Since the very first day of the course, I knew what like about ES2007S is that it is completely different from most modules which adopt the conventional style of content-heavy lectures which are examinations-centered. This module instead focuses on collaborative learning through the sharing of ideas as well as group project assignments. It is with these reasons that I have managed to learn so much more through various interactive platforms, such as classroom discussions, blogs, wikis, and project meetings, which provided me avenues to put the skills and techniques of effective communication into practice.
This module has influenced me to consciously formulate the way I communicate to be an effective communicator. The lessons revolve around teaching me how to determine appropriate communication channels, the use of the 7Cs during communication, the development of listening and questioning skills, and the importance of non-verbal communication. Besides building interpersonal communication skills, the model also discusses various skills and techniques to react in situations such as interpersonal conflicts and cultural differences. One of the most important issues discussed was emotional intelligence – why is EI so important for personal and professional success, the five competencies of EI and some ways to improve my EI skills.
In addition, the blog was used as a medium for me to develop my writing skills, to formulate my thoughts in a concise manner and to evaluate and provide insights into my classmates’ blog posts. All in all, blogging in this module was not only recreational but also educational.
Furthermore, this module not only imparted but also provided an opportunity for me to hone useful job-application and work-related skills like creating good application letters, resumes and personal statements, writing effective business letters, memos and emails, as well as handling job interviews effectively. The group project also successful allowed me to learn and given me the opportunity to put to practice the important skills of formulating a proposal and giving a persuasive speech, which are not included in my curriculum as an engineering undergraduate.
As education, at least in Singapore, places much of its attention on academic content and technical knowledge, these skills are often overlooked by many. Only in later stages of life, that people start to realise the need for such skills, which may be by then, a little too late. The transferable communication and life skills taught in this module can help us avoid the pain of learning from grave mistakes and give us a head start to face the working world.
However, it must be noted that at the end of the course, though we may have been imparted these skills, they are after all still tools that would be useless without putting them to practice in our daily lives. As much as a sculptor needs his tools, no work of art can be created without experienced hands behind those tools. What we have learnt are important skills, but it takes experience and practice to fully utilise them to achieve effective communication. Communication is both a science and an art. While the ‘science’ aspect comprising of the theories and concepts can be imparted through books and notes, the ‘art’ aspect involves tacit skills and techniques that can only be honed by practice.
Certainly, this module provided me a chance to increase my awareness of these skills and my weaknesses related these skills so that I could work on them before I enter the work force. Through the help of feedbacks from Ms Fazilah and my classmates in the form of peer-reviews, I discovered many of my communication weaknesses which I was previously unaware of, such as inappropriate non-verbal gestures during the mock interview, the wrong use of words during presentations and the over-hasty manner of communication during group meetings. With better self-awareness, I would now be able to exercise the effective communication and EI skills taught in class to overcome these weaknesses. This would definitely benefit me as a final year student who would be entering the workforce in due time, and also as an individual who plays various roles in life and communicate with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
To sum up, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Fazilah for imparting the invaluable knowledge about effective communication and for providing just the right amount of guidance, which keeps us in track for our assignments and group projects, and yet gives us room to explore and learn by ourselves. I would also like to thank my group members, Michelle and Ming Yi, who have been awesome project mates to work with. Past encounters with uncooperative project mates have taught me to appreciate good team members who I can work with. Though the process of meeting tight deadlines and attending the seemingly never-ending project meetings was stressful and taxing, it has been enriching and enjoyable for me because we never fail to generate humor even during the most nerve-racking times. The stress, the jokes, and the times we had would definitely be etched in my memory forever.
Finally, I would like to thank all the classmates for the efforts in providing comments for my blog posts and group project, as well as the interesting inputs during class discussions and thought-provoking questions during presentations that set me back to reflect on various ideas. As the chapter closes, I am confident enough to say that I am now better equipped and armed than before in terms of effective communication skills, and not forgetting that I have gained new friendships and reinforced established friendships in the process. I would like to thank all for being with me through this wonderful journey of effective communication. I certainly have no regrets in signing up for this module and will continue to recommend it to my friends. Cheers!
