Reflections on Oral Presentation 2...

On the 25^th of March, my team had its oral presentation for the CELC project, reforming Breadth modules. Overall, I felt that we performed rather well and we were all familiar with the content of the slides since we had several rehearsals beforehand. All of us dressed aptly for the presentation and our tone and language used were appropriate. During the Question and Answer session, all of us took turns to answer the queries raised and I felt that we answered them with confidence. The transitions between each speaker were also done well to ensure the smooth flow of the presentation.

I felt that I had performed well for the presentation although there was much room for improvement. Although I maintained proper eye contact with the audience during my presentation, there were times where I looked up at the ceiling when I either forgot my content or became nervous. Also, I felt that I kept looking at the screen often to ensure that I did not miss out on any points. This could have been avoided if I had brought a set of cue cards with the main points written down. At times I felt that I panicked and lost track of what I was presenting. Moreover, the language used during my presentation could have been improved on in order to my speech sound more coherent and professional.

At the beginning I was rather nervous and spoke at slightly faster pace. Later on, I managed to calm down and spoke at a more appropriate pace. Compared to my first oral presentation, I personally felt that I was less fluent and more nervous, probably because of the difference in content for the two presentations. Nevertheless, I maintained my level of confidence throughout my speech which is important for a speaker. Also, I felt that I was familiar with the content of my slides and so I was able to elaborate the points on my own even though they were not reflected on my slides.

Overall, I felt that my presentation could have engaged the audience more and I could have been more fluent in my speech.

Adding on to previous blog posts...

Hello everyone!

Since I was not able to upload any videos or pictures together with my blog posts, I decided to add them separately in this post. I hope you would look through them when you all find time.

Thanks!

Blog Post 1 (Effective teamwork and communication):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX2ekG5kenM

Blog Post 2 (Intercultural and Interpersonal communication):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OnLiA8gbmo&feature=related\

Although it was a rather funny video, I hope everyone understands the meaning behind this. It is really important to have a common language for understanding each other.

Blog Post 3 (Interpersonal conflicts at work):

http://www.project-management-course.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/conflict-management-thumb.jpg

Reflections for my previous blog posts.

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who took time to read my blog posts and comment on them. All the comments given were very useful in improving my content and language and also helped to point out anything that I had unknowingly missed out.

This blog post is to reflect on the comments I’ve gotten for my previous posts and to address some of the questions raised.

Blog Post 1 (Effective teamwork and communication):

As Krithika mentioned, I felt that I was indeed repetitive and could have avoided that. Also, like suggested by Alden a picture could have been added to make my post more interesting.

I agree with those who mentioned that it is not enough just to form a team and expect teamwork to prevail on its own. There should be mutual understanding and trust among the members and everyone should make an individual effort to work together as a team to build on each other’s strengths.

Blog Post 2 (Intercultural and Interpersonal communication):

Again, as pointed out by many of my friends, I should have added pictures to illustrate my point. However, due to some technical issues, I was not able to add any pictures.

I would like to thank Roger for mentioning that he had actually learnt a lot from my blog post. As mentioned earlier in my blog post, it is true that we are often not able to choose who we want to work with thus, it would be best to adapt to the situation. Also, it is good that we are mindful of our actions and language.

In reference to what Krithika had brought up about getting tired of giving up our principles when trying to be tolerant, I have to agree with the excellent point she raised. She mentioned that trying to be tolerant towards other cultures is a great principle on its own so it alright if we go easy on our beliefs. Thank you Krithika for raising that point, I really did not think about it from that angle.

Blog Post 3 (Interpersonal conflicts at work):

Everyone had given such interesting insights in response to my blog post. I agree with the rest that Kate should have not jumped to any conclusion from just what she had heard. She should have indeed reserved her judgements (Alden’s view) until she clarified the situation with either the people she heard the news from or her boss itself.

In order to salvage the situation, I feel that Sarah should probably try to get in contact with Kate through other means such as emails or leaving a note on her desk since Kate is clearly avoiding face to face confrontation. I feel that with time, Kate would also be more calmed down and be able think rationally. Kate would come around eventually and be able to talk to Sarah about the situation. Until then, Sarah should also be patient for the sake of their friendship at least. They would then be able to talk things out and hopefully come to a positive conclusion. Sarah should also be willing to forgive Kate and Kate on the other hand should apologise to Sarah. Kate should learn that office rumours may not be true most of the times and its best to confront the parties involved directly instead of blindly accepting what she hears.

Blog Post 4 (Reflections on CG1102 meeting):

I guess all of us were more or less facing the same problems since we were all being filmed for the first time. It took time for us to get used to the fact that the camera was in front of us. Also, everyone agreed with my point that it is important to prepare before hand for the meeting in order for the meeting to be more productive. This blog post helped everyone share their experience and served as a common ground to share their advice on how to better prepare themselves for other similar meetings.