Final Reflection

There's a thin line between love and hate.

The line above sums up my feelings towards the module ES2007S, until our very last lesson on Thursday, 14/4.

In the first few weeks of the semester, my feelings towards the module were very mixed. Slowly, as the semester entered the mid-term phase, the scale started tipping towards 'hate'. Balancing CCA commitments, the rest of my schoolwork with the work of the module was taxing, especially when all of the above were not going very well. However, it was too late to drop the module and I remembered a senior who took this module last semester along with his UROPS research and 5 other modules.

I persevered. It paid off. We entered our proposal and oral presentation phase which was undoubtedly one of my favourite parts of the module. I got to learn so much from Ms Lim, my fellow classmates and especially Team Planet. It is hard to express in so many words how understanding you were towards my schedule and how accepting you were of my suggestions. I don't know how I'll find another group with such awesome team dynamics; you guys were the best.

On that note, I have two other key take-backs from ES2007S. One is the importance of effective communication and how it is a tool that everyone can take to its full potential. Somehow, most of us have not realised this until now; I've wondered whether that's because effective communication takes time and effort, something we're not willing to spend. Having had the opportunity to learn these skills, I will definitely apply them to other parts of my life.

My other take-back is that we influence each other. I never thought it would be possible for a teacher to get in my head but it happened; I started hearing Ms Lim's reminders: "Is this concrete enough?" "Are you smiling?" "How will this appear to URA?" "Is this concise enough?" I thought I was going crazy until I found that my teammates were having the same experience. I had other people in my head too:

Peizi - the systematic one

Ikhsan - the resourceful one

Jeremy - the one who always goes, "I know! What about this!"

Zab - the playful but professional presenter

Thomas - the laidback one

Vee Nee - the cheerful, motherly one

Peh Joo - the realistic and meticulous one

Tommy - the joker who always offers me Eclipse mints

Cai Jie - the 'cool' one who is also an ah-beng

Keefe - the friendly one

Thank you for populating my head classmates! Haha. But the close-knit nature of our small class has shown me that I can always learn from others; similarly, I hope I can transfer the skills I've learnt to my peers.

Finally, our last lesson was a very special one as it showed all that is different about ES2007S: it is one of the few, non-core, intensive modules that we still like at the end of the day. I think it also brought up up how Ms Lim embodies the spirit of teaching beyond the lesson content, especially with our last exercise. On that note, I'd like to thank Ms Lim for making my journey in professional communication such an interesting and fulfilling one.

After that last session, the scales tipped toward 'love'. Taking this module has truly been an unforgettable experience.

Oral Presentation Reflection

It's over!

5 weeks of late meetings debating over what URA might think, editing documents over Google Doc, spending hours checking the tiniest details to make sure everything is perfect and it all came down to one presentation to sell our efforts to URA a.k.a. Ms Lim on Thursday, 7 April 2011.

I don't think my own part was so smooth though, hence the following evaluation:

Preparation: 3/10

Having to write a speech text was a first for me; as with all firsts they are hard to accept. I didn't think it was that important to prepare a speech text as all my presentations until now have been based on elaborating the points on my slides. As they have gone fine so far, I didn't think anything was wrong with them, but writing a speech text and submitting them to critique has taught me otherwise. It has also forced me to make sure my speech is smoother and clearer than it was in the past.

However, I succumbed to my laziness as I definitely could have practised more in the days leading up to the oral presentation. I was too confident that I had practised enough to not use any cue cards; this decision turned around to bite me when I stumbled several times in my delivery, struggling to remember cue phrases that should have been ingrained in my memory by then. No doubt, we rehearsed several times as a team, meeting on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the presentation. However, I definitely could have practised more in my own time.

Delivery: 2/10

Starting with the the good points first, I think I improved in terms of spreading my eye contact and showing my enthusiasm by smiling. However, I didn't keep these efforts up throughout my presentation, primarily because I started stumbling, panicking and finally choking towards the end of my presentation (I now know how important preparations can be). I also slouched despite advice not to do so by my teammates in rehearsals prior.

I don't know why, but I think I wasted the chance to impress and show URA a.k.a. Ms Lim how much thought and effort our team, Team Planet, has put into this project; on a more personal level, I felt I could have shown more how much I've learnt from Ms Lim's feedback on my presentation skills.

Use of slideware: 7/10

One redeeming factor (I hope) is that we used a Flash application, Prezi, for our presentation. It was, as Jeremy said, a gamble as it's unconventional and not everyone might take to it (Peizi commented that the 'rollercoaster ride' might make people dizzy). We also changed our slides to this the day before our presentation, which definitely instilled nervousness and questions about whether it would all be worth the effort. However, I think it really set us apart and made our presentation memorable.

There were other things that made our presentation memorable. Thanks to Peizi's awesome presentation skills, we started off with a strong, solid introduction that enticed the audience to know more about our idea. Ikhsan introduced us to Prezi and undertook the tough task of transferring our whole presentation to this Flash platform. Jeremy left the audience wanting more through our thoughtful conclusion (Imagine a Singapore that is no longer dependent on landfill).

How did all this happen? I have awesome teammates (:

I really want to thank Jeremy, Ikhsan and Peizi for always making suggestions for Team Planet to improve, for accommodating my anal rants towards aspects of the project that "just don't feel right", for agreeing unanimously on having so many rehearsals before the presentation, for staying up till 1am outside LT25 to make sure everything is right. I have never had a better experience working on a project, simply because I have never had a better team (: Thank you Team Planet!