My
primary goal for this module is to overcome my anxiety of public speaking and
be able to express my thoughts clearly and confidently to an audience. Over the
past 12 weeks of guidance under Professor Brad and with the support of my
peers, I have acquired a better understanding of applicable interpersonal
skills which will be immensely useful in my future assignments. I learned that
preparation is essential in giving a competent professional presentation and
that minor details such as maintaining eye contact and proper posture gives the
presentation audience a good impression. I also benefited from the peer review
analysis used in this module, which helped me to identify my mistakes based on
my peers’ feedback. During the actual presentation, I was able to articulate
ideas clearly and fluently to my intended audience and I did not stutter much
due to numerous mock presentations that I did with my project group. It gave me
a huge sense of accomplishment that I was able to overcome my fear of public
speaking. The key takeaways I have learned from the presentation were to take
note of points that needed to be emphasized and to prepare questions to keep
audiences engaged.
The
technical report was a group project in which my team had to pick a product to
research and propose modifications to the current mechanical designs. It was
difficult to start at first, as a lot of time was devoted to the research
process of the report owing to the difficulty in finding credible sources for
the report and due to my lack of background information regarding the product.
To resolve these problems, my group focused on the main points and conducted
further in-depth research using search engines like OneSearch and
GoogleScholar, as mentioned in class, to acquire relevant information. One
important aspect I ‘ve learned from this project is that it is crucial to
understand thoroughly the framework of a standard technical report to
simplifies the task.
Ultimately,
this module has been really helpful to me as I was able to refine my writing
skills and to venture out of my comfort zone to become a more confident speaker
which were goals that I set at the start of this module. I also learned many
important aspects of communication which will aid me greatly in the long run in
getting points smoothly when presenting complex technical designs to people who
are not trained in engineering.
Thank you very much, Heng Loong, for this highly detailed, heartfelt critical reflection.
ReplyDeleteYou provide lots of specific illustrations as you review your experience with the work you've done during the term. I'm impressed by the learning that you mention in terms of not just research and writing but also presenting. I appreciate how you eventually overcame your shyness and became more confident and comfortable communicating while speaking in public. The proof of that was the very good job you and your team did with the final project, and in particular, the final oral presentation.
You're a smart guy with good language skills. I encourage you to continue to try and step out of yoour comfort zone, Heng Loong. The results could be that you would surprise yourself.
Best wishes as you continue your learning journey.
Cheers,
Brad