Final Reflection on Learning

Time really flies. It has been more than 12 weeks since the start of ES2007S and I still remembered that during bidding period, Redonnia and I were contemplating on whether we should take ES2007S as a module. Some of our friends have warned us that the workload of this module is rather heavy and consistent efforts are required throughout the whole semester. However, looking back, I am glad that we decided to go ahead to take this course because it was one of the most useful modules which I have taken in NUS. Personally, I have gained a lot of experiences when it comes to presentation and personal skills. 

Before taking this module, opportunities for me to give a powerpoint presentation to a class were rather limited. Moreover, those presentations usually focus more of the contents being delivered rather than giving feedbacks on how one should improve on his or her presentation skills. Being a nervous speaker, I used to hope that I could get it over and done with by quickly finishing up my speech. However, through this module, I have learnt a good communication-related skill which is oral presentation. It is not just saying your speech as you need to know how to engage your audience with eye-contacts as well as speak in appropriate tone in order to deliver what you wish to say effectively. I was also taught how to cope with the ‘butterflies in the stomach’ during presentation because it boils down to having ample preparation and practices. Having sufficient preparations will make us feel more confident of what we are presenting to the audience, and practising will help us to improve on our presentation skill. Therefore, I would say that it has equipped me with the relevant skills on presenting effectively.

Furthermore, in the past, I was quite apprehensive in speaking up in class because I was self-conscious of how people will look at me, or whether I will appear foolish by giving those comments. Hence, after ES2007S, I find myself constantly learning in the process as it trained me to adopt the most fundamental skill in effective communication which is to speak up. In addition, the atmosphere within the class was encouraging in the sense that everyone in the class was open to differing opinions. Thus, we often had interactive and meaningful conversations which allow us to understand one another better. For instance, I still remember there was one lesson whereby we were asked to state the qualities which we valued the most in a friend and surprisingly, many of us had the same quality in our minds. Through all these activities, it makes me realise that we should not constantly be afraid to speak up for fear of being judged because at the end of the day, it would hinder us from learning and interaction with other people.

Overall, I would say that ES2007S is an enriching module which prepares and equips me with the skills essential for the future workplace like how you should present yourself in the interview, be more accepting to the diverse workplace and more. It has been a wonderful experience and would definitely encourage some of my juniors to take this module! :)

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Finally, our group has finally completed our oral presentation. I personally find that suicide is a topic which most people are less empathetic because only those who are closed to suicidal victims will truly understand how the pain they feel. Thus, I was glad that our group decided to work on this topic and being able to provide solutions in hope to address this issue. 

Much time was spent in editing the slides and I have decided to include Amanda Todd story so that it could allow the audience to understand the three main problem statements (lack of warning signs, taboo on suicidal victims and taboo on counselling) which I wish to convey better.  However, I find it rather challenging to link them up together with Amanda Todd story and NUS students because I need to ensure the coherence of the introduction and my presentation to be kept within 5minutes. Hence, I was grateful for the help offered by my team-mates ( Dinesh, Uthpala and Shameem) to improve on the organisations of presentation ideas. I enjoyed working with this diverse group because even though we all came from different backgrounds, we had much fun bumping our ideas to one another.

Being the first group to present and also the first person to present, I seemed to be a bit nervous at the start as mentioned by my classmates. However, personally, I feel that I was much well-prepared and less nervous in comparison to the peer-teaching. This is so as in comparison to peer teaching, I have put in much effort in rehearsing my part especially in front of the mirror for days before the actual presentation. Moreover, I thought that I have improved because I was putting on a more serious face during presentation as I received feedback I have smiled too much during peer-teaching. This is especially important when our group is presenting on a more serious topic which is to create suicide awareness.

In my opinion, I think one of the main areas of improvement I need to work on is the gestures and body language because I sense that I was too focused on saying my speech rather than on the appropriate hand gestures which I could have used during presentation. Hence, I might appear rather stiff.

All in all, I am glad to have this opportunity to train myself to present in front of the class. Though it is inevitable for me to be on tenterhook during presentation, I am confident and optimistic that this process definitely put me on the road to be a good presenter in the future as the skills being acquired over the past few weeks have been very useful for me.