Reflection on Learning

To be honest, ES2007S is one of the very few modules that provide me with real empowerment and satisfaction throughout my life as an undergraduate in NUS. With a great teacher like Brad Blackstone to complement, I could finally learn to manage professional communication confidently and systematically before graduating this July.

The 7Cs of communication that are constantly emphasised throughout this course will be my lifelong indispensable tools for professional communication. Writing proposal, resume and cover letter as well as conducting interviews and oral presentations are only a handful of the channels of of professional communication that we typically encountered. By focusing on these channels that undergraduates are familiar with, ES2007S brings students face-to-face with the realities of communication in an era of globalisation.

Speaking of globalisation, I still could recall how well Mathew Linus, my tutor for HR2002 defined it: "Everything at the same time". In fact, with everything happening all at the same time regardless of distance and boundaries, the most basic yet essential aim of professional communication is to effectively convey ideas. More often than not, errors in the course of action are a result of miscommunication at the initial stage. This is one of the realities of communication that we are living with today.

In addition to verbal and nonverbal communication, internalisation of content also plays an equally if not more crucial role in professional communication. If you do not know your work well, even the 7Cs of communication would be useless. However, Mastering internalisation is much tricky than communication. Unfortunately, one could discover his own effective method for internalisation for himself only when he pays attention to the unconscious effort he makes in the process of internalisation. Once one masters internalisation, the rest would be considerably easy when one is equipped with the flexibility (e.g. know your audience) in applying the tools for professional communication.

I thank Brad Blackstone and all classmates in making this module a fulfilling learning experience and wish all the best in your future endeavours.

Reflection on Oral Presentation

After going through the video of my group’s presentation, I could not help but to compare it to my previous week’s oral presentation for a module called JS2230: Itadakimasu – Food in Japan. Despite how often we are reminded that practice makes perfect, I realised that internalisation is equally, if not more important, as well.

In the JS2230 module, I was in-charge of translating food-related segments of a Japanese housewife magazine called Suteki na Okusan into English.

I unconsciously internalised the content of the magazine very well not only through translation, but also through clarification and explanation during face-to-face liaison with other groupmates. During the presentation, not only did I not fumble at all when presenting within the confines of the 15-member tutorial, but more importantly, my ideas flowed nicely and fluently as I proceed from slides to slides. In the end, our presentation was very well received by the tutor and classmates alike on top of the A-grade that we have achieved for our 3000-word research paper.

To be honest, not only were my 12 slides full of magazine scans only up two days before the presentation, I also did not rehearse nor prepared any script at all save for memorising keywords for the Food Presentation part I was in-charge of.

For our ES2007S presentation, despite having rehearsals in the classroom next door with a structured preparation in speaking as well a paying attention to pitching and emphasis, I was still a little shaky and fumbled quite a bit. The rehearsals and slide-by-slide preparation certainly did improve our presentation significantly. However, have I internalised the content better, I could have delivered a smoother presentation.

Although I am a strong believer in genchi genbutsu indoctrinated in the Toyota Production System, this exciting learning experience in my last semester in NUS redefined my understanding in internalisation and persuasive speaking in the genba. I have finally realised a hidden take-away point between these two presentations: flexibility in the face of adversity. I really appreciate this revelation that will be very useful in tackling future challenges, and hope that you will also benefit from it.

ES2007S Recyclists Project Presentation