Thank You ES2007S

As the title of my blog suggests, I have 2 objectives for this module and this was discussed in my very first blog post. The first objective, about managing my time effectively for 6 modules, has been challenging because ES2007S was more time-consuming than expected. Nevertheless, what I have learnt regarding professional communication more than fulfills my second objective, and it justifies the time and effort spent.

The blogging assignments have been a love-hate affair. I always hate writing because I tend to take a long time brainstorming and translating my thoughts into words. This has been the same case when writing my blog posts. However, I am grateful for these assignments as they geared me up for the ultimate task – proposal writing. What I benefited the most is that I have learnt to write more fluently and follow the 7Cs closely. Furthermore, I realized that I could write reports more efficiently and effectively for projects and labs outside this module.

It always feels rejuvenating to work with motivated and capable people, like when I collaborated with Ivan and Sarah for Proposal Writing. Thanks to the facilitation by Ivan, our meetings were always purposeful and gave me a clear direction of what to work on next. Not only that, we could actively learn from one another when applying the various skills and techniques, from conducting an interview to the 7Cs of written communication. Although sometimes I did feel out of place in front of the love birds =), I really treasure the experience of working with them.

My learning in this course has been enhanced by the constant and valuable feedback given by Brad and everyone else in the class. The comments on my blog posts, peer review on my application letter and interview, comments on Wiki, and feedback after my Peer Teaching and Oral Presentation were truly insightful and helpful. It felt great to know that my classmates were showing interest and concern in my assignments.

I want to end off by saying a big THANK YOU to Brad and all 11 of you. You have made ES2007S an enjoyable and fruitful experience for me.

Self-reflection on Oral Presentation

Over the years, I have done numerous presentations on different occasions. But this is probably my first time writing a self-reflection on my presentation experience.

In comparison to Peer Teaching, the preparation stage for Oral Presentation (OP) was much easier. This was due to the fact most of the presentation content had already been researched previously when preparing the proposal. Furthermore, my teammates helped me identify the key messages for each of my slides to keep my presentation content focused.

Unfortunately, my problem of slurring my words haunted me again during the OP. As Ken Jie commented, I sometimes sounded like Chinese pop star Jay Chow, who is famous for mumbling when singing. I think nervousness had gotten the better of me.

I feel I could have done more to engage the audience. While I observed that most of you were paying attention, I wondered how many of you were really interested about my presentation. I had thought of using humor to balance my dull image, but I was afraid that this would make my presentation slightly informal.

It is now an open fact that I looked laid back during the question and answer session. Actually, I was just too overwhelmed by the quick thinking and persuasive skills of my teammates. Most of the questions really came as a surprise to us. Even if any of the questions were directed specifically at me, I would need at least one or two seconds to properly process and organize my thoughts.

Like many of you, this OP experience has made me more aware of the dos and don’ts of a quality presentation. I will definitely self-reflect on all my future presentations to continuously improve myself.

(P.S. Thank you Sarah and Ivan. Really enjoyed working with you guys. =P)