project 1 presentations

I'm glad groups were required to present on project 1. It was interesting to hear the different ideas each group had about how to approach a given public health problem. Even the selection of target behaviors was fascinating--particularly the nutrition group's focus on energy drinks. Something that struck me was the incongruity between expectations and results of target audience interviews. While impractical for this course, it would be much more meaningful to have obtained the desired information through a random sample. For our group it was also difficult to get to the root of the issue because of the sensitive nature of the questions and total lack of anonymity in the way we were selecting interviewees. I think the focus groups on the communication message will go much more smoothly and will elicit better information because participants won't feel like they have to disclose personal information.

On another note, I want to publicly critique my own individual presentation. It didn't go exactly as planned. I tried to keep to time but certainly didn't (has anyone yet??). The most interesting, seemingly crucial components were the example humorous ads I selected but it's easy to forget how much time that takes. Perhaps more importantly, I was not surprised to hear I probably won the award for must "ums" and "ahs" to date. I'm going through a difficult time personally and had barely eaten or slept for days... It's an excuse, but it's real...and I'd like to someday be able to rise above and present myself more professionally in spite of whatever's going on with me. That may be impossible though--I think it's just how my mind works. Overall, I did feel like people were listening and took away from my presentation what I took away from reading the article. I hope that's true, and I suppose that matters more than how polished I seemed.

-Melissa