What a week

Finally, reading week is here! Time for some rest, not quite. Last week has been very tiring for myself, but even so I really enjoyed it because I finally managed to do what I like to do the most, to present myself and making speeches. It's been quite some time since I last stood in front of an audience and talk.

The above was the manifesto I submitted when I ran for the UCL Malaysian society president. I figured, might as well put it up somewhere before I delete this and let it be forgotten forever. To be honest, I was not proud of myself at all, nor was I impressed with I said to during my 3 minutes speech during the election. No, I didn't mess up like how I did when I ran for Student Council in KTJ a couple of years back, but still my speech didn't turned out to be like how I've imagined it to be like in my head.

the draft of my speech

the real stuff

But one does not simply expect to be able to talk so much when he's given only 3 minutes to do so. So yes, as expected I ran out of time sooner than I would have wanted it to, in the end I just skipped a few points and stressed those points which I thought was my strong points. Finally, as the result came out, I lost. Gee, that was expected. I knew from the start that my chances are slim, but heck I still went for it.

As if giving one speech in a week's time was not enough, the very next day I had to once again step up and give yet another presentation during my Management seminar. This time, I had a group to work with. We had to present the Innocent Smoothies company and relate it to some of the management models we've learnt so far. This time around, as if I had given up hope, I decided not to use any flash cards and go in blind. I had a paragraph of what I'm supposed to say in  my hand, but I barely glanced at them much. I don't know what moved me to behave like that, I even went all the way to Waitrose five minutes before our presentation to buy a box of Innocent smoothies just for the sake of visual aid. I guess the whole you-are-representing-a-company spirit had taken me over that day. Besides, what better way to present a company by having good visual aids!

One of the most interesting questions was,' do you think that a company such as Innocent will be successful if they are to expand their market to hot countries?' After Emily responded to that, I then added that coming from a country such as Malaysia where it is hot and humid all year round, I honestly think that yes Innocent has a bright future. Though they might face quite a competition with local producers who are able to sell at lower prices, with the technology and product innovation available at Innocent's disposal, Innocent could come up with new products like maybe a 'durian smoothie' or sort. All I thought at that time was the fact that Secret Recipe's durian cake was quite a hit, so yeah, why not have a durian smoothie!

Finally the feedback of our product presentation came last night. This was what the lecturer had to comment about me personally.

Wafi – excellent performance in that most of the material had been learned but was delivered with apparent spontaneity and grasp, allowing direct communication with the audience. Good body language apart from some displacement activity. Entertaining use of products. A high risk delivery which worked well.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied as I finally got to do what I like, to go in front of a crowd and do presentations. It really was tiring, having to do my own research on the topic as well as having to juggle my time to finish my coursework and all. So this is how political people must've felt like, huh. Having to prepare speeches and face the crowd each single day, responding to them in the best way possible. 

Sigh, I still have much issues which need to be resolved. My head is still not in it's right position at the moment, so many things to be dealt with. Oh how I wish I could get some reliable hand to help me sort myself out in times like this. 

It's a selfish world we're living in, ain't it? When we suffer, we suffer alone.

I leave the rest to you.......