Final Reflection on Learning

I took this module with the sole purpose of learning how to write a resume and application letter. Now that we are at the tail end of the semester, I can safely say that I’ve learnt so much more. The presentations that we were called on to do were the biggest challenge for me. These presentations came in various forms (i.e dry runs, peer teaching and the oral presentation). Each of these presentations was unique in their own way and required the presenters to be more aware of the topic at hand. Although the presentations were challenging, I took it as an opportunity to develop myself. Interestingly, these presentations also allowed me to gain insights into the type of person I am.
 

One thing that I have learnt is that regardless of the type of presentation you are giving, preparation is of utmost importance. One of the first steps of my preparation was to note who my target audience was. Fellow students, teachers, colleagues and bosses each have very different expectations. Thus, it is important to tailor your presentation to the specific audience. The second step of my preparation was to know my topic well. By knowing my topic inside out, I felt that I could naturally be more confident in my delivery. The final step was to rehearse my speech way in advance. That being said, no amount of preparation can actually prepare you for unforeseen circumstances on that day (i.e powerpoint going haywire etc.). In such instances, it is always good to keep calm and to carry on. I have realized that no presentation can be inch perfect. We should always just try to do our best.

The various types of presentations allowed us to work in groups. This fostered teamwork as well as rigorous planning of time. Various members of the group had different expectations of how the presentations should be conducted. It was important to ensure that each of the members could align their expectations and come to a consensus. This is perhaps where effective interpersonal communication was important. I made a conscious effort to always be aware of my emotions during each of our project meetings. If I didn’t agree with what another group member had said, I would try to negotiate so as to reach an agreement. Working in groups for the presentations, has made me realize the value in having good social skills.

 

 

Moving on from the preparation stage soon came the time to do the actual presentations. Keeping each powerpoint slide simple and uncluttered could make a huge difference in how the presentation went. I realized that by minimizing the words and using as many relevant pictures, I was more likely to capture the audience’s attention. I kept this in mind while working on the powerpoint slides for the final presentation. By doing this, I realized that the audience was more likely to follow what I was saying.
 

Another verbal skill which I picked up was the ability to emphasise the sentences that carried more meaning. To emphasise certain sentences, I would either slow down purposely or change my tone. Sometimes, I would even do both. By doing this, I was able to highlight to the audience the important take away points of my presentation. I feel that this is important as no speaker wants his audience to leave his presentation having learnt nothing!

 

 

In terms of non-verbal skills, I felt that having eye contact with the audience was a must. Instead of just giving a sweeping gaze over the audience, I practiced looking at each individual in the audience for a short period of time. I feel that by doing this, the speaker is able to build some sort of connection with the audience. Since the first presentation, I have been trying to improve my eye contact with the audience. I realized that I tended to refer too much to my slides while speaking. For the final presentation however, I felt that due to sufficient practice, I was able to improve in this aspect.

 If I were to summarise what I have learnt about oral presentations:

·         Always be prepared (know your audience, topic and speech)

·         Teamwork (be aware of your own emotions as well as in others and have good social skills)

·         Have a simple yet effective powerpoint presentation

·         Speak clearly and concisely so that the audience can understand you

·         Always have good eye contact with each individual in the audience

 

Thank you!

 

Reflection on Oral Presentation

The oral presentation was significant as it marked the end of this module. At the same time however, it marked the start of our journey in using all that we have learnt in the real world. To me, it was a culmination of all the topics we have learnt over the course of this semester. The use of the 7Cs of effective communication, nonverbal cues and presentation skills were all essential in putting the oral presentation together. In the following blog post, I hope to give an unbiased account of my oral presentation. Please feel free to give your thoughts on how I could further improve by writing in the comments section.

Promoting the solutions that our group had come up with was what I was tasked with delivering. I felt that it was important to put my points across in a persuasive manner. By using the statistics gathered through our survey, I augmented many of the proposed solutions that we had come up with. Hopefully, many of the students in class were convinced with the need for having the Bike Share system.

 
While preparing for my presentation, I realized that many of the points were going to be rather dry. To overcome this, showing my enthusiasm and confidence was important. By emphasizing the benefits of implementing the various solutions, I think that I have been effective in putting the points across.