.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Blog Post #5: Some Insights about my presentation to the NUSEU
The primary goal of the presentation is to giving a persuasive speech to convince the targeted audience, in this case, the manager of the NUSEU, Ms Roberta Siew, the Dean and distinguished professors from the NUS Faculty of Engineering, to put our proposal into implementation. For such an objective presentation, I have to keep in mind that my ultimate aim is to seek acceptance of my credibility regarding the usefulness and feasibility of the proposal. I have to speak to convince my audience and there are various skills and techniques that I have applied with varying degrees of success to achieve this objective.
For the aspect on topic and purpose, I was very clear that my part of the presentation encompasses the need to assess the feasibility of the proposal, evaluate and propose solutions for some foreseeable challenges that may befall the proposal, and conclude on the presentation with a strong note of conviction that the proposal is beneficial, feasible and worth implementing. With good eye contact and a well-paced speech, I was able to portray my confidence to aid in establishing a convincing presentation to bring across my intent more successfully to the targeted audience in the allocated time.
To ensure that the presentation is well-organised and easy to follow, I felt that visual aids play an important role. My PowerPoint slides were carefully prepared to be audience-centered and smoothly integrated into my speech with the use of appropriate and well-timed animations. The display of key points and use of suitable pictures and graphs on the slides helped to reinforce and complement the ideas in my speech. The aesthetic aspect of the presentation was well boosted by the vivid animations and colourful graphics on the slides to capture the attention and maintain interest level of the audience throughout the presentation.
However, I need to take note of some weaknesses that I have displayed during the presentation. In my eagerness to explain my points, I tend to be too focused on my final idea that I may overlook my sentence structures and use of words. Based on the feedback from Ms Fazilah and my team members, there were quite a few occasions when I wrongly replaced the word ‘companies’ for ‘schools’, and used certain words like ‘ensure’ and ‘also’ too many times in one sentence. In addition, as I was quite nervous during the presentation, I could not remember some of the points in my speech that I have prepared beforehand, thus tend to over-rely on the slides to proceed with my speech.
Therefore, to improve on my subsequent presentations, I should prepare some cue cards so that I can refer to them during my speech in case I forget my points. However, I should take note not to be tied down by my notes as it is important to maintain a strong eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation. I should practice my speech with my team members or in front of the mirror until I am very familiar with it so that my speech would still be kept in check despite my nervousness. It should be noted that my speech should still be kept extemporaneous and sound conversational even though it is fully prepared and carefully rehearsed. I need to practice the use of appropriate hand gestures to aid my presentations.
Overall, I was quite pleased with my presentation because despite my nervousness, I was able to keep my composure by maintaining good eye contact with the audience and using pauses, rate, pitch, and vocal variety effectively during the speech. I hope that I would be able to overcome and improve on my weaknesses with more practice and experience with giving presentations.
For the aspect on topic and purpose, I was very clear that my part of the presentation encompasses the need to assess the feasibility of the proposal, evaluate and propose solutions for some foreseeable challenges that may befall the proposal, and conclude on the presentation with a strong note of conviction that the proposal is beneficial, feasible and worth implementing. With good eye contact and a well-paced speech, I was able to portray my confidence to aid in establishing a convincing presentation to bring across my intent more successfully to the targeted audience in the allocated time.
To ensure that the presentation is well-organised and easy to follow, I felt that visual aids play an important role. My PowerPoint slides were carefully prepared to be audience-centered and smoothly integrated into my speech with the use of appropriate and well-timed animations. The display of key points and use of suitable pictures and graphs on the slides helped to reinforce and complement the ideas in my speech. The aesthetic aspect of the presentation was well boosted by the vivid animations and colourful graphics on the slides to capture the attention and maintain interest level of the audience throughout the presentation.
However, I need to take note of some weaknesses that I have displayed during the presentation. In my eagerness to explain my points, I tend to be too focused on my final idea that I may overlook my sentence structures and use of words. Based on the feedback from Ms Fazilah and my team members, there were quite a few occasions when I wrongly replaced the word ‘companies’ for ‘schools’, and used certain words like ‘ensure’ and ‘also’ too many times in one sentence. In addition, as I was quite nervous during the presentation, I could not remember some of the points in my speech that I have prepared beforehand, thus tend to over-rely on the slides to proceed with my speech.
