Analytical/Critical Reflection

Before embarking on the journey of effective communication, I set out to improve my communication and writing skills through the duration of the course. I am glad to say that I have managed to improve my writing skills from exercises such as the readers response, annotated summary and technical report. I was able to achieve this from the comprehensive reading materials provided in the Google Docs and Symbaloo page. The reading materials were useful to me and I have created bookmarks for my personal reference when crafting future reports such as the IWSP report. I have also watched a TED video during the span of the course which helps me in communicating my ideas clearly to the audience. In order to continue improving my communication skills after the module, I have decided to watch a TED video bimonthly to learn useful techniques from industry experts.

The main challenge for my team’s project was to come out with an innovative solution for the engineering problem we identified. Our team compromises members of different backgrounds which can be considered as a strength as well as a weakness of our group. It was not easy for our team to agree on a solution due to the diverse experiences we provided during group discussions. However, our team was able to overcome this challenge and turned it into our strength through great collaboration. We worked on our solution by taking into account of every member’s inputs and I am happy to say that we managed to come out with a well thought out solution. From this project experience, I learnt that it is important for every member to have an open mind and be receptive to the opinions of our peers. I would like to sum up my learning experience with a personal quote, “A good idea can be made greater when we accept feedback from others.”

It was a wonderful experience to be part of the Presentation Showcase as it was my first time presenting to a bigger group of audience compared to a classroom setting. The feeling was nerve racking, but I am glad that I managed to portray a certain level of calmness during my presentation. I think I did well in explaining my team’s product to the audience which aids the audience’s understanding of our solution. One of the key issues I tried to address during the presentation was about keeping my audience engaged with my body language and eye contact which was an important factor to grab the audience’s attention. Another problem I faced during the presentation was the tendency to look at the audience who are seated on the higher levels due to the elevation of the lecture theatre. I think these weaknesses can be easily overcome through the rehearsing of the presentation at the venue itself. I am thankful for the opportunity provided as it allows me to gain exposure in presenting to a larger group of audience. 

People often say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So here are a few pictures to summarise my journey in effective communication. 

"It's a wrap!"

Team Energy Savers at the Presentation Showcase

TED video: https://youtu.be/7Lc_dlVrg5M

Commented on Alfian's, Akram's, Baizurah's, Javier's and Jordon's posts. (Blog Buddies)
Commented on Aufal's, Nurul's and Wei Wen's posts. (Team Energy Savers)