Final Reflection on Learning

Being a final year student taking six modules (including FYP), I thought taking ES2007S was a bad move as I will not have time for other modules. To be frank, the main objective for me to take ES2007S was because of the application letter and resume writing. On the other hand, now that I have completed ES2007S, I feel that this module has really helped me in many other ways – presentation skills and effective communication.

As I was a shy speaker who cannot really express myself well, I was unable to translate my thoughts accurately and fast enough into verbal and non-verbal communication. As a result, I might use the wrong words and offend them at times. That also had adverse effects on my presentation skills.

With Brad and ES2007S curriculum, I had many opportunities speak/present in front of people. Most importantly, I received many feedbacks for improvement. Frankly speaking, I did not think that I would enjoy these initially because criticisms are usually not pleasant to hear. For example, I had peer teaching, oral presentation, elevator pitch, “describing who you are” and many other impromptu chances to present and speak openly.  Following these activities, I received quite negative comments which disheartened me a little. Thanks to Brad’s constant reminder and encouragement, I did not take the negative feedbacks too hard and worked on my weaknesses.

Gradually, I got used to this and understood the importance of feedbacks. Coupled with the countless speaking and presentation opportunities that both Brad and this course had provided, it boosted my confidence level, presentation skills and speaking to people very spontaneous as I am less nervous.  These really helped me greatly in the other presentations that I had.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Brad, my proposal project teammates (Lance, Zoey, Huixin), peer teaching partner (Zoey), Png Ning for her encouragement in my mock interview evaluation form and the other peers in this course for their help throughout the course. ES2007S had really made me a better presenter. All the best for your exams and future endeavorsJ

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Yeah! I am glad the oral presentation (OP) is finally over. Having two presentations on the same day is NOT fun at all, but this learning experience is definitely an enriching one.

The preparation phase for this OP was especially taxing as each of us (Lance, Huixin, Zoey and I) had other assignments/presentations/tests to do. Thus, it left us with minimum time to meet up and rehearse for our OP. However, with the effort that we managed to squeeze out at the very end, I am really proud of our OP as a whole. The slides and visuals are very relevant, kudos to Lance for running around the campus taking these beautiful pictures.

Personally, I discovered that through the mock OP and other presentation opportunities I received from ES2007S, it made me feel less nervous progressively. With a calm mind, this helps to ensure that my thoughts will be accurately translated into what message I want to convey. Coupled with the rehearsals our team had, it enabled the ideas to flow fluently and made my speech more coherent. Furthermore, I also became more aware of keeping eye contact with all my target audience. For example, I made the effort to establish eye contact with all my audience, especially the ones who were looking at me. 

Moving on to weakness, I felt that my presentation verbal communication could be more coherent because I realized at certain time during our OP, some of our target audience gave some abrupt frowns. Moreover, I could have done better during the Questions and Answers section too as the audience did not look convinced with my explanation. Thus to improve this, I guess it is important for me to take at most 10s to process my ideas before I answer. 

With ES2007S drawing to an end, I dare tell my friends to seize every presentation opportunity, practice, practice and practice! It is because I have tried it and it works :)