ES2007 is one of the most interesting, enjoyable and practical
module that I had taken so far. I see every ES2007 class as a platform for me to
make mistakes, get timely feedback and learn from those mistakes. I value every
learning opportunity given to me and constantly seek to improve myself, in a
hope of being a more effective and confident speaker. In the process of it all, I've gained several insights of myself as an individual, as well as a speaker. I
give Brad the credit for making an effort to conduct every lesson in the most
enriching and interesting way possible.
Before taking this module, I never deem non-verbal
communication and body language to be essential features for any oral presentation
or speech. When I was assigned to give presentations during junior college, I tend
to focus more on the content and the delivery rather than the non-verbal. However,
my whole perspective about oral presentation changed after taking this module. I've learnt that in any presentation,
non-verbal is equally as essential as the verbal. Take for instance; eye contact,
the most fundamental non-verbal communication required for any presentation. In
the past, eye contact was something that I would try to avoid when presenting
in front of a large group of people. The fear of awkwardness and intimidation deterred
me from establishing eye contact with my audience. I would thus glance through
my audience swiftly and fixed my eyes anywhere except the audiences’ eyes.
However, through the multiple drilling and practice sessions during class, I've learnt the importance of eye contact. To be an effective speaker, eye contact
is necessary so as to engage and capture
the attention of the audience.
One of the most memorable experiences from this module was
the mock interviews conducted. I was enthralled by the excellent opportunity to
play the dual roles of being an interviewer and an interviewee. We had to put
on our Hollywood acting skills to create the right interview atmosphere and to
make the whole interview process as genuine as possible. My very own interview
experience was a really fantastic one as I got a “veteran” interviewer Zhi wei
to interview me. I recalled that some of her mind blowing questions got me stumped at several
occasions and I was forced to think on the spot and answer her to get my way
through the interview. That top notch Hollywood interview experience as
mentioned by Brad felt so surreal and I've learnt a lot from it. Before I step
into the interview’s room in future, I am sure to do research about the
company, prepare potential interview questions and be as confident as I can.
And most of it all, I had very fun and encouraging research
group team mates who made the project more bearable and less mundane. We could share
our ideas boldly and were not shy in expressing our opinions during project
discussion. Every one of us have our own distinctive style and it was thus
crucial to be flexible and adaptive to accommodate to those different styles. I
like the fact that we had established great rapport by the end of the project
and I thank Christopher, Samantha and XiaoWei for being such an awesome bunch of
team mates.
In conclusion, I've gained a lot of useful insights and feedback
through the course of this module and I enjoyed every single lesson conducted
by Brad. Once again, I thank Brad for being such a supportive and encouraging
tutor who yearns to watch his students improve along the way, and I am also
thankful for all the wonderful friends that I've made from this class.
SHARLENE J
