My Reflection

The course may have come to an end but the process of learning on how to communicate effectively is still an on-going agenda. After going through this module, I have come to realize the great importance of being a good and an effective communicator in our daily lives. This module has taught me that there is more to effective communication than just verbal and written communication. At times, the nonverbal communication cues are able to convey and provide more accurate messages than words if there were to be interpreted correctly. This is an area that I should find out more especially the various communication styles and the appropriate usage of body languages when I am interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. This serves as a deterrent for me from being involved in undesirable situations as a result of miscommunication and intercultural ignorance such as the incident involving my Uncle Ted (refer to my blog post 4 for my information).

Another important skill that I am glad to have picked up in this module is the ability to write good resumes and job application letters with the application of 7Cs. These skills can be put to good use when I am applying for internships or when I graduate from NUS in the year 2010. I have acquired essential skills on preparing (e.g. researching on the company that I am applying for a job) and performing confidently at job interviews. In the past, having to sit at the interviewee’s chair and being stressed out by the hard questions posed by interviewers was one of my biggest fears. I am thankful that I was able to be involved in a mock job interview that allowed me to have an insight and review on the possible interview questions that may be asked in an actual interview. After going through several weeks on job search communication tutorials, I am more confident now when it comes to job applications and interviews.

Furthermore, I have gained valuable experience from the group research study. Although all the members in my group come from Malaysia (including myself), each of us has our own personalities and working attitudes. Thus, being in a team has allowed me to hone my skills as a team player and practice the communication skills that I acquired in this course to cope with the differences among us especially when it comes to working under pressure of a perfectionist and (ahem!) "good-looking'' member. Nevertheless, it is still my honor to work with Wee Siong and Cher. I wish to thank you guys for the guidance that you have given me.

Finally, I have also learnt the various approaches and styles on how to make a presentation as interesting and as entertaining as possible. Being a Life Science student, most of the assessments for my core modules are based on writing assignments, continuous assessments (CA) and final examinations. Presentation is never part of the assessment for my core modules. Therefore, I rarely have a chance to stand and deliver my ideas in front of my fellow colleagues. Doing this presentation is definitely something new to me which allows me to develop my own presenting style.

Overall, it is a wise choice for me to have taken this module. I have gained valuable skills and experiences which would be useful in every aspect of life.

My Oral Presentation

The presentation was finally over and I had a great time doing it. As I was in charge for the introduction part of the presentation, it was my responsibility to capture the audiences’ attention by delivering an interesting opening. Initially, I had a pretty hard time trying to get ideas on how to make the opening as appealing as possible. I was thankful that my fellow group members, Wee Siong and Hwee Cher, helped me by contributing some advices and suggestions with regards to my part.

Overall, I am happy that our group presented rather well and went according to what we have rehearsed. However, I believe that there is still room for improvement and we can do better after getting your feedbacks. As for myself, I feel that I did quite okay. I was so glad that the audiences participated actively and responded to my question and joke during the presentation. One thing that surprised me is that I was not nervous at all when I was presenting. This is something that is unusual to me as presenting in front of everyone is one of the things that I am afraid of and I will avoid at all cost. I guess after this experience, I have gained more confidence and have overcome this fear for presenting.

One thing that I need to work on for my presentation in the future is to control the speed of my speech. I have a tendency to gradually increase my talking speed when I am excited or well-prepared for a particular thing (which in this case is the presentation). Sometimes, I could get so carried away without realizing that the people/audience could not catch up with me. Thus, I hope that I can improve on this matter and be a better presenter in the days to come.