A bag of gratitude for all that I have learnt

At the start of this roller-coaster ride of 13 weeks, I began with minimum knowledge of effective communication. With the ups and downs of this thrilling ride, it gave me an unforgettable experience as I had an amazing time with my tutor and peers, struggling through the tons of assignments together.

Looking at my first blog post of ES2007s module, I highlighted three things that I would like to take away it. The first thing would be to minimize conflicts and misunderstandings and foster good relationships. I am proud to say, I did fulfill my first objective with the knowledge of nonverbal communication and active listening which helps me to reduce miscommunication and misunderstanding with people that I have interacted. Moreover, I made many friendships with my fellow module mates, exercising our knowledge of effective communication.

The second thing would be the presentation skills. This module allows me to express freely and encourage me to stand in front of a group of audience to present my views, reflections or share a proposed idea. With such intensive practice, I gained confidence and passion to share my thoughts and knowledge. In addition, I have picked up the do's and don'ts of presentation, especially the presentation slides. With the opportunity to work along with my proposal team, Calvin and Wang Chen, we have the chance to explore experienced presenters' techniques and style, such as Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs.

The third thing I have reaped from this module was the interest to blog. I felt that blogging is a good mean to share my views and also encourages me to set aside some time to reflect. It also allows me to keep a collection of my thoughts and read them in future.

The bonus of this module was the lessons on writing a resume, application letters and the interview skills. It was very useful class and applicable for me in my application of jobs. I am very grateful for the knowledge that I have gained from this module as it allows me to secure an internship in Sillicon Valley. Thank you very much and I will definitely recommend my peers to take up this module.

My Reflections of my Oral Presentation

Welcome to Skywalker's Presentation

Change the Way You Travel

Firstly, I would like to briefly share with you our presentation. We were working on a proposal of changing the way National University of Singapore (NUS) population travels. My team, Skywalker would like to introduce National University of Singapore Excellence Unit (NUSEU) our new Skywalker Walkway System, which connects people from destinations to destinations, walking along the Kent Ridge Road. A brief illustration of our Skywalker Walkway System can be seen in the photos shown above.

My team did a fantastic job in our presentation, using a number of presentation skills we identified from Co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, who does amazing presentations of his products. We hope that our audience were fascinated with our Skywalker Walkway System, especially the add-on feature of the Slides. Calvin started off our presentation, confidently and enthusiastically, while Wang Chen gave an interesting introduction of the current issues of the NUS internal shuttle bus. I presented on our proposed solution, highlighting on the features of our Skywalker Walkway System. Calvin ended off the presentation, leaving a vivid impression on our audience.

I felt that I could have the potential to do a better job if I was much more confident at that moment. I was very enthusiastic with my proposal and was overwhelmed with many informations that I would like to share with NUSEU, which may have affected the speed of my presentation. I enjoyed the moments of my presentation as I could observed that my audiences were captivated by our proposal and listened attentively to our presentation. Overall, I was satisfied with my presentation as I believe that I presented my informations in an entertaining manner.

Lastly, I would like to mention some of my thoughts on my Questions and Answers Section. I was disappointed with how I answered my first question, as I could have answered it by looking at another angle. However, I picked up myself with the subsequent answers, which I felt that I did a good job in providing the necessary informations.

I would to take this opportunity to thank a number of people, my teacher, Ms Lim, my classmates, Berwyn, JunXiong, Wan Ting, Sheau Shiuh, Yongwei, Dayang, Melvis, Jonathan, Hu Xuan, Xiao Xing, and my team mates, Calvin and Wang Chen. Without all the above people I mentioned, I would not have such an amazing presentation experience, thank you very much...

Singaporeans & Germans...

Independence and optimism are some of the cultural difference between Singaporeans and the Germans. When I was in Germany during this June for an immersion trip, my German friend told me that he was asked to leave home when he was 18 years old. I was quite surprised, although I remembered hearing of such practice before. Back then, I was quite skeptical about it, and felt that it should not be true. In Singapore, most children will not ever leave their parents' house until the day they are married. This is partly due to the Housing policy by Housing and Development Board (HDB) which only allows newly-wed couples or singles who are thirty-five years old and above to purchase a new flat. Thus, this policy limits people to rent as an alternative which maybe rather costly. However, even if such policy does not exist, I believe Singaporeans' parents will not encourage such practice. Most parents are observed to be protective over their children and would prefer keeping them by their side, even after their children have gotten married. Such practice is rather interesting and bold as it throws the teenagers into deep sea and forces them to be independent.