Therefore, to improve on my subsequent presentations, I should prepare some cue cards so that I can refer to them during my speech in case I forget my points. However, I should take note not to be tied down by my notes as it is important to maintain a strong eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation. I should practice my speech with my team members or in front of the mirror until I am very familiar with it so that my speech would still be kept in check despite my nervousness. It should be noted that my speech should still be kept extemporaneous and sound conversational even though it is fully prepared and carefully rehearsed. I need to practice the use of appropriate hand gestures to aid my presentations.
Overall, I was quite pleased with my presentation because despite my nervousness, I was able to keep my composure by maintaining good eye contact with the audience and using pauses, rate, pitch, and vocal variety effectively during the speech. I hope that I would be able to overcome and improve on my weaknesses with more practice and experience with giving presentations.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Blog Post #4
As Singapore prosper and grow, the size and diversity of its populace keep pace. The Singaporean culture is best described as a melting pot of various ethnic and racial groups made up of mainly Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian cultures which is a reflection of its immigrant history. However, it is inevitable for conflicts and misunderstandings to arise when people from different cultural norms come together and interact in their own comfortable ways. Sometimes, unintentional meanings may be conveyed through their words or actions that might result in unpleasantries for both parties.
A recent trip to the Singapore Pools by an Indian friend of mine, Abhiram, highlighted the exact scenario. The incident happened while he was in the queue at the soccer betting booth. As I was accompanying him in the queue, I ended up being involved in the conflict as well. It was a weekend and the queue at the betting booth was rather long and moving quite slowly. Abhiram was getting impatient and started complaining about the long wait. Just at that moment, he saw an empty space in front of the man queuing just ahead of us. The man, probably in his fifties, was busy checking his betting tickets and did not realise that the queue ahead of him has moved. Immediately, Abhiram casually pat on the man’s shoulder to alert him about it. When the man turned back, Abhiram nonchalantly signaled him to move forward.
However, to our surprise, the man glared at him with a fiery stare and livid expression. He then hurled some vulgarities in Hokkien at Abhiram. I was extremely shocked and frightened by him. Abhiram, who felt that he did not do anything wrong, was of course very angry at the man’s reasonable scolding and shouted at him, “What’s your problem?! I’m only asking you to move forward because you’re holding up the queue!” The man got even more agitated and roared back, in mandarin, "Why did you touch my shoulder?! Then now how am I going to strike 4D tonight?!”
Instantly, I vaguely recalled hearing somewhere that it is a taboo to tap someone’s shoulder because it is believed by the Chinese that such an act would bring bad luck. I quickly apologised to the man and told him politely that as Abhiram is an Indian, he is not aware that he is not supposed to do that. I hastily explained the taboo to Abhiram and he was then highly bewildered by it. Fortunately, with our sincere apologies, the man was finally appeased and the conflict was resolved. Even then, during the rest of the wait in the queue, he did not stop throwing glares at Abhiram.
After the incident, I went home and consulted my parents about the taboo. They told me that according to the Chinese’s belief, everyone has 3 flames guarding them so as to bring good fortune and also to ward off evil spirits. The 3 flames are located one on each shoulder and another on the forehead. The tapping on one’s shoulder is believed to be able to actually “extinguish” the flames, hence bringing bad luck. That is why the Chinese is especially sensitive to pats on the shoulders when he or she is gambling or during the Hungry Ghost Festival. This a cultural belief that is especially practised by the older generation of Chinese who are more superstitious. That was when I fully understood what had led to the man’s anger and confrontational attitude.
From this small anecdote, it shows the importance for us living in a multi-cultural society to be more aware of our little actions and words that might mean otherwise to someone from a different cultural background. Intercultural communication is more than just effective communication between cultures, it is also a manner of showing tact and respect.
A recent trip to the Singapore Pools by an Indian friend of mine, Abhiram, highlighted the exact scenario. The incident happened while he was in the queue at the soccer betting booth. As I was accompanying him in the queue, I ended up being involved in the conflict as well. It was a weekend and the queue at the betting booth was rather long and moving quite slowly. Abhiram was getting impatient and started complaining about the long wait. Just at that moment, he saw an empty space in front of the man queuing just ahead of us. The man, probably in his fifties, was busy checking his betting tickets and did not realise that the queue ahead of him has moved. Immediately, Abhiram casually pat on the man’s shoulder to alert him about it. When the man turned back, Abhiram nonchalantly signaled him to move forward.
