Week 13 (Post #6) - Final Reflection

When I sat down to type out this reflection, the first thought that crossed my mind was: “I can’t believe that the module has actually come to an end.” I suppose this feeling came about because I’ve been so busy meeting deadlines for the module that I didn’t really feel the time passing after awhile.

Anyway, thinking back on how I started off at the start of the year, I realised that I have changed certain aspects of my communication practices. I wasn’t expecting much of change since the module only lasted 3 months. However, I have to say the change that I have experienced is quite significant and at the same time, I have also gained a number of communication-related skills.

In the final class, I mentioned that I generally viewed the module in 3 parts but actually it should be 4:

1. Peer Teaching
2. Application Letter/Resume Writing
3. Interview
4. Proposal + Oral Presentation

I feel that the module had a good balance between equipping us with oral communication skills as well as written communication skills. During the peer-teaching component, I realised the importance of creating lesson plans that can not only be used by the creator but also any other person who reads it. It was matter of trying to view the situation from another’s eyes – just because I understood the lesson plan wouldn’t mean that another individual could understand it too. So, minute details which we deemed insignificant and overlooked were actually important and should have been included in the lesson plan.

During the application letter/resume writing phase and the proposal phase, the skills imparted were slightly different. I felt that the focus had shifted to adopting the appropriate tone and writing in a clear and concise manner to sustain the readers’ attention. Marketing myself was one thing I was never good at but by the end of the many drafts I did for this component, this has considerably changed. I also learnt that one who has a good grasp of the English language doesn’t necessarily produce a good application letter or proposal because the skill required for such tasks are not entirely language-dependent. Alot of structure, organization and formatting are involved as well.

Finally, oral presentation skills. I remember being overwhelmed by the number things one had to take note of when the first lesson on oral presentations was conducted. From posture to voice quality to facial expressions – almost everything seemed to matter in such presentations. Being a naturally quiet person as compared to others, speaking in front of any crowd larger than 3 never fails to give me the jitters. And to remember other significant details on top of that only served to add to my nervousness during my peer teaching presentation. However, I feel that this aspect improved significantly during my oral presentation for the proposal. My hands were not shaking badly and my stuttering had reduced very much. I would have to attribute this to a conscious effort to keep my nervousness at bay. Also, the presentation was done towards the end of the module, by which everyone in class was familiar to me and so I did not feel so intimidated.

11 weeks ago, I wouldn’t have imagined myself to be confident enough to stand in front of a crowd of 20 to make any form of oral delivery or competent enough to produce an application letter or resume good enough to be used for a job application. But this module has enabled me to do all these and more. Although it was a very content and assessment heavy module that demanded alot of time and effort, I believe that I have gained a number of important skills and improved my confidence levels at the same time.

On a final note, (although I already mentioned this during class) I feel that the members of our tutorial group play an important role in determining how much each of us learns. The fact that our tutorial group is welcoming and accepting of everyone makes it easier to open up and perform better for components involving oral skills. So, I’m glad I got a great tutorial group (:

All the best to everyone! It’s been a pleasant 3 months with all of you!

Week 12 (Post #5) - Reflection on Oral Presentation

It has been 2 days since my oral presentation and during this time I’ve tried to identify what went right, what could be improved on and what went wrong.

I would say that preparing for this presentation was far from easy. This was mainly because there was so little time between the deadline for the final proposal and the oral presentation and yet, due to our packed and clashing schedules, the 3 of us were hardly able to meet. And it is a well known fact that no oral presentation can be perfected without practice. There was a constant dread within me – the lack of practice might pose as a hurdle to our actual presentation.

True enough, there were certain things that did not go according to plan due to the above fact. For example, I was not very used to the slides and therefore, I had to play it by ear and click. I tried listening to what Jia Lin was saying in order to click at the appropriate time. Though this worked at some points, it mostly turned out pretty messy. However, this situation (where we had to click for the other person) only arose because our wireless mouse refused to work beyond a certain distance from the computer. I suppose if the wireless mouse was functioning, the slide transitions would have been smoother. We should have considered bringing a backup mouse.

