Final Reflections

When I was deciding on what modules to take this semester, my friend told me about ES2007S Professional Communication and I thought to myself it was a module worth taking. I was thinking even if I could not score (like most other electives which I had taken), I might as well learn something which is useful, like how to communicate better with others. Although none of my friends could take the same tutorial slot, I am glad that I walked out of my comfort zone and met a bunch of wonderful classmates!

The manner the class is conducted is very beneficial for learning professional communication. We are encouraged to give comments and share their opinions. Such a system promotes learning as it is often through feedback from others, we will then reflect on ourselves and make changes. For my first presentation, I was reminded that group teamwork could be reflected from the slightest details of a presentation - the background of the slides. As Grace, Lara and I worked on our individual parts, we were too focused on our own contents and did not really pay much attention to the visuals of the presentation.

For the peer teaching, I exceeded the time limit - probably a taboo for professional presentations. While I was practising, I only focused on the contents. Therefore after the peer teaching, I made an effort to time myself when I was preparing for the other presentations of other modules. With the timer, I was constantly revising what contents to speak, where to make pauses, when to breathe etc. Unknowingly, I was refining my content and maximizing my "airtime" during the presentation. This helped me in many other presentations outside the ES2007S module too.

The numerous presentations in the ES2007S class prompted me be more conscious of pacing of my delivery and the non-verbal communication I projected to the audience. In addition, I realise the importance of catering the presentation to the audience and to feel comfortable and confident when presenting. This will grab the attention of the audience and reinforce my confidence in a positive feedback loop. Lastly, the class's feedback were very useful, making me to be more aware of my shortcomings. Furthermore, from listening to other presenters and the feedback they received, I was introduced to different styles of presentation. I am glad I can learn from my friends' strengths and avoid making the same common mistakes too.

Apart from improving my presentation skills, this module enriched me in many other ways. With the application letter peer teaching and assignment, I am more aware of how to write professionally - not with bombastic, fanciful language but clear and concise. I still have much room for improvement, especially for the concise portion, but generally I am more confident with writing now. I become more aware of how to be assertive too in the last lesson, and how to reject people politely. 

It was a wonderful learning experience and good luck with exams everyone!

p.s. I am a rather passive submissive person when it comes to my friends' requests (I bet some of you disagree), therefore I will be more assertive in future!

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Looking back at our group's presentation, I feel that we have done a pretty good job from preparation to the question and answer session. It was really enjoyable to work with Hui Ping, Isabel and Ming Yan and I will remember the night how we rehearsed the presentation while strangers walk past us with their surprised expression! Preparation had never been so enjoyable.

The preparation of the slides was never easy, especially with so much content to cover. We spent a lot of time restructuring and fine tuning the slides to ensure that there were no overlaps in content for each speaker. The effort put in was worthwhile as the transition between each speaker for the final presentation was smooth. The smooth flow also enabled us to retain the interest of the audience.

During our rehearsal, we gave comments to each other and I found it extremely helpful, especially with certain pronunciation of words. As for individual preparation, I was inspired by Ming Yan, who practised her parts non stop for many times! Practice makes perfect - I rehearsed several times too. However, from my own rehearsals, I felt that my best rehearsal was during my shower! There were no hiccups and everything seems to be in place as compared to rehearsing in my room. I think for a good presentation, we have to feel relax and definitely put in enough effort during preparation.

For the presentation proper, I felt I was rather steady initially and while my part was ending, I seem to lose focus and start to forget things. Thankfully, I prepared sufficiently to pull it off. Eye contact during presentation was always emphasized during our lessons. It is not only a way to engage the audience but also give yourself confidence. As I was presenting, I could see that my audience were very interested in what I am presenting, this provided me with positive feedback and I became less nervous.

As for the Question and Answer session, I found it really interactive and I was able to put to what I had learnt to practise (like rephrasing the question to buy more time to formulate the answer). I believe that preparing for the Question and Answer had helped us anticipated many questions. We were also very clear what our Essential Life Skills proposal wants to deliver, it allowed us to answer the questions with a uniform stand.

I feel that one challenge of this presentation is to incorporate creativity into the presentation. As the purpose of this presentation was to convince the Provost of our proposal, it was very restrictive to be innovative as the slides had to be somewhat formal. I guess we could have improved on the creativity portion probably with a bit more animation or perhaps more significant and powerful pictures to complement our points.

Once again I would like to thank my wonderful group mates! I think I wrote too much again!