha
Let's hear it for Theatre Majors! Who said it was a worthless degree? It seems to me your experiences have put you far ahead of the crowd. Good luck on your group project this time. I hope you are able to acheive the greatness you desire.
I, friend, strive to be a super succeeder. This at times may have made my life slightly more difficult than those others who are satisfied with mediocrity, but I feel that it is better to do work hard and achieve higher.
Hi there, I found your blog by searching for "I love presentations" in google. I too love presentations. I don't get to do a lot in my job, just one per year, but I too try to shoot for greatness. I too can't be satisfied with "good", I look for "wow". I am an application developer. Technical requirements never defined my border lines. I have to look for the creative frame that will hold and keep my application alive. I have been seen by some of my clients as the designer of elegant applications but most of the clients don't really care. They just want the output, the function and that's it. I found your blog when I was looking for my identity; the kind of job that can help me expand the presentation skills that I really like.
AA
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