The Finale.....

At the end of every past few semesters, I used to feel elated and excited thinking about how I will be enjoying my holidays. However, for this semester which will be my last in NUS, all I feel is a sense of nostalgia and how I am going to miss being a student and its privileges. During this last semester, I particularly feel that I have learned and gained a lot from my non-core modules and I believe most of it came from ES2007S: Professional Communication.

It seemed so long ago when I first wrote a blog post for this module. In my first blog post, I mentioned that communication skills will be important in aiding me when I step into the working world. How true this is and therefore, I am so glad that this course has provided me with many opportunities to not only improve on my communication skills but also develop even more valuable communication skills. I think I have indeed accomplished that. There were also many hands-on tutorials and assignments where I had the valuable experience of going through a job interview, learning how to write an application letter and resume and improving on it through feedback from my peers. The constant blog posts that had to be done also ensured that I have the chance to practice encompassing the 7Cs in my writing.

I will always carry with me the valuable and enriching memories that I gained through my group project. I had the chance to write business correspondences and complete a research study that was started from scratch. It was definitely time-consuming and many hours were spent on it but looking back now, it was all worth it. I had so much fun doing this project with Hui Xia and Grace that I am sure our friendships will last even after we graduate from this class. From Hui Xia, I definitely learned to be more aware of my grammar and how to ‘print screen’! Haha I think Hui Xia knows what I mean. I also learned from Grace how to increase eye contact with the audience and how to add pauses in my speech to make a presentation more effective

I believe one important factor that determines how much you enjoy a module is the teacher. This is why I am really thankful to have been able to join Brad’s class as I was actually from another tutorial class. He has shared so many of his enriching experiences with us in class and always makes an effort to link them back to the topic of discussion. This really made lessons more dynamic and fun and sometimes the descriptions are so vivid that I can even visualize it. No doubt, I can always read about communication skills from the course book but what I will learn can only be that much. I think his unconventional way of teaching is really what helped me improve my communication skills in such a short time frame.

Also, Brad actually makes it a point to ask each of us for our opinions and this makes everyone involved in discussions. This has really helped build up my confidence as he is always very supportive of my comments even if I’m not sure whether it sounds silly.

In addition, another important reason as to why I enjoyed this course so much is the class. Everyone is so different and they have their own individual experiences and thoughts which are very valuable. By sharing what they have through blogging and class discussions, I am in fact learning from each of them. For example, I learned more about how different or similar the culture is in China and Sri Lanka as compared to Singapore.

It will soon be time to say goodbye to everybody and thus I would like to thank Brad, Hui Xia, Grace, Roy, Priya, Nadiah, Pooi San, Jing Yang, Jaenette, Vicky, Sze Hui, Jane, Michelle , Qi ying and Keldren for making ES2007S such an enjoyable experience. :)

My Oral Presentation

My Oral Presentation

I felt that I knew my content thoroughly and thus could convey my points smoothly without having to read from the slides. I think my sentences were generally well formed with appropriate vocabulary and grammar. I had correct pronunciation and projected my voice well so that I could be clearly heard. Thus, overall, I think my points were conveyed effectively.

Eye contact is a very important component in a presentation. Therefore, I tried to maintain eye contact with my audience during my presentation. I made an effort not to focus only on one person but to make eye contact with as many as possible. My confidence was built up when someone I am looking at nods his/her head or give an encouraging smile.

One area I have to improve in is my speed of talking. In my daily conversations with people, I do talk at a very fast pace. It is not that I make an effort to talk very fast but it just comes naturally. This may be acceptable when I am talking normally but during presentations, it is not very good. On the actual presentation itself, I made an effort to talk slower. Getting feedback from people whom have heard me during practices, they commented that I did slow down from my usual pace. However, from others, they commented that it was a bit fast. Therefore, I still have to improve and train myself to talk slower.

It was quite an intimidating experience to be the first group to present and I personally feel that it is harder to present to people whom I know than strangers. Thus, I was really nervous during my presentation and my facial expression was rather serious. My presentation would be better if I smiled more or showed more relaxed expressions.

I will definitely try to improve on my weaknesses so that I can give a better presentation in future. This was really an enriching experience for me where I learned a lot from Brad, my group mates and my classmates. Thank you everyone! :)