#6 Reflection on Learning

I've always had a gift for presenting. To show for my intense involvement and preparation in any group project, when it comes to the presentation segment, I have the magical ability to appear like a free-rider, thanks to my nerves. As a result, presenting has always been an intense fear of mine. In fact, one of my main reasons for taking ES2007S was to conquer this very fear.

When I first joined ES2007S, I had already resigned myself to ascribing good presentation skills to naturally effervescent personalities. As enthusiasm was never a strong point for me, I felt disadvantaged and was hoping ES2007S would equip me with skills to at least scrape by in presentations decently. Over the weeks, I realized that enthusiasm doesn't have to be as contrived as I had thought and that all I needed was a change in mentality. Prior to ES2007S, I went into presentations thinking "This is a compulsory school project.". By focusing on the fact that neither my participation in the project nor the audience's participation in its presentation was voluntary, I was trying to keep my enthusiasm level in check but in doing so, I was harming my own presentation. The result was low confidence and its jittery symptoms.

Observing my classmates' performances in their respective peer teaching sessions brought my attention to important details that made a good presenter but I was still struggling with my ability to pull it off naturally. I first realized a shift in my mindset when it came to my peer teaching session which was on job interviews. It was probably the first time that I had felt that what I was presenting transcended more than just a class assignment. This was vital information that was clearly relevant to my classmates and possibly even one of the reasons they had joined ES2007S in the first place. I felt responsible for conveying this information to them and that sense of purpose empowered me. Yes, I had paced my presentation poorly and had missed out a whole chunk of what I wanted to say but I was surprised by how comfortable I had felt while presenting enthusiastically and consequentially, how well I had been able to subdue my nervous behaviour. The feedback from the class was constructive and I started to dispel my fear of presenting.

The real challenge was the final oral presentation on my group project- directNUS. Since it was back to presenting a group project, instead of information that was actually essential to my classmates, I wasn't sure if I would be able to garner the same, largely positive feedback I had received in the peer teaching session. I believed in our group's idea but I grappled with the fact that its appeal is subjective. I didn't know if I could be enthusiastic without feeling awkwardly presumptuous. I studied my classmates' performances in their final OPs and this allowed me to slowly realize that this OP was really a culmination of the entire project. Regardless of whether or not our idea would receive strong support, I was proud of the amount of work that I had invested into the project. Once I had established this as a justifiable source of motivation, I began to feel confident about presenting naturally again. Sure enough, save for a a few glitches, I managed to portray my group's idea in an enticing and more importantly, natural, manner. I was especially relieved that I was able to pace my presentation and deliver it exactly as I had intended, which was an anomaly for me.

I know that I am not a great presenter yet and that there is definitely a lot of room for improvement  for me. But I know that I am much closer to the presenter that I aspire to be, thanks to ES2007S. I'm aware that this post has exceeded the word limit but I would just like to end with a short 'thank you' to the class, including our dear Brad. I can safely say that bulk of the module was learnt through examining my fellow classmates. Both the analogous and incongruous aspects of our approaches to all the different components have been sources of reaffirmation and inspiration for me. It's been fun and I look forward to a class gathering with cheap food in the near future! Good luck for your finals, everybody! And for the lucky souls to whom the previous sentence does not apply, congratulations on your graduation! :)

#5 Reflection on Oral Presentation

Reflecting on the oral presentation, I feel inclined to compare myself to how I was pre-ESS2007s, during the peer teaching presentation and the mock presentation. I think I can fairly say that I have improved a lot in terms of handling my nerves, exuding professionalism and managing my time. In stark contrast to the trembling wreck that I used to be pre-ES2007S, I was very much calmer.

I won’t deny that there was still some nervousness as could be detected by my creaky voice. However, the fact that I could remember my script and deliver it exactly as I had intended to, with few pauses in between, is a major personal achievement for me.

The class mentioned that I had performed better in the first part of my presentation and I believe this is probably because the animation-packed nature of the presentation provided a logical sequence which helped me deliver my script more fluidly. When it came to the second portion, however, I was slipping back into the ‘bullet-point-followed-by-paragraph-description’ mode and thus I stumbled quite a bit. The lesson I learnt from this is to perhaps pay more attention to such areas and focus on memorizing concepts instead of scripted chunks. This would, of course, require me to also build up the confidence to verbalize the memorized concepts impromptu.

One key area I would like to improve on is voice control and this is partly due to watching my team-mates, Zi Hao and Xi Min, in action. I felt that they demonstrated impressive voice control which embellished their presentations with a sense of professionalism. Playing back the recorded video, I also realized that I subconsciously used the words ‘so’ and ‘umm’ a lot as fillers. Unnecessarily looking at the screen is another area I want to work on as well.