However, to our surprise, the man glared at him with a fiery stare and livid expression. He then hurled some vulgarities in Hokkien at Abhiram. I was extremely shocked and frightened by him. Abhiram, who felt that he did not do anything wrong, was of course very angry at the man’s reasonable scolding and shouted at him, “What’s your problem?! I’m only asking you to move forward because you’re holding up the queue!” The man got even more agitated and roared back, in mandarin, "Why did you touch my shoulder?! Then now how am I going to strike 4D tonight?!”
Instantly, I vaguely recalled hearing somewhere that it is a taboo to tap someone’s shoulder because it is believed by the Chinese that such an act would bring bad luck. I quickly apologised to the man and told him politely that as Abhiram is an Indian, he is not aware that he is not supposed to do that. I hastily explained the taboo to Abhiram and he was then highly bewildered by it. Fortunately, with our sincere apologies, the man was finally appeased and the conflict was resolved. Even then, during the rest of the wait in the queue, he did not stop throwing glares at Abhiram.
After the incident, I went home and consulted my parents about the taboo. They told me that according to the Chinese’s belief, everyone has 3 flames guarding them so as to bring good fortune and also to ward off evil spirits. The 3 flames are located one on each shoulder and another on the forehead. The tapping on one’s shoulder is believed to be able to actually “extinguish” the flames, hence bringing bad luck. That is why the Chinese is especially sensitive to pats on the shoulders when he or she is gambling or during the Hungry Ghost Festival. This a cultural belief that is especially practised by the older generation of Chinese who are more superstitious. That was when I fully understood what had led to the man’s anger and confrontational attitude.
From this small anecdote, it shows the importance for us living in a multi-cultural society to be more aware of our little actions and words that might mean otherwise to someone from a different cultural background. Intercultural communication is more than just effective communication between cultures, it is also a manner of showing tact and respect.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Blog Post #3
I am applying for a sales engineer position in an European MNC that is advertised through a recruitment firm, Anmozel. The main points regarding the position as stated in the online advertisement in JobStreet are as follow:
Responsibilities:
The Job
Together with a dynamic team, you shall be trained to play a key role in building on the existing well-established customer base and expand market share for its renowned brand name range of products and services.
Requirements:
You possess a passion for sales and have a 'never give up' spirit.
You possess a Diploma/Degree in Chemical Engineering/Chemistry/ Biomedical/ Biotechnology Engineering or equivalent.
While you are dynamic, you are very teachable and do not have a fixed mindset.
Fresh graduates with vacation job experience related to sales or those who wish to switch to sales from other job nature are also welcomed to apply.
Some sales experience would be a plus factor!
You are a Singaporean and possess class 3 driving license.
My application letter for the above-mentioned postion is as follows:
Blk 175 #07-51
Lompang Road
Singapore 670175
+65 96435717
U0705188@nus.edu.sg
2nd September 2010
Recruitment Officer
Anmozel Private Limited
30 Cecil Street #15-00
Prudential Tower
Singapore 049712
Dear Sir/Madam
APPLICATION OF SALES ENGINEER POSITION
I am writing in response to your advertisement on JobStreet website on 27 August for the position of Sales engineer who is Chemical/Biotechnological/Biomedical Engineering trained that your client, a European MNC, is currently seeking for.
I graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor Degree in Bioengineering and attained a Second-upper Class Honours. Having a strong foundation in bioengineering concepts and knowledge, I am eager to apply what I have learnt in class to real-world scenarios as a sales engineer and I believe I would be adept in doing so. Furthermore, from my various vacation job experiences, I have discovered my interest in sales-related jobs and my capability to excel in jobs of this nature. Therefore, I believe I would make a strong candidate for the position that you have listed since it is a hybrid of both sales and engineering fields that I am able to excel in and more importantly, that I have a strong interest in.