Now, moving on to my delivery itself. Although preparing for an oral presentation and delivering it is not new to me (thanks to practice in school and Project Work in JC), I always find myself nervous and jittery before every single one. This oral presentation was not an exception. Due to my nervousness, I felt that I may be spoken too fast at certain parts of the presentation and this may have inhibited my classmates from understanding what I was trying to convey.

Throughout most part of my schooling years, I always held cue cards containing whole chunks of my speech for most of my oral presentations. I realised that this made me incapable of speaking fluently because I became overly dependent on the cue cards. So, towards the end of my JC years, I tried to lose that habit by condensing my speech to points instead. This definitely worked better as I was able to face the audience more and at the same time speak without referring back to my cards all the time. I deployed the same method for this presentation. However, I wasn’t able to prepare as much for the final part of my delivery and therefore, I felt that I started faltering towards the end of my presentation. I guess I have to learn how to take hints from the points on the slides and think on my feet.

However, all this aside, I felt that I didn’t do too badly for the amount of practice that was done. And, I felt that the entire presentation went pretty well. So, I definitely have to thank my team members (: because the success of an oral presentation like this is based alot on the people you work with.

As much as I am relieved that the presentation is over, I have to say that it was definitely a good experience because it has pushed me to improve my delivery strategies. Hopefully, my presentation skills are a bit better than how they were 3 months ago.

On a final note, I know that I have to improve in a number of aspects when it comes to oral presentations. And I am most willing to learn – so if you have any suggestions at all, do let me know (: thanks!

Recess Week (Post #4) - Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

On a personal level, I have hardly experienced any intercultural conflict. Therefore, for this blogpost, I have chosen to borrow one of my father’s experiences.

My father’s job requires him to travel rather frequently and these trips enable him to meet with various groups of people from distinct cultural backgrounds. On one such occasion, he was involved in a meeting consisting of individuals from two different countries. The clientele comprised of people who were generally mild mannered and soft spoken as this was what was expected in their culture. The presenters on the other hand were from a culture where people spoke in loud and firm voices accompanied by big gestures.

During this particular meeting, the latter were supposed to give a presentation on the products that were to be purchased by the customers. However, after the meeting was completed, my father was approached by the customers. Apparently, they were not entirely comfortable in the manner in which the presentation was conducted. They were not used to the way the presenters spoke or the way they articulated themselves through their hand movements. As a result, they were not able to elicit much information from the presentation itself. They ended up requesting for someone else to conduct presentations in future.

In my understanding, culture refers to a shared set of beliefs, attitudes and values of the people involved. Although both parties mentioned above were from Asian backgrounds, I feel that the countries they belonged to led to them having significant differences in their practices and mannerisms. The history of their nations and the interactions they experience would have influenced them in many ways. However, if one pursues a career that requires him to interact with people of different cultures, it would be advantageous if he is able to modify certain mannerisms accordingly to suit the needs of the people he meets. It would also be good if he is able to adapt to the way others conduct themselves. In the above situation, each party could have been unaware of each other’s cultural nuances thereby disallowing any form of adaptation.

I felt that this was a good example to highlight differences in cultural behaviour as it is set in a typical workplace scenario. Hope my sharing was useful (:

Week 4 (Post #3) - Application Letter Critique

BLK XXX
W Drive XX
#XX-XX
Singapore XXXXXX

4th February 2010

The Executive Director
BIOPROCESSING TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE
20 Biopolis Way
#06-01 Centros
Singapore 138668

Dear Executive Director,

I am a final year student at National University of Singapore (NUS), working towards my bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences. I am seeking an internship for 2011, and while researching opportunities in the field of biomedical sciences and biotechnology, I found that your organization offers the Bioprocess Internship Programme. I would like to apply for this programme for the July-Dec 2011 period.

I am passionate about research dedicated to the betterment of society and I believe that this will enable me to not only benefit from the knowledge imparted during the internship but to also contribute back to society via the post-internship phase.