As for the positive aspects of my performance, I felt that I managed to establish good panning eye contact with the audience. I employed cues (both verbal and non-verbal) to direct the audience attention to specific areas on the slides to ensure that they were still following me even when eye contact had to be breached. I am also glad that the class found me articulate and appeared engaged. I was also heartened to know that the class had high praise for the slides and that they enjoyed them. With regard to the slideware, I felt that it was an integral part of the presentation as it encapsulated the complexity of the project in a manner that was very accessible to the audience. I am glad that the class responded to the slides very well.

This oral presentation felt slightly sentimental for me as it was the culmination of many grueling weeks slogging it out over the different stages of the group project. Needless to say, it was a gratifying experience to see it being received so well by the class. I would like to thank the class and Brad for their kind words and constructive criticisms. I would also like to thank my team mates for their cooperation.

As a team, we have decided to approach a stakeholder with our proposal after our exams. Though it might just remain a pipe dream, I’m excited by the prospect of directNUS becoming more than just a school project. Wish us luck, guys!

If i may continue..

Hello class!

As you all know, I ran out of time during my group's peer teaching session earlier today. Since we'll be having mock job interviews next week and like I said, non-verbal communication accounts for 90% of what you are trying to convey in your job interview, I feel that is quite a disservice to you that I did not manage to cover what I had intended. So here are a few pointers picking up from where I left off. This is a long post but I hope you'll find it useful!

In the hot seat
Politeness
-don't yawn
-don't keep glancing at your watch
-switch off your cellphone
-do not interrupt the interviewer

Eye contact
-in a panel interview, establish eye contact with the interviewer that posed the question and when you're done delivering your answer, establish eye contact with the rest of the panel
-looking down is only acceptable when taking notes

Posture
-enter the interview room with your head up and walk in a self-assured manner (indicates confidence)
-sit down with your legs crossed at your ankles or feet placed flatly on the ground (indicates professionalism)
-sit up straight and slightly leaned forward (indicates attentiveness and interest)
-sit on front portion of the chair, but not on the edge
-do not slouch (indicates sloppy work ethic, carelessness, low energy)
-the further up you cross your legs, the more defensive you appear
-refrain from raising on leg/ankle on the other leg (appears casual or even arrogant)
-refrain from placing your feet to far apart or stretching your feet too far in front of you (appears casual)

Gestures
-limit your gestures (otherwise, appears unprofessional and dramatic)
-body language experts say that the less your hands are waving around, the more confident and in control you are
-refrain from crossing arms (indicates negative attitude, closed personality, defensivesness, even aggressiveness)
-arms should be loosely placed with hands clasped loosely on your lap or the table
-smile and nod when appropriate (keep the smiling under control if the interviewer appears very no-nonsense and serious)
-if interviewer says something amusing, it is appropriate to laugh only if interviewer laughs first

-do not fidget
-refrain from touching face or hair (indicates discomfort and is very distracting and unprofessional)

Mannerisms

-know your nervous ticks and suppress them (e.g. twirling hair, shaking leg, clearing throat, picking nails etc.) or you will appear awkward and nervous
-interviewers will expect you to be nervous but make sure that when you are answering questions, try to keep your nerves under control so as not to take away from the strength of your answer

Voice-adopt a clear, controlled voice delivery
-refrain from being monotonous (appears unexciting)
-instead, vary your tone and pitch (appear engaging) but do not overdo it!
-when posed a question, breathe (always a good idea), pause (as mentioned by Titus) and react.
-you should act as if you are an equal to the interviewer, not a subordinate. consequentially, do not take on an apologetic or defensive tone during any part of your interview

Read the interviewer's body language
That's right. Turn the tables to help you determine how to gear your response.
-hand fiddling, loss of eye contact are signs of boredom. wrap up what you have to say and ask the interviewer if they require further details
-finger drumming or rubbing one's face indicates irritation. bring your point home and clarify that you are indeed answering the question.
-crossing arms or leaning away shows the interviewer is uncomfortable. perhaps you are invading his/her space. shift yourself to create more space between the two of you.

Lastly,
PIE! - Poise Interest Expressiveness

Poise: appear confident, comfortable, in control of yourself, in control of your nerves and attentive

Interest: exude interest in the job, the company, the interviewer by establishing eye contact, refraining from behaviour that makes you look disinterested and maintaining good posture

Expressiveness: demonstrate high positive energy by being enthusiastic, smiling and emoting (not excessively though!) your answers. however, refrain from expressing negative emotions (scowling, or frowning) when bringing up negative things.

#4 Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

It was 8 o'clock as Claudia* took a morning jog with her chihuahua, Fifi*, at her neighbourhood park. Along the way, they encountered a young lady. Just as they were about to cross paths, an excited Fifi charges toward this stranger. Much to Claudia's shock, the young lady immediately shouted vulgarities at her before screaming hysterically and running off frantically. Infuriated and baffled by the incident, Claudia did what most teenagers would do- she whipped out her handphone and updated her Facebook status.