You specified that you are looking for someone with sales related job experience. During my summer vacation in 2009, I took up an outdoor sales position with Lumiere Slimming center to promote and generate sales of their products and services at various outdoor events. I was met with various obstacles due to my lack of knowledge about this industry and the public’s cynical view on slimming and beauty centres. However, with my high versatility, I displayed quick on-site learning of products and services knowledge, and executed flexible and creative sales techniques while leveraging on my effective communication skills. I successfully established an outstanding sales target with a high commission payout that was nearly 50 percent of the basic salary. My dedication, pro-activeness and self-motivation are also key factors that contributed to the exceptional sales outcome.
I am confident that my ability to work well in a dynamic team and my organizational and problem resolution skills would qualify me to handle the responsibilities of the position. Last year, I was given the opportunity to intern at Singapore Technologies Kinetics. My main assignment as a project coordinator of an innovation engineering project honed my organizational skills as I actively managed the project scheduling, budgeting, task allocation, and overall liaising. I worked well in a dynamic team consisting of interns from various schools, engineers, technicians and sales engineers. As the project is a new idea, we were faced with various technical problems during the concept development and system implementation. As a result, I played an active role within the group to help in solving these issues by using the quantitative and analytical skills that I have acquired in part through active participation in my engineering coursework. These attributes, combined with my enthusiasm to learn, were essential to my contributions and success during this internship.
With my proven track record of successful sales experience, strong bioengineering background and high versatility, I believe I would make an ideal candidate for this position in your client’s company. I am eager to apply these skills to a position within the company and strive to improve on them. My resume is enclosed for your reference. I will be in touch with you within a week, and if you need to reach me, feel free to call or email me. I look forward to discussing the position with you or your client in more detail. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours faithfully
Signature
Tan Hsiao Wei (Miss)
Responsibilities:
The Job
Together with a dynamic team, you shall be trained to play a key role in building on the existing well-established customer base and expand market share for its renowned brand name range of products and services.
Requirements:
You possess a passion for sales and have a 'never give up' spirit.
You possess a Diploma/Degree in Chemical Engineering/Chemistry/ Biomedical/ Biotechnology Engineering or equivalent.
While you are dynamic, you are very teachable and do not have a fixed mindset.
Fresh graduates with vacation job experience related to sales or those who wish to switch to sales from other job nature are also welcomed to apply.
Some sales experience would be a plus factor!
You are a Singaporean and possess class 3 driving license.
My application letter for the above-mentioned postion is as follows:
Blk 175 #07-51
Lompang Road
Singapore 670175
+65 96435717
U0705188@nus.edu.sg
2nd September 2010
Recruitment Officer
Anmozel Private Limited
30 Cecil Street #15-00
Prudential Tower
Singapore 049712
Dear Sir/Madam
APPLICATION OF SALES ENGINEER POSITION
I am writing in response to your advertisement on JobStreet website on 27 August for the position of Sales engineer who is Chemical/Biotechnological/Biomedical Engineering trained that your client, a European MNC, is currently seeking for.
I graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor Degree in Bioengineering and attained a Second-upper Class Honours. Having a strong foundation in bioengineering concepts and knowledge, I am eager to apply what I have learnt in class to real-world scenarios as a sales engineer and I believe I would be adept in doing so. Furthermore, from my various vacation job experiences, I have discovered my interest in sales-related jobs and my capability to excel in jobs of this nature. Therefore, I believe I would make a strong candidate for the position that you have listed since it is a hybrid of both sales and engineering fields that I am able to excel in and more importantly, that I have a strong interest in.
You specified that you are looking for someone with sales related job experience. During my summer vacation in 2009, I took up an outdoor sales position with Lumiere Slimming center to promote and generate sales of their products and services at various outdoor events. I was met with various obstacles due to my lack of knowledge about this industry and the public’s cynical view on slimming and beauty centres. However, with my high versatility, I displayed quick on-site learning of products and services knowledge, and executed flexible and creative sales techniques while leveraging on my effective communication skills. I successfully established an outstanding sales target with a high commission payout that was nearly 50 percent of the basic salary. My dedication, pro-activeness and self-motivation are also key factors that contributed to the exceptional sales outcome.