In terms of verbal factors, I felt that I had spoken fluently and clearly. In order to achieve this, continual practice was important. Despite the practice however, the audience highlighted that I tended to use the word “actually” too much. On hindsight, I think it’s a filler word which I use instead of saying “errm” or “hmm”. I will definitely work on trying to cut out these filler words. Perhaps more practice would suffice.

The slides which I used had minimal words and more pictures. I felt that this was important in getting the attention of the audience. Instead of placing all my words on the slides, I used pictures to get my point across. Sometimes, pictures alone aren’t sufficient in informing the audience. Thus, I have realized that the content of your speech matters as well. As I’ve learnt in class, the slides aren’t the star of the show, you are! We have to be able to substantiate whatever we have used on the slides with our speech.

In my opinion, a good speaker is not only someone who can present well but someone who can inspire his audience. Just think of US President Barrack Obama or Apple’s founder Steve Jobs. It’s easy to be a speaker who can just present facts or figures well. But being an inspirational speaker is a whole new ball game. Through this presentation, I’ve realized that I may be good in putting my points across. Yet at the same time, I feel I’ve a long way to go to be an inspirational speaker. This is something that I will strive for in my future presentations.

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

A few days ago, my friend James, a Chinese, and I decided to eat supper out. We met at this popular Indian-Muslim restaurant called Al-ameen along upper Bukit Timah road. Upon arriving, we were greeted by a young Indian waiter. The conversation below highlights the intercultural conflict that ensued.

Waiter: Hi, what drinks would you like?

James: Coke please? (The waiter shakes his head)

James: Tea then? (The waiter shakes his head again)

James: Coffee? (The waiter shakes his head)

At this point, James begins to get a bit flustered. The restaurant does not seem to have any drinks he asked for.

James: Green tea then? (The waiter shakes his head again).

James (in an angry tone): Then what drinks do you have? You don’t seem to have anything!

At this point, I cut in. I told James that the waiter shaking his head meant that he did have the drink. He was surprised for a moment then apologized for his angry tone. He quietly ordered a coke thereafter.

Shaking one’s head to most Singaporeans would mean “no”. But to some Indians in Singapore, shaking one’s head would be an acknowledgement of something or to mean “yes”. Frankly speaking, I myself was stunned when the abovementioned conversation began. It was only midway when it dawned on me that the waiter actually meant “yes we have it”. Although Singapore is a multi-cultural country, we still have a long way to go in terms of being able to understand each other’s culture.  

To me, culture refers to all knowledge and values shared by a group. More specifically, it is the shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations and norms for behaviour. Subcultures are distinct groups that exist under a major culture. Singapore is itself such a complex and diverse society. Most Singaporeans are the children or grandchildren of immigrants from many parts of Asia. Many of us retain most if not some of our original cultural traditions. As Singapore is such a multi-cultural society, we could say that we have many subcultures. With more subcultures however, the harder the communication becomes. We have more differences to consider when trying to communicate effectively with each other.

By understanding the fundamentals of intercultural communication, the conflict illustrated above may have been avoided. Firstly, being able to empathise with the person is vital. By showing empathy, we are able to imagine the other person's perspective and act in a supportive manner. Another important component of intercultural communication is the ability to respect the other person. Finally, recognising one’s own cultural bias and increasing one’s cultural sensitivity are important as well.

Application letter critique

Arvind Kumar Rajandran

University of Sydney

Business Faculty

+65 97979568

 

September 15, 2012

 

Dear Sir/Madam:

Re: Winter Internship position at DBS, Job Reference: COO/PXN/1206/0002

I would appreciate the opportunity to be considered for the Winter Internship position as stated on the Development Bank of Singapore’s website.

An internship position at DBS is of particular interest to me as I would like to gain valuable work experience in a financial institution that has a strong Asian focus. DBS has set its sights on regional expansion into South East Asia and China. I would like to contribute to DBS as it goes through this challenging time where it is at the heart of the Asian boom.   

