At the start of this trimester, I have set two goals to achieve in this CVE1281 Effective Communication class. They are to be more proactive in tutorials and enhance my written communication skills.
From week 1 of the tutorial till now, I can confidently say that I have grown to be a more confident communicator. Being an introvert, I lack confidence whenever I must speak to the crowd. Verbal communication has always been my weakness. Throughout this module, I constantly reminded myself that I needed to grow out of this fear. Professor Blackstone's tutorials have aided me immensely in overcoming this fear. During tutorials, Professor Blackstone would engage the class by selecting individuals to read to the class, answer specific questions, and interact with others through discussions. Through these tutorials, I managed to step out of my comfort zone to speak up, be proactive, and participate. Now, I can speak to the crowd with more confidence, as evident during the formal presentation. However, I still tend to feel nervous and intimidated by the crowd. After this module, I strive further to improve my presentation skills through constant practice at home.
My second goal was to enhance my written communication skills. Though I can write adequately, I tend to lose focus on the essay's main topic. Every tutorial, we were given opportunities to write and give constructive feedback on our classmate's writing pieces. From evaluation, we learn from one another's mistakes, which has aided me greatly in writing. Out of all the feedback given, I feel that Professor Blackstone's review allowed me to learn the most. The detailed review and consultations enabled me to understand the requirements needed to produce a good essay and look out for fine details that I often missed out on. Now, I can write and cite in APA style with better precision and fluency.
For our research project, the technical report was a unique project out of all the assignments. The technical design report has allowed me to learn extensively as it had many components that led up to the final report. Some significant highlights I would want to elaborate further would be the pitching and the technical report writing.
Days leading up to the pitch, we were tasked to brainstorm, create a pitch and sell our ideas to our classmates. In week 5, everyone had to pitch to five of our classmates. Then a handful was picked to pitch to the class. Though I was not chosen, I learned as the audience by differentiating the ones that are better at verbal communication. Professor Blackstone also provided tips on how we should present ourselves during a presentation to prepare ourselves better and to ensure that we appear confident and professional for the upcoming presentation. Through this, I took down pointers, such as confident body language, loud voice projection, and understanding the target audience — all this which has aided me immensely during the formal presentation.
Following the pitch, we did more extensive research on our topic and started on the technical report. Writing the report was tedious, from extensive research to crafting the report. Being appointed as the leader, I knew I had the responsibility to bring forward my group during every zoom meeting. I took charge of the overall editing of the report and delegated the tasks to my teammates. I am thankful to work alongside amazing teammates, Hai Hong and Sarah. They were willing to work together, and this helps us to improve each other's weaknesses.
As a team, I have learned that communication is vital. I would always ensure that my team members were on the same page to prevent miscommunication and misunderstandings. I have understood that different people have different working styles through my experience in various projects done in polytechnic. My working style would be to work as a team as I believe that "teamwork makes the dream work." However, knowing that my team has a different scheduled timetable, we decided to split up and assign the various parts and complete it before the deadline we set for ourselves. Throughout the project, I also learned that my teammate Hai Hong prefers to get work done late at night, while Sarah and I prefer to get work done in the day. Through our differences, I appreciated that everyone cooperated and meticulously got the report done.
This project has taught me to be more flexible in how I do things because everyone has a different working style. Being adept and understanding one another's viewpoints is characteristic of an effective communicator. Good communication is essential as it helps us to work with greater efficiency. I believe that the communication skills honed in this module will aid me greatly in the future, especially when I enter the workforce.
It is an honour to be under Professor Blackstone's guidance. I would like to take this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude to Professor Blackstone for such an enriching 13 weeks of learning the art of communication.
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