Relationship between a symposium and the butterflies in the stomach

I've been attending a special course on preparing myself to become a future strategist in East Asia Environmental Problem as I've mentioned in the entry perihal kelas. I am in the pioneer batch for this program, together with few other international students from all over the world. There are also 2 other Malaysian joining this program conducted by Research Institute for East Asia Environments (RIEAE), Kyushu University.

Last Thursday (17th February 2011), RIEAE has organized International Symposium with the theme "Future Vision of international education program for fostering environmental leaders in East Asia". The symposium started from 9 a.m - 7.30 a.m was held at Inamori center, Ito campus, Kyushu University was divided into 2 parts.

-+ International symposium "Future Vision of international education program for fostering environmental leaders in East Asia" -+

+- peserta2 symposium -+

The first part (9.30 a.m - 2.40 p.m) discussed on two main theme which were (1) International Collaboration in east Asia Environmental problem and (2) Government and Industry's efforts to support East Asia in the environmental problem. The speakers for this session were invited from all over the worlds, and comes from different kind of governmental agencies and international corporations.

+- gedik bubuh anak panah takut korang tak jumpa I kat mana ngeee -+

The speakers were Mr Bruno Dercon(from UN habitat), Mr Kuniki Nakamori (from Asian development bank), Prof Kazuhiko Moji, Prof Huafei Qiu (from Tongji University, China), Dr Nguyen Phuoc Dan(from Vietnam) and many more ~ I just name some of them. I was seated on the 3rd row in the conference room, thus there's no chance for me to feel sleepy as it was quite near to the stage eheh. Therefore, I'm giving my full attention during the session and I'm glad that I join this symposium because there's a lot of new things that I've gathered during the session.

+- pompuan pakai shawl polka-dot tengah buat2 kusyuk -+

The second part of these symposium involved me as one of the speakers along with 6 other students from this program. We were given the task to make a power-point presentation and deliver our presentation for 7 minutes in front of those top-notch people in these field. We have to talk about our background studies, research plan, future plan in the environment as well as to answer questions from the panels.

+- nampak tak nama I? *gedik lagi bubuh anak panah* -+

Although I am quite a talkative person, I always find it hard to speak in front of the public. I had those butterflies in my stomach which making me feeling super nervous before presenting my speech. I was able to get rid of those butterflies in my stomach when I go to poo-ed few minutes before the session begin *bila dah poo-ed, baru rasa kurang sikit gemuruh kui3x*.

+- presentation bermula dengan self introduction about myself -+

But still, when I was standing in front of the microphone, my mouth was dry, my knees were shaking so much it was hard to walk to the podium area, and my hands were super cold. So, to prevent myself from looking obviously nervous in front of the panels, I decided not to hold the mic and move few inches away from the mic whenever my voice become shaky.


During the Q & A session, I received few questions and suggestions from Mr Nakamori (Asian Development Bank) on how to tackle wind energy issues in Malaysia as well as few considerations on solid waste management issues in our country. I am lucky enough that I have just had the similar conversation with my supervisor about the same issue few days before the symposium, thus I managed to answered the questions straight away..fuhh legaaaa.

+- Nakamori-san tengah tanya soalan kat yours truly -+


+- Q & A session, muka buat2 confident walaupun cuak gile -+

Alhamdulillah with Allah's help, my presentation went well..in fact I must say quite well as I received few complimentary comments after the presentation. My supervisor who was also attending the session, has come to me and told me that "you are the best presenter for today". Wow, that is quite a big compliment coming from a well-known professor like him.

+- kat belakang Nithiya & I tu lah my supervisor yang super baik hati -+

The symposium end up with a nice reception where we (the students) have a chance to mingle around those key-people in the industries. The reception party was actually the core part of the symposium as it is the only time when you can easily expressed your opinion without hesitation. Apart from that, I enjoyed the food served on that day and I end up makan sampai tersandar kekenyangan kui3x.

+- kampaiiii * I guna jus laici je lah* -+


+- melantak udang yang sungguh lazat -+

Although I was looking fine and quite composed on that day, there were actually few things lingering in my mind before and after the symposium.
(1) Before the symposium :-
• I ironed 3 shirts to wear with the blazer, and I end up wearing the one which is darker in color. I should have wear a light color shirt next time to make me look better.
•I went to buy new shoes because I have no appropriate shoes to wear. However, as there's not much option for my kaki gergasi, I end up picking a small size shoe which consequenced to me hurting my feet during the symposium.
• I'm being indecisive on which bags to use on that day until few minutes before I left home, I decided to use the new handbag that hubby bought for me last week.
• I've made rehearsal on my speech on the night before and end up go to bed at 2 a.m.


(2) During the symposium :-
• I have to perform solat zohor + asar + maghrib under the flight of stairs during the whole day
• Right after I finished my presentation, I received a call from Nazhan's nursery but I couldn't answer the call as I was still in the conference room. Then, hubby text-ed me and informed that Nazhan has just vomited at the nursery, so we have to pick him A.S.A.P and bring him to see the Paed.
• I was quite worried with Nazhan's condition but I can't leave the symposium. Thus, I leave everything to hubby and prayed that there's nothing wrong with my baby. That's why I bawak Nazhan gi kampus dengan I masa hari Jumaat tu as I've mentioned in the entry *(Berita tergempar!) - Bayi umur 20 bulan buat kerja2 penyelidikan di universiti!*.

+- posing dengan Shimaoka sensei -+

Overall, I am looking forward to attend another symposium or conference in the future to build my own confidence in public speaking. People have different ways to tackle the nervous feeling when giving speech in front of crowd. My way of encountering the nervousness is :-
• by looking good in attire (favorably by having new clothes + new handbag + new shoe)
• practicing and rehearsing the speech over and over again on the night before the actual presentation day but not overly practiced few hours before the actual presentation start.
• go to toilet to perform the 'core business' to ensure that I'll feel comfortable during the presentation; takde lah asyik rasa nak terkucil tapii ku tahan jebatttt

+- muka nervous, posing kat toilet sebelum presentation start -+

+- muka lega lepas dah selesai presentation -+

How about you?. What's your way on tackling the nervous issue when you have to make a presentation in front of important people?. Please share it with me so that I can applied your techniques for my next presentation. Takkanlah setiap kali nak present, kena beli baju baru kot, aiyarkkkkkk!

Psssssttt : macam tak logik je kan baju baru + kasut baru + bag baru boleh hilangkan perasaan nervous? Ngeh3x, alasan semata2 tu.