(Disclaimer: Language has been altered to remain conducive to educational purposes.)

This is where I come into the picture. The instant I saw her status update, I knew this was the case of an intercultural conflict. Like any other minor-league keyboard warrior, I spent the next 1.5 hours going through a cycle of crafting a comment, adjusting the tone, and then deleting it completely. Ultimately, I decided against commenting at all since I rarely talk to her. Besides, I figured that surely a friend of hers would correct her. Sadly, this was not the case and within hours, being the influential person that she is, she managed to amass a legion of "likes" on her status update and a slew of snide -bordering on racist- comments.

So what was the underlying issue in this perplexing intercultural conflict? The thing is, apparently Muslims consider it impure to come into contact with dogs' saliva. It is viewed as akin to touching a pig and requires of Muslims to cleanse themselves seven times, one of which with mud (which is considered pure).

To those of you who knew it, kudos to you! To those who didn't, you are not alone. This is one of the lesser known Haraam (taboos in the Islamic faith) and to be honest, the only reason I know this is not because I am Malay or Muslim (in fact I'm a Filipino-Indian Roman Catholic), but because I have a Mum who knows such things and makes it a point to impart such knowledge to me to prevent me from accidentally offending people.

Come to think of it, at a very fundamental level, intercultural communication is just about making sure that you do not sabotage a relationship from the start by inadvertently offending the person. The lesson that I learnt and want to share from reevaluating this incident with respect to  professional communication class, is that being culturally-unexposed can lead to serious misinterpretations which can irreparably damage a relationship (professional or not).

I believe this severity is particularly extreme compared to other non-intercultural situations simply because of the nature of culture. The sentimental idea of culture involving shared values developed over generations can cause many of its members to become emotionally invested in its observance. Moreover, in a multi-racial society, there seems to be an inherent right to expect that people belonging to other cultures should be wary about how they affect the former group's abidance of such customs.

This explains why the Malay lady did not care to suppress her emotions- her outburst suggests that to her, ignorance on Claudia's part was not excusable. From Claudia's perspective, however, her chasm in understanding led her to feel that the lady was just grossly over-reacting to a tiny dog and that her behaviour was rude, irrational and unacceptably melodramatic.
____________________________________________________________________
In case you were interested to know what is so unclean about dogs' saliva, well, that's something neither Mum nor even my Muslim boyfriend knows. From what I pieced together off websites, Islamic scriptures have it that Prophet Muhummad had an intense aversion towards dogs and as a revered figure in the Islamic faith, his bias against dogs became elevated to edicts.

*Names were changed to protect the identities of the involved real-life persons. Also, profile photo and facebook status pictured above were fabricated. In fact, I think it's Zooey Deschanel, lol.

Please take some time out to help us with our survey?

Calling all NUS students that happen to come across this blog post, please do my group a favour and take our survey (click to follow the link):

---directNUS survey---

It's a survey about route planning to get around NUS campus and should take only 5 to 10 minutes.
Thank you very much for your feedback and time!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has responded to our survey so far. We really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy school week to spend on this survey. You are very awesome people.

P.S. Good luck to everybody for any upcoming mid-term examinations!
P.P.S. If you're viewing this via a laptop, you can de-stress by feeding the fish at the bottom of this page. :)

#3 Application Letter Critique

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#2 Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

You and Gerald have known each other since you were neighbours 20 years ago and your friendship is fortified by bonds forged between your families since. Over time, you have come to see Gerald as an older brother. He has always been there for you. Whether it was queries about schoolwork or relationship advice, Gerald was always a reliable lifeline. As a young adult fresh out of college, when you had expressed interest in joining the well-acclaimed multinational corporation that Gerald worked at, Gerald spent days preparing you for interviews, imparting his experiences with you and even put in a good word for you with his manager.


With your impressive academic records, a laudable resume and Gerald's help, you managed to clinch the job and have since proven yourself to be an asset to the company. In fact, within the first 3 years of entering the company, your hard work saw you receive 2 promotions and placed you in a leadership position. Gerald, on the other hand, has always had a very low-gear work ethic and remains stagnant at his entry-level position, making him your subordinate. Thankfully your friendship transcends your workplace hierarchy and you continue to maintain a healthy relationship.


However, one day, your department head informs you that the company is not doing well and will have to let some employees go. He tasks you with writing work performance reports on the employees working under your management to help him decide who to sack from your department.

Although it pains you to do so, you do as told, which leads to some of your colleagues being fired, including Gerald. Gerald learns of your role in his retrenchment and is devastated by what he feels is a 'betrayal'. A cold war between the two of you ensues and the rift extends to your families.
Gerald is a very dear friend to you and the current situation between the two of you deeply upsets you. How can you possibly repair your friendship?

