My Oral Presentation

From my point of view my performance was not at its best. Being a fourth year student I expected myself to have got over what people might call "stage fright". However, I realised when I stood up to present I did feel panicky even after practicing a couple of times beforehand. I am quite disappointed with this aspect of my presentation as I wanted to master the art of having a calm appearance during presentations.

I made a mental note before the presentation to have eye contact with all the listener's but during the presentation my mind was more focused on presenting smoothly that I realised I didn't give much attention to maintaining eye contact with all the listeners or to my posture. Towards the end I realised I was using hand gestures to put across certain points to the listener's. I am not sure if these hand gestures are appropriate for the presentation but I would have rather held them behind my back. Apart from these blunders my main concern was on the Q and A session. My group mates and I had agreed upon a strategy to decide who would be answering which question so as to avoid any confusion. However, during the session I hadn't followed this strategy at all and I fear that I might have not given a chance for my group mates to answer. I definitely do regret on this part.

Overall, I am aware my performance was not as I had compared it to be during rehersals however, I am happy as we all, both my team mates and I, had fun throughout entire process (which included shopping! :D).

Drum rolls... the Finale

Week 1 Class: 19/01/09

I am half an hour late for ES2007S class. My very first class in my final semester and I can already imagine the disappointed, judging look on my professor. There goes "first impression" down the drain.

I did have a reasonable excuse for being late (thanks to my first graded final year project presentation and having to take a 15 minute bus ride from Central Library to Science Faculty) however, it would still sound lame especially when a student is late for the first class.

I paused outside the door mentally preparing myself for the looks and reactions from my teacher and classmates when I walk in late. However, what I hadn't prepared for was what happened when I opened the door and stepped in.

"Come inside Priya" said the Professor. (Oh well something like that.)
This completely took me by surprise. It was the first time out of the four years in my whole undergraduate life that a Professor knew my name and on the very FIRST class and I thought to myself that I had already began to enjoy this class.

Week 13 Class: 13/04/09
Since the beginning to the very end this course has always had a very supportive and friendly atmosphere where both my teacher and classmates have helped me to improve myself as a whole.

Moving onto the blog post for this week, I believe that my first blog had missed the essential point of why effective communication is important to me. However, the revised version of my post includes an answer to this question. After reviewing this post now I believe that my understanding of effective communication has been further improved extending from understanding other people to being understood by other people. Additionally, I haven't given much focus to written based communication, that is, communication through letters, emails and expressing ones self through writings. I would also say that I have realised the importance of effective communication.

Overall, this module has definitely improved my communication skills and the knowledge of this has boosted my self confidence. For instance, the blogging activity has given me an opportunity to offer ways of resolving conflicts either in a hypothetical or real life situation. The in-class lesson on reading and explaining the article to Roy has taught me quite a few tricks of how to keep the listener's attention as well as it also has taught me that it is also equally the listener's responsibility to stay attentive to the speaker. Furthermore, the non verbal cues that I have picked up through out this course will help me in my daily conversations and interactions with other people, during presentations and even during interviews. Apart from the speaking and listening activities, the 7C's has also been equally important. It has enhanced my written skills enabling a better expression of my views through my writing. Most importantly the multicultural background of my class mates has made it possible to perceive certain things from their point of view.

Unlike the other courses I feel that the bond I have created among my classmates would not be a friendship that just lasts till the end of this semester but a friendship that will continue even after my graduation from NUS. The interviews conducted by fellow mates, the support and the feedback I gained for the weekly assignments, the tiring project and even the good luck messages for the upcoming presentation has brought me closer to my class mates.

Overall this course not only has equipped me with better communication skills it also has helped in my personal development.

I would definitely like to thank each of my class mates and Brad in this post but I would rather do them a favor by keeping it simple and short... THANK YOU!

edited April 14, 2009