Blog Post Five: Final Reflection on Learning 

As this academic semester gradually draws to a close, I look back at the things I have learnt in the past 3 months. I can honestly say that ES2007S Professional Communication has been one of the most enriching modules I have taken thus far in NUS. While this module may appear on the face more relevant to some of my classmates who will be graduating soon and moving on to a working life, I feel that taking this module in Year 1 has given me an excellent head-start to the process of applying for jobs as well as in learning the skills for effective communication at the workplace. 

I believe I have truly benefitted from the presentation skills taught to us by Mdm Radhika in the course of this module as I prepared for the peer teaching presentation as well as the oral presentation for the team-based research project. Giving oral presentations would undoubtedly be an integral part of our professional careers and we will be required to present ideas and proposals to management committees and colleagues on several occasions. This module has taught me essential verbal and non-verbal presentation skills that would be indispensible as I move on to deliver presentations in my future career. 

One key takeaway for me was to first understand the purpose of a presentation. This would help the speaker in preparing himself well in advance about what he wants the audience to know by the end of the presentation. At the same time ,the speaker must be sensitive to and aware of the audience’s needs. Awareness of the likely reaction of an audience in terms of their receptivity or hostility towards the topic of presentation can allow one to assess what content and style would work best to persuade them. The receptiveness of the audience may be affected by a number of factors such as the composition of the group (referring to the diversity in backgrounds of audience members), as well as the attitude of the audience towards the speaker. In order to deal with a resistant audience for example, the speaker could find common beliefs or ideas with the audience, avoiding a direct attack on the audience’s viewpoint or state his proposal in a way that eventually achieves a win-win result. Humour may also be utilised to better connect with a negative audience. 

Another aspect where I feel I have improved most is in the aspect of non-verbal communication with the audience. Understanding the nuances of non-verbal delivery of a message can greatly improve audience receptivity of one’s presentation and boost impact of presentation and overall impression of the speaker. For instance, establishing and maintaining eye contact with all audience members is indicative of the confidence of the speaker and sincerity in his purpose as he delivers his message across to the audience. Having the right posture and using appropriate gestures can also display the confidence, energy and enthusiasm of the speaker.  

Listening to one another and then giving or receiving feedback from peers really helped me improve my delivery skills. The positive feedback I received from my peers boosted my confidence while speaking in front of an audience and the negative feedback inspired me to strive to improve my speaking skills. I hope to build on these communication skills and continue to hone them as I move on to do presentations outside of this module and later in the working world. 

To end off this final blog post, I want to thank my friends and group-mates Shu Wen, Samuel, Jia Jian and Jerry for being so amazing and making this module truly memorable. And to Charlotte, Nigel, Yee Sheng, Yumeng, Tony, Isabelle and Renfei, class would not have been the same without all of you! Wish you all the very best for all your future endeavours and hope to see you around campus! :)