When I was in Germany, it was during the World Cup Season. The Germans were aggressively supporting their team in the World Cup. When the German team won, the whole street will be full of cheers and celebrations, and that was how we inferred the outcome of a match without watching. However, there was a match that the Germans lost, and we misinterpreted that they won. The street was still very lively and the Germans were singing and cheering, which leads us to think that they won. When a German approached us during our meal, we asked about their winning score. Surprisingly, they told us that they had lost. This left us puzzled, because, if it was back in Singapore, and the supporting team was to lose, we will definitely be acting the other way round. I guess I can only conclude as, the Germans are very optimistic people

My application letter (2nd draft)

Lynette Tay Wan Qing

Blk 123 ABC

#20-123

Singapore 123456

nettetay@gmail.com

1st September 2010

Regional Sales Center of

Electronics Component Manufacturer

Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to express my interest to work as a Sales Executive in your company, as advertised in the Straits Time, Recruit section on 1st September 2010. I am a fresh graduate from National University of Singapore with a Bachelor Degree in Science (Physics). I would like to begin my career as a Sales Executive in your company.

Working as a Sales Executive in an Electronics Component Manufacturing company, it would be fulfilling and challenging. It will provide many opportunities to work with various customers while applying the skill of communication. Moreover, being a physicist, it will be interesting and challenging to make use of my theoretical knowledge onto the sales of Electronics Component. It will allow a different perspective in promoting of the products. You will note that from my enclosed resume, many of my working experiences and positions in my extracurricular demostrate good interpersonal skill and great learning ability. This is evident in my role as the head of my class committee, who has a good reputation among my peers and teachers. Moreover, it reflects an independent worker who is capable to work efficiently and sets high expectations for herself. I am confident that I am able to excel as a Sales Executive in your organization and carry out my responsibilites with great pleasure.

A letter and a resume can tell you only so much about my motivation and qualifications. I will contact you in the next few days to see if you require any additional information and arrange an interview to share more about myself.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours Sincerely,

Lynette Tay Wan Qing

Enclosure:Resume

My experience on interpersonal conflict...

Firstly, I would like to start off with this website:

http://www.drbalternatives.com/articles/cc2.html

It is only till today; I realized that having a conflict is not a bad thing after all. This website mentioned the reasons thus I shall not elaborate further on it. It also stated that it is not about the number of conflicts in a relationship that determines how “healthy” it is, but how the conflict is resolved. This brings me to my story, an interpersonal conflict among my girlfriends when I was studying in my junior college.

We were on an expedition during our March holidays. We had to bring our juniors for a short expedition to Mount Ophir and 2 other mountains, followed by a visit to Tioman Island. I was one of the leaders for the last day of the expedition. We had to walk from one end of the island to another, under the hot sun. As most of us were quite drained by that time, we were rather unmotivated and our movements were slow and unwilling. However, as a leader, I had to make sure that the activities are executed as planned; hence I got to rush them. Everyone was dragging their feet to complete it and struggling to resist the temptation of the cold beverages at the roadside stalls. This is where the situation started; my girlfriends bought the drinks behind my back. I gave instructions clearly that no one is allowed to buy or consume any drinks other than water but they went against it. This is partially due to their status of being seniors; hence the necessity to obey an instruction is quite redundant. I understand that but I was hoping to receive their support for me as a leader. I know that I was harsh on them as I was too focus on being a leader and neglected their feelings. However, I needed them to act as role model for the juniors to follow. After this incident, I did not talk to them for a period, as I was very angry.

When we gathered back in school after the expedition, some of them came to talk to me and apologized. I felt miserable as I felt that I was petty and allowed emotions to take over me. Some of us still stayed as close friends till today but some were lost…

If I could turn back time, is there a way we can all still stay as close friends?

What can Effective Communication do for me?

Everyone including me is practical in life. Thus, this leads us to the question, what can effective communication do for me?

That would be the number one question that most people would be pondering about, and the answer is simple; it helps us to convey our thoughts to others accurately. Being able to be understood by others can help to avoid conflict and misunderstanding amongst family members, friends and colleagues. In addition, it can also help to improve and foster closer relationships.

The importance of effective communication is actually relevant to our daily life. We require it almost every minute and every day. An example would be my usage within my conversations amongst my peers. I have to convey my thoughts and emotions in such a way where they can understand my ideas; these can range from discussing a physics problem to even plan for a gathering.

A personal example would definitely involve my academic needs at the present moment. Presentation skill is an essential skill in university level, where I have to present my ideas or theories across to the lecturers or my peers. Hence, if I can be equipped with the correct techniques to an effective communication, I am able to do well for my studies, and in the future, for my career as well.

Writing of blog posts and giving an oral presentation for my ES2007s module are some of the tasks given to me in this semester to build up my effective communication skills and teamwork. I hope to make use of these opportunities to learn to present my thoughts and ideas accurately across, so that I can have the ability to be successful when I enter the workforce!