My leadership background has equipped me with various skills that will enable me to contribute to the scientific community through A*star BTI. The different leadership positions I have assumed over my academic years have enabled me to be a good team-player as well as forward-looking. As the internship requires significant interaction between various groups of people, I believe that these qualities will aid me in working effectively with fellow interns and experts and accomplishing a given task.

My research experience, on the other hand, has enabled me to be more meticulous and organized. These qualities were instilled in me during the process of mastering the various techniques over the course of various laboratory practicals. I believe that they will enhance the quality of work that I will produce.

I believe that my goals are in line with the organisation’s mission and as such, I would be a valuable asset to this internship program. This program would also provide me with the necessary experience and opportunities required in the work field of my interest.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could offer an interview slot where I could further explain my suitability for this internship offer. I have also enclosed my resume for you reference. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at + 65 9145 1205 or email me at mufeedha@gmail.com.

Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely,

Mufeedha Begum

Internship Details: http://www.bti.a-star.edu.sg/BIP2010.pdf

Week 3 (Post #2) - Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

When I looked at the title for this blog post, I thought long and hard about what I should write about. I mean there are a variety of interpersonal conflicts I’ve had with various groups of people. During this thought process, I realised that the most pertinent interpersonal conflicts I have experienced usually involve people I am close to and care about. It does seem ironic in a way as these are the ones who understand you best and therefore communicating with them should be relatively easier. However, as I have come to learn over these two weeks, there is much more to communication than the above.

Thinking back on all the arguments I’ve had with my best friend, P, I remembered one which we had back in junior college during the preparation for our CCA’s annual production. P was in-charge of the song item which I was also involved in. It was the evening before the actual event and I was still unable to get one of the songs right. This caused a lot of uneasiness in me which I expressed to P a few times but she was confident that I could pull it off. However, I was unable to sing the song right with repeated attempts. I began to get agitated. This caused P to become exasperated as she tried to explain to me that it would be highly inconvenient to make any changes to the sequence this late. Her attempts to reason out the issue with me proved to be futile as I was in no emotional state to listen. Eventually, I walked away after a vehement argument with her. It was only after taking some time to calm down that I realised that I could have handled the situation in a less volatile manner. For example, I needn’t have gotten so frantic about the getting the song right. The emotions an individual displays determine the response from the person he/she is interacting with. So, me getting anxious about the song might have upset P and caused her to respond in a negative manner. In contrast, if I had been more composed, the situation could have been solved in a much more harmonious manner. I suppose everyone’s emotions were running high that day due to the intensity of practices and peaking stress levels. This might have been a contributing factor to this conflict as well. I came to realize that making decisions or trying to solve situations during emotionally charged moments would be pointless.

However, to this day, I still wonder if we could have avoided the conflict entirely or if it was bound to happen. While I am aware that certain conflicts can be avoided with the monitoring of one’s tone or trying to put one’s self in another’s shoes, I feel that some conflicts may not be that easily avoided. I’d like to ask if all conflicts can be completely averted during circumstances like the one I’ve mentioned above. What do you think?

Week 2 (Post #1) – Effective Communication Skills and How they are Important to Me

In essence, I understand this course to be one that trains an individual to convey his message to his audience in the best way possible. This is done by teaching one the principles behind communication itself. The skills learned during this training process are then applied to appropriate situations – attending interviews, oral presentations etc.

The course clears the common misconception that communication is only verbal. In fact, communication involves both verbal and non-verbal aspects, with the non-verbal aspect playing a very huge role in the success of communication. The course also explores the factors that affect how well a message is conveyed to the intended audience. From facial expressions to tone to the attitude of the audience, there is a wide array of factors that affect the success of any form of communication be it in the form of interviews or written work.

For me, communication is an integral part of everyday life. From expressing my wants to writing examinations – in almost every activity, there is a certain form of communication involved. If I couldn’t express myself properly, I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my needs or obtain decent grades in certain examinations, especially those where the manner in which the marker perceives one’s answers is essential. When it comes to doing group projects, communication is extremely important because without it, it would be impossible to collaborate and collate each individual’s work and produce good product. Finally, communication also comes into play in my social life while interacting with friends and family.

I hope this course will enable me to improve my communication skills and apply them appropriately, especially in the working field.