Ilia Konovalov: My experience with Presentations at the Metropolia University of Applied sciences.

Hi everybody! My name is Ilia Konovalov and I’m a first-year EBA student. In this blog post, I want to talk about my not-too-big but valuable presentation experience.

My presentation experience before Metropolia.

First, I want to tell you about my presentation experience before entering Metropolia University. I’m from Russia and we don’t focus as much on presentation as in Europe or I didn’t. During my whole school life, I have presented something only a couple of times, maybe two or three and I never took it seriously because I was not a fan of performing and presenting my projects. Therefore, it didn’t arouse much interest in me, and I was embarrassed to speak in front of people. It might sound sad but it’s true.

My first presentation at Metropolia University.

After high school, I went to university and to my surprise, the studying included a huge amount of both group and individual presentations. My first presentation in Metropolia was at the campus, approximately, a month after my arrival. It was an individual presentation. It was uncommon and fearsome before the presentation because I doubted my skills.

To be honest, my legs were shaking even during the presentation. However, I performed well, and thanks to a long preparation, I was able to overcome this fear. This presentation becomes the first step for me. I learned and developed so many new skills and chips, such as self-confidence, and the ability to interact with an audience and use the space when you are presenting something. Also, now I could determine my disadvantages and mistakes to work with them.

Last, but not least presentation for the first semester.

At the end of the semester, I learned and improved both, PowerPoint, and presentation skills. My last presentation was a group presentation. Our group, which included four people was presented with the topic “Communication”. We got an unusual and interesting presentation. I was the one to edit the visual presentation. I added some animation and small details which made the presentation easier to follow.

I feel a huge difference between my first presentation and this one. There was almost no nervousness, I was confident in what I was saying and interested in the chosen topic. In the process of preparation, our group evenly distributed responsibilities among the participants, and all the work went without serious problems. All the skills I developed during this semester helped me in my last presentation.

In this short period, I learned more about presentations than my entire life. I know my strengths, but I am also aware of my shortcomings. I have goals that I want to achieve. I am grateful to the university for the opportunity to open up and get a lot of new knowledge.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and tell me about your experience in presentations. You can share some skills and advice.