That's a relief

I feel like an incredible weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Like.... like I just dropped an AP class or snuck/sneaked something through customs or found out I didn't have to build a battery rack in two days. Great feeling, but I'm a bit sad. I won't have as much motivation to continue Luxembourgish, even though I fully intend to. It's sounds pretty cool and people always give you weird looks when you say you speak it.

But let's move on. Grading myself. I'm always bad at this; half of me thinks I'm the best person on the planet (ah-hem, smile and nod) and the other half of me thinks I'm on par with Rick Santorum (ba-dum, tish). Everyone told me I did really well but my voice shook a little and I mucked up when I was speaking Luxembourgish and the projector was a little bit off and just ugh. But I'll try, step by step.

• Time: I didn't time myself, but I seemed to be fine. Even if I wasn't between four and five minutes I said what I wanted to say, and I think that's somewhat more important.
• Visual component: If I hadn't had anything I think I would've been fine. But my Prezi was hecka cute.
• Content: Somebody, please learn a language so I can say I inspired someone through my passion. Just kidding (kind of). I wanted to show my product, but since I didn't have speakers I just said it out loud and there was a bit of Luxembourgish writing on the Prezi. I'm not sure that cuts it. On that note, my video will be posted later this afternoon, as last night Vimeo and Blogger were not cooperating with each other. It's longer than the short paragraph I spoke in my presentation. Anyway, I did explain my process and gave background on Luxembourg and I think my purpose was well laid out. Learn a language because x, y, and z.
• Organization: I think it was good. I personally like it when people introduce a topic, then say how it relates to their project, and then delve into the overarching topic. A few others did this and it worked out well, and I think I applied it well to my presentation. The Prezi helped with transitioning, as the audience knew when a new idea was coming up.
• Delivery: Better than I expected. People heard me, my voice only shook a little, and while I did muck up my Luxembourgish, that's understandable. I'm not a very poised person, but I don't think I sounded unprofessional, and I made people laugh and smile. Audiences really appreciate that sort of thing.
• On following the TED Commandments: I don't think the TED Gods will send me to the inferno. My message was simple enough, I said things so other people understood them, I didn't read my talk, I made audience members laugh. Considering the fact that I hate public speaking, I did pretty well. I think. I hope. 

Since I'm really 60-40 about myself in general, I'll give myself a 25 out of 30. I wasn't perfect, but I definitely didn't do horribly. I wasn't extraordinarily profound, but I did have something to say. I think a 25 is a good compromise. If you have good reasons for going above or below, then okay. 

Okay, that's it until the video later. Please watch it, I'll say more ridiculous things. Good luck to all presenters and good job to everyone who already presented!