Ashley Carter

Our class had the privilege of being introduced to a Left Lion article writer Ashley Carter who has contributed to the magazine within every public interest that it covers. However the main interest that he writes about is film and television.

He was a very honest man when it came to presenting what it is he does, how to write better and what to do to motivate yourself. He mentioned that the fact that everyone at the Left Lion (except the chief editor) works for free is a good thing, because this means everyone working there has proven that they do indeed have a passion for writing.

He mentioned that the worst thing you will ever see as a write, your worst nightmare, is a blank word document. I completely understood and agreed with this. Furthermore he elaborated by mentioning that you should write even if what you’re writing is bad, it can be improved upon later, ‘no need to worry’.

There wasn’t anything in particular that helped me improve upon my presentation, however I did learn quite a bit about confidence from him. Confidence as in, you shouldn’t worry about the criticism you receive about your writing. You should use this criticism, whether it be negative or positive; in a constructive manner.

Overall he seemed like a very interesting person and writer. I learnt more about the world of a writer, what it is like to get something published and write about the things. I believed that these were the most important things from his talk.

Evaluation of Presentation

I made my presentation on Prezi which is a professional’s website for creating presentations. I prepared for my presentation by first writing my blogs onto my blogger. From these blogs I gathered all of the relevant information required for an informative presentation on social action and community media. After writing my relevant points on my presentation to pre-ordered and titled slides, I then rehearsed my finished presentation whilst also correcting any typos.

In hindsight I would have improved my presentation by showing it to someone in order to improve the quality instead of quantity. I believe that the biggest improvement in which I could have done for my presentation would have been making it shorter. I had a lot of information to cover in a short amount of time, I think the time-limit provided me with the pressure to speak too quickly during my presentation.

I engaged my audience by addressing particular points toward the audience and elaborating on the matter. For example for one of my slides I explained the three different typed of social action, traditional, affectional and value-rational. This engaged the audience by introducing them to something new, they learned something from my presentation because it was a unique thing I did that stood out from the other presentations. This lured my audience into my presentation further, making them interested in what I had to say.

I was happy with all of the points which I covered, come to think of it I might had covered a little bit too much because I had to present it at an increased speed compared to most people. Saoirse Rose a member of my course had this to say, “He had clear knowledge of the topics featured in the presentation, the three types of social action really stood out in his presentation. I think that George’s Prezi presentation was excellently portrayed –I learnt things which I didn’t know before.”

More feedback was obtained from another one of my peers called Megan Naylor, “Not only did George give extensive, knowledge-able information to the class, but also his presentation was very well executed, he was well spoken and knew what he was talking about, and his presentation was well perceived.”

One last feedback that I will mention was from Jamie Atkinson, “He showed a vast understanding of all aspects of community media and social action. The use of Prezi engaged the audience well in a way nobody else did. Gave illustrious examples throughout the presentation.”

Reflecting on this feedback provides me with extremely positive confidence and pleased with the final result of my presentation. Although my presentation required me to speak slightly faster than usual, I believe I managed to get my point across and cover all necessary information as well as provide people with newer information on the topic, Therefore I believe that i have obtained a distinction grade.