Currently, I am a Masters student studying Banking and Finance at the University of Sydney. I have undertaken modules on Capital Markets and Corporate Finance. Above all, I am willing to learn new things and to keep an open mind in order to immerse myself fully in the culture at DBS. As a testament to my willingness to learn new things, I interned at Ernst & Young during my undergraduate years. Despite the fact that my undergraduate degree specialized in Life Sciences, I was able to familiarize myself quickly with the various auditing terminology and tools. During my internship at Ernst & Young, I was assigned to Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). NOL is one of the priority clients of the auditing firm. Being assigned to a priority client of the firm was challenging but I found the experience to be personally fulfilling. With such an experience, I feel that I will fit well into the dynamic and challenging business environment in DBS.   

I would find the opportunity to intern at DBS both worthwhile and enriching. I do hope that you will look favourably at my application. I look forward to hearing from you and can be reached in confidence at the abovementioned telephone number.

 

Yours Faithfully,

Arvind Kumar Rajandran

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

We are all bound to come across interpersonal conflicts at one point or another in our lives. One particular area in which this is bound to happen is when we get together in project groups to handle an assignment. Project groups are the best way to tackle an assignment to complete them as efficiently as possible. Yet at the same time, they can also be the worst way if interpersonal conflicts arise along the way and are not handled well. Let me give you a real life example of what happened in one of my Biology project groups last semester.

Two girls named Cheryl and Jennifer were in one of my Biology project groups. As it was nearing the end of the deadline for our project, we decided to meet up to assign each group member a particular subtopic to be handled. On the day however, Cheryl wasn’t able to make it for the meeting. Me and Jennifer still continued with the meeting as per normal. We decided what subtopic we would each handle and decided to assign one to Cheryl. Jennifer volunteered to inform Cheryl on the subtopic she had been assigned. We decided to meet up a day before the deadline to consolidate all our information together.

The day before the deadline, we met up at the Science canteen. To my horror, while consolidating the information, I realized that Cheryl and Jennifer had both done research on the same subtopic! When I questioned them, I realized that Jennifer had misinformed Cheryl on the part she would be doing. Jennifer began defending herself saying that it was Cheryl’s own fault for not turning up for the earlier meeting. At the same time, Cheryl began to defend herself by saying that Jennifer was the one at fault for misinforming her. Both girls began arguing and saying it was the other person’s fault. None of them refused to back down and get the final subtopic done. In the end, I had to attempt to complete it myself. But given the fact that the deadline was the next day, we didn’t do well for that project.

On hindsight, I realized that I as a third party should have stepped in while they were arguing to try to get them to work together. Perhaps, I could have advised them to put their emotions aside to get the work done. Also I could have explained to each of them that they should try to see things from each other’s perspective. As the middle man (quite literally!), I should have tried to empathize with both parties and listened to them more. Instead, I was busy being too frustrated and stressed out that the deadline was the very next day!

We have learned in our ES2007 class that Emotional Intelligence (EI) encompasses self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and good social skills. How would you guys have applied these in managing the above-mentioned interpersonal conflict?

Why effective communication skills are important to me

Personally speaking, the ability to communicate well seems like the only way to differentiate oneself from the rest in the working world. In our endless chase for academic success, it seems that everybody has a degree these days. What allows one to get ahead in this rat race is really the ability to communicate well.  Coming from the Science faculty, I have always heard that Science students are unable to articulate themselves as well as their peers from Arts or Business faculties. It is because of this that I feel that Science students are often disadvantaged when it comes to interviews for jobs. As I am soon graduating from NUS, I hope to brush up on my communication skills in order to prepare myself adequately for the working world.

Effective communication skills are also useful in one’s social life. This includes your family and friends. Being able to communicate effectively would mean that I would be able to deepen and richen my relationships with them. To me, this is perhaps the most important reason why communication skills are an essential skill set.

Over the past two weeks, I have learnt that communication skills are not limited to your ability to speak alone. It includes many other areas such as how you listen to people, hear them out as well as how to interpret their non-verbal communication cues. Being able to get my message across effectively as well as to read other’s messages is vital to the success of any relationship. These relationships may be built at work, home or even when out socialising. I feel that humans are very much social creatures. They want to be always connected to others. There is no better way to connect to others except through building solid relationships with them. Effective communication skills would serve us all well in reaching this aim.

 

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Hi guys, just testing the blog with this post. It's my first time blogging! Cheers!