Reflection on Final Oral Presentation

As I reflect on my performance on FOP, I appreciated the practice sessions that I had previously. As I received feedback from my peers during the practice sessions, I could better improve on the FOP. 

As my FOP was in the afternoon, I spent the whole morning practicing on my speech and slides. I hope to be as fluent as I could during my presentation. At the same time, I also hoped that I would not need to refer to my slides so that the attention would be on me instead of the slides. Thus, I tried my best in correcting my sentence structure and grammar whilst I practiced. However, I noticed that the more I practiced, the more nervous I got. 

Further, half hour prior to the FOP, Brad told me that I should not be using words such as "hence" and "thus".  I had been using these words interchangeably during my presentations all along and I was surprised that these words are only used in reports and not in speeches for the presentations. Before my FOP, I reviewed the outline of my speech and rehearsed it through trying very hard not to use the words "hence" and "thus" and replacing them with "in addition", "at the same time" and "as such". I agree that it was indeed a challenge for me not to use this words since I used them so often. However, I will abstain from using these words in the upcoming FIPD. Thank you Brad! 

After the FOP, I received the following feedback from my peers. Although I did manage to sustain some eye contact with the audience, I am still quite stiff and unnatural in my gestures. I feel that this has always been the pertinent flaw since GT.  I guess this may be due to nervousness. I will have to think of ways to relax before each presentation. In addition, I still have the bad habit of looking up when  I pause during my speeches despite trying very hard not to. However, I would keep practicing to kick these bad habits of mine in hope to become a natural presenter!

Reflection on Report Writing

In preparing for my Report Writing, I felt that I did not have enough time to prepare. I guess this was because I thought I would be able to finish the report quite smoothly. However, things were not a bed of roses for me. The first issue I had was with the data that was provided for me to use in my report. As the survey conducted was based on the perceptions of the skills required in the workplace, it  did not address the issue of the scenario I was handling – students do not write well in the workplace. Hence, I had the option of conducting a survey on my own. However, due to time constraints and survey restrictions, I used secondary sources such as scholarly articles to support the findings of the survey. Although I faced difficulties in doing up my report, I am glad that we were grouped together based on the assignment of the issues so we could discuss the outline of the report together. In addition, we also helped each other to proof read and improve each other’s work.

Reflection on Group Training

During the preparation period for GT, I had full support from my group members (Chloe and Wei Ni) and I really appreciate their valuable comments and feedback. When I prepared for the GT, I planned for my presentation without a script. This was the first attempt for me to present without a script after 3 years of scripted presentations during my Poly years. Of course, I felt nervous and excited in going scriptless for the first time. However, I was determined to do well as I know that it would be impractical to prepare and memorise scripts in the workplace.

My group met up a few times to work on both the slides and the outline of the presentation. I would agree that it was quite smooth going in arranging for meetings and my group members were prompt in preparing the work as allocated. Although we agreed earlier that we would not meet up earlier on the actual day for practice – this was to calm ourselves so that we would not feel too nervous, we eventually met up earlier for another practice for a piece of mind.

With the completion of the Group Training (GT), I heaved a sigh of relief. I felt that I did not speak too well as I stammered and fumbled upon words, I was too stiff with regards to gestures, I did not manage to vary my tone and enthusiasm and I did not manage eye contact well with the audience. However, overall, I felt that I did try hard in attempting to go scriptless to deliver my presentation. Nevertheless, I would aim to do even better to correct as much flaws as I could, during the Formal Oral Presentation (FOP).

Report: Main Question/Thesis/Outline

Problem

NUS graduates do not write well in the workplace.

Purpose

Convince NUS to take up the suggestions recommended so as to improve the written communication skills of NUS students.

Questions

1.      What are the aspects/areas of written communication skills that need to be improved for current NUS students?

2.      What is the most important aspect (weakest point of NUS students) that should be focused on?

3.      What are the aspects/areas that NUS students are weak in, with regards to written communication skills in the workplace?

4.      How can we improve on the aspects of written communication? (Recommendations)

5.      What are the weaknesses of the current curriculum?

6.      How do courses in each faculty in general facilitate the development of writing skills?

a.       How are the students evaluated based on their written work?

7.      What causes/requires students to write?

8.      What kind of feedback do students receive for writing?

Outline

1.      Introduction

a.       Background of the report

b.      PPQ – Problem, Purpose, Questions

c.       Scope

d.      Limitations

e.       Sources and methods

f.       Report organisation

2.      Findings

a.       Effect-Cause

3.      Conclusion

a.       Organise based on degree of importance, urgency or relevance as indicated in Findings section

4.      Recommendations

a.       Ways that NUS could change its curriculum

5.      Overall Conclusion

a.       Re-introduce PPQ

b.      Highlight key findings, conclusions and recommendations

Interpersonal Conflict

John and Kelly were grouped together to work on a finance project. They had to come up with two research titles to present to the lecturer at the end of the term. Thus, they stayed back after class to research for topics so that they could work on it at home. As the computer lab was occupied by some students, both John and Kelly had no choice but to sit a distance away from each other. However, they agreed to inform each other of the topics once they have decided on it. After two hours of doing intense research, Kelly told John that her research topic was on the advantages and disadvantages of securitization. John was listening to music on his phone and thus did not acknowledge Kelly and continued with his research. Assuming that John heard, Kelly went back to her seat and continued with her work. After half an hour, John walked up to Kelly and told her that he would be doing on the benefits and drawbacks of securitization. Upon hearing that, Kelly argued that she had already worked on that topic and told John to select another topic. However, John stared in disbelief and insisted that he worked on the topic first and was not informed that the Kelly had been working on the same topic earlier.

What could have been done to solve the problem or to prevent the problem from happening from the start?