#1 Effective Communication Skills

What I anticipate from ES2007S

By the looks of it, it's indeed a very comprehensive course packed with several topics which give us insight not only into our future professional lives but also shed light on the preparatory steps prior to it. I think an overview of this course would be done best by splitting it up into 4 sub-categories:

1. Fundamentals of Communication
   This section lays down the scaffolding of the entire course. We'll learn about the breakdown on what communication really is, the importance of listening, story-telling and questioning effectively, how to facilitate intercultural communication, all about nonverbal communication and how to foster interpersonal communication.
2. Position Search
   This section deals with the job-searching and job interview process with regards to the actual scenarios and the necessary preparations in advance. We'll learn about how to search for a suitable job, how to write effective resume and cover letters, how to prepare for and perform at job interviews and also about effective personal branding.
3. Project Communication
   This section concerns skills related to project work. We'll learn about how to write a good proposal, the necessary steps to conduct effective meetings, the employment of collaborative work platforms, data analysis and results presentation skills and how to give an effective oral presentation.
   
4. Written Communication
   This section covers important skills that can be applied in our written interaction with others in the workplace. We'll learn about the 7 C's in writing, how to produce effective business letters, e-mails and other business writings and how to construct bad and good news messages.

That's a lot of ground to cover!!! It's amazing how many skills we can expect to take away from this course, all of which are sure to be relevant not only in our future careers but are also applicable to our personal interaction with people outside the workplace.

Why effective communication skills are important for me

In my opinion, one who has effective communication skills has the ability to express one’s thoughts and articulate one’s ideas in a manner that is easily understood by the receiving party while remaining appropriate and sensitive. My personal contention is that the main importance of effective communication lies in its fulfillment of a fundamentally human desire to express ourselves and be understood, be it in a professional or personal context.  I hope to experience more often that boost in self-confidence when people acknowledge that they have grasped the message that I had hoped to convey from the first go.  From a social point of view, I believe such skills are important as they will help me expand my social network by forging better relations with people comfortably, ranging from acquaintances to close friends. Not only will widespread social connections undoubtedly come in handy in my career but getting to know people from varied walks of life would also be value-adding, perhaps even exciting, to my life in general.  In terms of career life, equipping myself with effective communication skills is vital to ensure that I am in the best position to clinch my desired job and upon employment, maximize my value to my organization by cooperating and interacting well with both my colleagues and clients. This includes being able to pitch an idea or verbalize my opinions clearly in an oral presentation or a staff meeting. Let's not forget that effective communication does not only involve self-initiated interactions. I feel that effective communication is essential also because it will allow me to internalize information relayed by others, both explicit and implicit, which depending on context, can help me to acquire knowledge, strengthen relationships or align my job performance with my organization’s objectives.

A Hopeful Transmission

I can't figure out where the little excerpt that we went through in class on Monday came from. I'm referring to the short paragraph in which the author claimed that communication was an art, not a science. The reason I brought this up is that this exercise got me thinking outside of the main objective of the exercise. Seeing how other classmates had picked up on the debatable nature of the author's opinion made me ponder over why the thought to challenge the author's opinion had not occurred to me at all.


This came just days after I had attended an ethics module for engineering students in which the lecturer lamented that engineers often do not have a mind of their own outside following instructions, to which I responded with violent objections in my head. Of course the ethics lecturer had been talking about things on a much bigger scale such as the implications of blindly following instructions ultimately leading to human casualties but it certainly made me realise the importance of actively thinking on top of following directions. I thought about how long it has been since I've been academically engaged in something that required me to have an opinion and exercise it.


Perhaps the last times would have been a critical writing course for engineers back in year 1 sem 1 and prior to that, GP in JC but come to think of it, even then, there were certain cues that limited the open-endedness of every question from which I could systematically approach a question and tackle it according to a certain format. In short, the little exercise on Monday made me realise how different a module ES2007S is from anything I've done in a long time. No formulae to digest, definitions/laws to memorise. No answer key. No rigidly structured correct answers.

It's a refreshing change but at the same time, in a lot of ways, this module is forcing me to step out of my comfort zone and into somewhere that makes the introvert that I am feel awkward and contrived. Yes, I do have opinions and I do like to share them but the context in which I am comfortable with sharing them is in a one-to-one basis or via a faceless portal (e.g. blogging here now) and so presentations, however brief, freak me out. When I think presentations, I think about my many bad experiences with them. Most presentations are rehearsed in my head from days before the presentation itself but for some reason on the presentation day itself, I manage to spaz out such that I come across as someone who free-rode for the entire project.

However, the fact of the matter is that presentations/interviews/nerve-wrecking situations are part and parcel of working life and so I'm embarking on this journey hoping to improve myself and I know that's going to require me taking the metaphorical bull by its horns. So here goes...

Fight Test

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