2 Takeaways From ‘Indonesia Wants to Be Your Friend’ Presentation
These two things will make your presentation better
Zagreb, 27 November 2024
After introducing myself in a simple Croatian sentence, I posed a “one-million-dollar question” of the day:
Why would Indonesia want to be your friend?
The question was not intended for students to answer.
It was for the purpose of relating to the presentation topic that I’ve chosen — Indonesia Wants to Be Your Friend.
It was for them to think deeply about what value that I would be given during the presentation.
After I forced their mind to think about the question, I explained several things during 40-minute presentation:
Indonesia’s foreign policy principle. National Motto. Diplomatic activities. Scholarship opportunities. And so on.
I also shared my observation after I’ve been living for 29 years — as an Indonesian:
Indonesia sees the differences not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to grow together and achieve a common goal.
That’s why Indonesia acknowledges six official religions.
That’s why Indonesia put Unity in Diversity as its national Motto.
That’s why Indonesia can maintain its stability, despite the fact that it has more than 1.300 ethnicity.
That’s why Indonesia has taken a non-aligned approach by not joining any military alliances since its independence — so it can maintain friendly relations with many countries.
That’s why Indonesia wants to be friends with all countries.
That’s why Indonesia wants to be your friend.
The presentation went successful.
I asked my colleague who were with me during presentation: ‘How was it? Was there anything I said it wrong?’
‘Nope, it was really great presentation’, he said
And, I, myself, also felt fulfilled and satisfied for my performance.
Reflecting on that presentation, I’ve noticed there are two things that I believe made my presentation astounding:
1. Consider advice from others
Two days before the presentation D-day, I asked my colleague about the concept of my presentation.
To be honest, the reason I asked his advice, at that time, was just to keep the conversation going when I was with him. Not really asking the advice, per se.
Because I’ve finalized the presentation and been practicing for days, I thought I didn’t need some advice
But some unexpected thing happen.
After I listened to his advice, I realized there was a lot of room for improvement in my presentation.
My colleague noticed a topic that I’d like to cover, but I’m not ready to discuss it due to my limited knowledge of that particular topic.
You should avoid presenting the issue that you don’t have any expertise or deep understanding of that
This is one of his many pieces of advice that I took to heart. Many of the slides in my presentation are about issues that I only understand on the surface.
I then deleted several slides and focused on the issue that I knew deeply.
As a result, I had fewer slide and be more confident during the presentation.
2. Choose Enticing Title
Before I chose the title Indonesia Wants to Be Your Friend, my presentation topic was Indonesia 101.
You can tell the latter title is more basic, general, and not pique the curiosity.
The former? More enticing and stick on your mind, right?
I remember one student coming over to me after the presentation. He said that the title of the presentation really stuck in his mind. He now sees that Indonesia is such a friendly country because of the title.
I’m gonna convince my mom to visit Indonesia after this, he said
In any walk of life, we need to give a presentation.
Whether we’re a high school or college student. Enterpreneur. Diplomat. Employee. Anyone.
Because we’ve been doing presentations at every stage in life, we forget to ask for some advice from others.
Why should I seek any advice?
Oftentimes, before a presentation, we focus on how to overcome stage fright — we practice during the day and night. So, we forget to give some thoughts on making an interesting or unique title.
Though these things, that we forgot, seeking advice and choosing an enticing title, surely, can improve our presentation better.
Derian Antonio Daniswara is an Indonesian junior diplomat currently posted in Zagreb, Croatia. He loves sports, especially football, and playing them is his second nature.
Every view and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s views and do not reflect the positions of any entities he represents.
