Practice, practice, practice!

When going through the syllabus, I was most worried about this journal club presentation. Since MIT, I haven't really given any presentations, let alone presenting on a scientific paper in front of my peers and the instructors who know a lot more about the field than I do.

When going through the paper that I chose, I found it very complex. I struggled the most with keeping track of how much time the presentation would take. It took me 20 minutes the first time I tried presenting it. This freaked me out because I was only presenting half of the figures on the paper. I wasn't going to shorten the content anymore, but I needed to make my explanation more concise. I practiced more and recorded myself so that I can see what could be improved.  Although this was very painful (I hate listening to myself), this turned out to be really helpful! I realized that I was just saying the same thing over and over again, and continuously paused during my presentations. After practicing on Monday night, I was finally able to cut my time down to 11 minutes. 

I then reached out to some of my friends in the class to practice and get feedback. Turned out it took me 9 minutes the first time I did so. I was freaking out even more because I was always struggling with going over time. So I kept practicing and practicing. 

It was finally my turn, and I did it. Thanks to all the practice, I was able to deliver everything I had prepared for.  I was honestly so nervous about this assignment since day 1, and am so relieved that it is over. 

Being able to read, understand and talk about a journal is an essential skill in the industry that I need to know. I would be lying if I said I would not be nervous if I had to do it again, but the assignment certainly boosted my confidence and allowed me to learn the process behind giving a journal club presentation. Even though this is not my strength, I know that I could do it. And of course, with practice!

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