Presentations are a part of life which, unfortunately, we cannot avoid. This is especially true in Pitt Business, because as everyone knows, the professors love to force you to do group projects which usually results in some sort of presentation. Group projects/presentations aren’t completely terrible if you have a good group who is willing to meet and prepare together. In my experience, it has been a hit or miss; even when I choose my own group things can go wrong. No matter how experienced you are, or how often you present, I think there’s always a little bit of nerves before getting up in front of strangers.

I think what works for me is really being prepared and not waiting until the last minute to throw a presentation together. I like to know exactly what I’m going to say so I don’t sound silly or uninformed. A lot of the time, I find myself rehearsing my lines a day before or a couple of minutes before actually present. One thing I would like to improve about my presentation skills is maintaining eye contact with the audience. Usually I just picked a random spot in the rooms to stare at, but I think to be more engaging it’s better to try to make eye contact with actual people. Thankfully everyone on the plus 3 trip liked each other and worked really well together, so no matter who you got paired with it was fine. The biggest takeaway from my Bord Bia presentation is to work with the information you have and do your best to find more even if the website is confusing!