I am confident that my ability to work well in a dynamic team and my organizational and problem resolution skills would qualify me to handle the responsibilities of the position. Last year, I was given the opportunity to intern at Singapore Technologies Kinetics. My main assignment as a project coordinator of an innovation engineering project honed my organizational skills as I actively managed the project scheduling, budgeting, task allocation, and overall liaising. I worked well in a dynamic team consisting of interns from various schools, engineers, technicians and sales engineers. As the project is a new idea, we were faced with various technical problems during the concept development and system implementation. As a result, I played an active role within the group to help in solving these issues by using the quantitative and analytical skills that I have acquired in part through active participation in my engineering coursework. These attributes, combined with my enthusiasm to learn, were essential to my contributions and success during this internship.
With my proven track record of successful sales experience, strong bioengineering background and high versatility, I believe I would make an ideal candidate for this position in your client’s company. I am eager to apply these skills to a position within the company and strive to improve on them. My resume is enclosed for your reference. I will be in touch with you within a week, and if you need to reach me, feel free to call or email me. I look forward to discussing the position with you or your client in more detail. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours faithfully
Signature
Tan Hsiao Wei (Miss)
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Blog Post #2
Describe in detail an interpersonal conflict situation, real or hypothetical.
This is a real-life interpersonal conflict that happened during a group project two semesters ago. The project was about designing a new medical product to improve on an existing one to solve a pressing medical problem. The project was split into five components and each of us in the group was to specialise in one aspect of the design and do up a final report for it. However, the bulk of the project still focuses on the final design of the product and this would, of course, require the effort of all members to work together to come up with the best design.
Unfortunately, one of the members always produce slipshod work when he was tasked with researching on the overall design of the product and he was always absent for group meetings. He was only concerned about his own aspect of the design and his final individual report.
As the group leader, I sent out various emails and SMS to inform him about our group meetings and the issues to be discussed during the meetings. However, his responses were either delayed or he was very busy with his CCA issues. He was apologetic about it and would always assure me that he would definitely complete his individual component on time after we have come up with the final design. From my point of view, he was trying to escape from the group discussions and I felt that this was extremely irresponsible and selfish of him.
Upon giving the problem much thought, I feel that I should have spoken to him face-to-face regarding the importance of group work in this project and that his absence from multiple group meetings is unfair for the rest of the group. I feel that face-to-face discussion of such sensitive matters would be more effective because he would be able to sense the seriousness of this issue. I can also clarify any doubts with him and listen to his explanations. Most importantly, communicating face-to-face can reduce the chances of possible causes of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of our intended messages. However, it requires good EQ to handle the situation face-to-face effectively to prevent any head-on conflicts due to poor social skills and management of emotions.
Do you think a face-to-face confrontation of this issue with him is truly appropriate or would I make the situation worse?
This is a real-life interpersonal conflict that happened during a group project two semesters ago. The project was about designing a new medical product to improve on an existing one to solve a pressing medical problem. The project was split into five components and each of us in the group was to specialise in one aspect of the design and do up a final report for it. However, the bulk of the project still focuses on the final design of the product and this would, of course, require the effort of all members to work together to come up with the best design.
Unfortunately, one of the members always produce slipshod work when he was tasked with researching on the overall design of the product and he was always absent for group meetings. He was only concerned about his own aspect of the design and his final individual report.
As the group leader, I sent out various emails and SMS to inform him about our group meetings and the issues to be discussed during the meetings. However, his responses were either delayed or he was very busy with his CCA issues. He was apologetic about it and would always assure me that he would definitely complete his individual component on time after we have come up with the final design. From my point of view, he was trying to escape from the group discussions and I felt that this was extremely irresponsible and selfish of him.
Upon giving the problem much thought, I feel that I should have spoken to him face-to-face regarding the importance of group work in this project and that his absence from multiple group meetings is unfair for the rest of the group. I feel that face-to-face discussion of such sensitive matters would be more effective because he would be able to sense the seriousness of this issue. I can also clarify any doubts with him and listen to his explanations. Most importantly, communicating face-to-face can reduce the chances of possible causes of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of our intended messages. However, it requires good EQ to handle the situation face-to-face effectively to prevent any head-on conflicts due to poor social skills and management of emotions.
