ES2007S - Zooming Back To Where It All Started

Time: Sunday afternoon before Christmas, 2009
Venue: Water fountain at the basement of The Spring, Kuching
Main characters: Stephanie (S), Valarie (V)

While sipping on our canned drinks after lunch...
V: (grumbles) CORS bidding is here again. (groans) I don't know what to bid! What do you plan to bid, S?
S: Oh, I am planning to take one Singapore Studies and ES2007S other than the core modules.
V: (looks up in interest) Hmm... ES2007S? The Professional Communication module? Why that module?
S: I thought it would be interesting to learn how to write a good cover letter and resume.
V: Oh! But there are a lot of oral presentations, right? (cringes)
S: You bet! Are you interested?
V: (takes a sip from the canned drink) I will think about it. Oral presentations are not exactly my forte.
S: Do consider it! I will be choosing the Monday slot with Brad Blackstone. My senior told me he's good!
V: (smiles) Okay.

Two weeks later, I placed 1000 points from my Programme account to bid for ES2007S, determined to win the module. Eventually, I got it with 500 points. Victory!

My main objective in taking this module was to have the ability to produce a professional and impressive resume and cover letter. Also, I felt that it is essential for me to gain some knowledge in preparing for a job interview. These two skills seem extremely crucial to me as I planned to apply for internships during the upcoming summer vacation. NUS Career Centre may provide the seminars to respond to such demands. However, I prefer to have someone else proofread my work and give me feedback instead of merely attending a seminar and being thrown with all the necessary facts. I believe I still have much room for improvement, but I am now not as clueless in writing professionally for job applications, as well as knowing what to expect in job interviews. Obeying the 7Cs in my writing as well as speech would aid in giving a better impression to the employers, too.

Despite the goal I set out to achieve, I walked away with other skills that I realised somewhere during the semester that are equally important in the professional setting. One such skill I actually gained a lot is in the oral presentation. I believe I posess a lot more confidence in delivering my presentation and am equipped with the knowledge to capture the attention of the audience.

Besides that, ES2007S has changed my perception towards teamwork, especially with people I am not close with. Previously, I generally avoid modules that require me to work collaboratively on projects and even if I have to (such as core modules), I would choose my close friends who I am comfortable working with. Now, I would say working with people I don't really know has been an interesting experience. Other than widening my social circle, I have learnt a little bit more about the culture in other countries. Indeed, it was a blessing for me to be able to work with great teammates, all from different places of origin with different cultures.

Now 13 weeks has passed and one semester is almost over. We - the Firebenders (along with other teams) - submitted the final proposal and delivered our final presentation. Reflecting back, this module is one of the modules I don't think I will ever regret. Despite its hectic workload and clash with several other deadlines at times, leading to our sleepless nights and faces full of pimples, I actually had fun and made a lot of friends I never thought was possible within one semester. I left our final tutorial session with a heavy heart, bidding goodbye to all of my classmates. Although I know everyone will part ways eventually, leading our own lives, I do hope that we constantly keep in touch over Facebook.

Before I end this blog entry, I would like to thank Brad and all of my classmates for making ES2007S such an enjoyable experience for me and also Stephanie for persuading me to take up this module. Finally, thank you very much for the cake and sparkling juice, See Chai!

Oh! And everyone, good luck in your finals!

Fearless... Not

Now that I am done with my other deadline (hurrah!), here's a recap of what I feel about my presentation.

I remember vividly that my first presentation in NUS was done with Stephanie during our first year first semester. Indeed, I was not keen at all in presenting. Well, nobody was! Since then, never in my wildest dreams did I think of voluntarily taking a module with a lot of presentations. Well, things do not always go the way you planned!

It was like any other Mondays, except I did not feel like it was a typical Monday. As I approached S9A-0103, the butterflies in my stomach started fluttering. Taking in deep breaths helped, but only for a while.

Class started, The Vans were presenting in front. Initially, it was easy to concentrate, but then I started noticing my stomach churning. I fidgeted in my seat, thinking "Oh boy, I seriously need the washroom." I scribbled a note over to LinHui, "Pssst.... Toilet!" She smiled and nodded in agreement.

Fast forward 20 minutes later, before we knew it, it was finally over! I thought I improved in my presentation this time round as compared to the previous peer teaching. I recalled that I stayed rooted in one spot throughout peer teaching, except for the tutorial sessions. Now, I seemed more comfortable moving in front of the room during this presentation. Also, I thought my eye contact with the audience improved quite a bit. I had my eyes lingering at one person longer than I did during peer teaching, although I admit I kept staring at See Chai and Stephanie more than the rest, which I think the reasons are rather obvious *grins*.

It was also my initial plan to bring my cue cards up while presenting, to say truthfully. It was practically my Bible! I thought that even if I would not be using it, at least it would give me a sense of comfort. That was until I read Deenise's blog Monday morning that totally struck me. I know every single detail of the project at the back of my hand, then why would I even need those? Besides, it would be nice to step out from the comfort zone to learn new things. It proved to be a wise move as it gave me more comfort in moving my hands and engaging myself with the audience. Previously, I had my hands full with one holding my cue cards while the other holding the remote during peer teaching!

However, I have to admit that I feel much more at ease during my peer teaching, feeling more prepared than what I felt during the oral presentation. I suppose the tiny glitch had to do with how nervous I felt at the time.

During the preparation of the presentation, I colour-coded my notes just like what I did for my peer teaching as I am a visual learner. It proved to be useful. As given during the feedback session for the Firebenders, it would be better for us to include some visual aids in our presentation slides. Nonetheless, our team has done quite a nice job in keeping the slides the minimalist style but yet still informative.

Working with LinHui, Ranmali and Ye Thu Win was indeed a great pleasure. Everyone was equally committed to the project, giving ideas, organizing and composing our smashing proposal and our oral presentation afterwards. Late night meetings at Central Forum armed with our laptops would probably be the fond memories I hold dear to my heart.

Legally Blonde: My Feedback on Deenise and Tiffany

This is going to be a very boring post. Other than Brad, you don't have to subject yourself to such torture, unless you need some pointers for your presentation delivery! =)

I will talk on Tiffany's presentation yesterday morning first. I feel that Tiffany has improved a great deal in her presentation skills as compared to her peer teaching! Great job, girl! She was much louder this time and spoke at a rather appropriate speed. Emphasis improved quite a bit as well, although there is still room for improvement. =)

Her eye contact with the audience was generally fine. It must have taken her a lot of pluck to do that. However, she seemed to get nervous towards the end of the presentation because of a small blunder and somewhat lost her poise, but she regained it soon after. So overall, I observed an obvious improvement in her presentation this time round. Great job!

As for Deenise, I noticed how relaxed Deenise was with herself while doing the presentation. She was so comfortable and confident with herself, moving around, putting the spotlight all to herself. It's rather hard to tune her out of my brain system even if I want to. Her voice was clear, loud and shows great emphasis on her arguments. Like I said earlier on, I particularly liked the part where she blacked out the screen, paced in front of it, giving a thoughtful look, acting like she's pondering on a very critical question.

Generally, both of them seem to be rather familiar with their slides.

Update on 11th April: Oh my god! I did not know that I am supposed to comment on your respective blogs instead of writing on my own blog! Very sorry!