Do you think a face-to-face confrontation of this issue with him is truly appropriate or would I make the situation worse?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Introductory Post!
Before we start with our blogging and commenting the issues covered in ES2007S, let me do a simple introduction about myself. First, I will start with the serious and not-so-fun information about me. I am currently doing my final year in the Faculty of Engineering, majoring in Bioengineering. I am 22 this year and stay in western Singapore. I am born in August and my horoscope sign is Virgo.
Next, the fun and not-so-serious information about me is that I love shopping and chatting. Shopping because it brings joy when I own something new, pretty and useful. Chatting because it is casual, relaxing and entertaining. Well, so a perfect weekend for me would be out shopping around with my friends and stopping over for high tea to have a girlies’ chat! Speaking about high tea, despite the constant reminder from myself to watch those calories intake, I have a soft spot for desserts! I just can’t seem to resist the temptations of cakes, ice-cream and milk shakes!
Having introduced myself, I hope that you have known me a little bit better for a start. I hope that through this semester be it in class or via our blogs, you will get to know me much better and vice versa. Let’s embark on our journey to embrace effective communication! :)
Next, the fun and not-so-serious information about me is that I love shopping and chatting. Shopping because it brings joy when I own something new, pretty and useful. Chatting because it is casual, relaxing and entertaining. Well, so a perfect weekend for me would be out shopping around with my friends and stopping over for high tea to have a girlies’ chat! Speaking about high tea, despite the constant reminder from myself to watch those calories intake, I have a soft spot for desserts! I just can’t seem to resist the temptations of cakes, ice-cream and milk shakes!
Having introduced myself, I hope that you have known me a little bit better for a start. I hope that through this semester be it in class or via our blogs, you will get to know me much better and vice versa. Let’s embark on our journey to embrace effective communication! :)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
ES2007S Post #1
Why effective communication skills are important for me?
Whenever I speak about having effective communication skills, a small incident that happened when I was in junior college never fail to come to my mind. It is a practise that during the student council election campaign, all nominees have to deliver a three minutes speech in front of the whole student body to gain votes. Two of my very good friends, D and S, running for the Council then were involved in the campaign. D is very outspoken and vocal, while S is less well-verse in communication and presentation though she has better organisation, planning and time-management skills than D. Both of them were relatively well-liked by their peers.
Unfortunately, only D was elected into the Council in the end. It was deduced that S’s failure was probably due to her lack of good communication skills to win over the audience to cast their votes for her.
From the small incident, it really serves to remain me about the importance of having effective communication skills. I strongly believe that effective communication is the key to get you to where you want to be in your life. In the above scenario, to communicate effectively is to create an impact in the audience by bringing across an intended message to influence and convince them. Additionally, effective communication is important for self-expression because no matter how brilliant and invaluable an idea might be, it would be worthless unless it can be shared with others.
Most importantly, effective communication is the key to success in life, work, and relationships because good communication skills can reduce misunderstandings, errors, frustration, and conflict on a daily basis.
Whenever I speak about having effective communication skills, a small incident that happened when I was in junior college never fail to come to my mind. It is a practise that during the student council election campaign, all nominees have to deliver a three minutes speech in front of the whole student body to gain votes. Two of my very good friends, D and S, running for the Council then were involved in the campaign. D is very outspoken and vocal, while S is less well-verse in communication and presentation though she has better organisation, planning and time-management skills than D. Both of them were relatively well-liked by their peers.
Unfortunately, only D was elected into the Council in the end. It was deduced that S’s failure was probably due to her lack of good communication skills to win over the audience to cast their votes for her.
From the small incident, it really serves to remain me about the importance of having effective communication skills. I strongly believe that effective communication is the key to get you to where you want to be in your life. In the above scenario, to communicate effectively is to create an impact in the audience by bringing across an intended message to influence and convince them. Additionally, effective communication is important for self-expression because no matter how brilliant and invaluable an idea might be, it would be worthless unless it can be shared with others.
Most importantly, effective communication is the key to success in life, work, and relationships because good communication skills can reduce misunderstandings, errors, frustration, and conflict on a daily basis.
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