Module Summary: It's a wrap!

To be honest, it wasn't exactly a personal first choice to undertake this module as the scope of the workload had really frightened me. The only ray of hope that seemed to peek through for the module's case, in Saras's own words, was "SUMIII, NO EXAMS!". Without the burden to cram information at the end of the semester for a paper and the significant relevance to the fact that  I was going to graduate, the module would prove to be highly beneficial to meet this ends and an useful tool in preparing better for the next few months of relentless job-seeking 'adventure'. With that, I dived head first into the module with my fingers crossed.

Overall, the classes turned out to be interactive and highly engaging with frequent dialogues and discussions among classmates and Dr. Radikha. Initially, I must admit that it was pretty awkward to come out of the shell and communicate any self-held opinions as I had not really been exposed to this type of class dynamics in the bulk of my modules. However, I gradually found myself taking a stand in class discussions and taking stock what was being taught without finding myself zoning out or becoming a doodling-expert in the midst of the lessons. Furthermore, the pertinent topics covered such as the cover letter writing, interview questions demonstrations and presentation skills proved to be a humongous boon as I have come out of this module, more aware and better prepared for the various aspects of the job-seeking world that awaits. I immensely appreciate that the module turned out to be very closely aligned with practical applications outside class and it has really helped in one way or another to relate to us the importance of effectively communicating ourselves to the masses.

Moreover, the peer teaching and the proposal group interactions helped to further establish working relations and friendships with classmates outside class with the shared responsibilities to brainstorm, write-up, edit and rehearse for presentations together. Although time was tight with incompatible time-tables and personal project commitments, I am glad that we still persisted to find the time, be it early in the morning or late in the evening, to come together every now and then to collate our parts and take on new directions for the proposal. I believe we came out of this project more appreciative of one another's effort and with a greater unity fostered as the oral presentation came to its end.

The most vital take-away that I have undertaken from the module would be the realization that communication is both a learned and practiced skill. For most of us, it's not something that is inherent or a natural god's gift. Instead, more often than not, it requires conscious effort to evaluate and improve yourself with the aid of all the constructive feedback that comes your way. I like to believe that I have attempted to better myself to some extent where presentation skills are concerned. However, I do accept the fact that the learning process to attaining 100% satisfactory fluency in communication is an on-going experience that still needs to be consistently worked on even after this semester draws to a close.

Thank you, Dr. Radhika for the vital lessons learned and the guidance throughout the semester. And thank you, friends for all those interactive discussions that NEVER made any session a snooze-fest!

RE-wind/cap: Oral Presentation

How would I honestly sum up my oral presentation experience?

 I remember rehearsing my script in the showers, during the much-need breaks from crazy FYP and reading myself to sleep for that few days prior to the presentation day. Even when I was merely practicing those lines, there was this nagging apprehension that used to make me fumble and stumble over some lines and I would silently grimace thinking 'what if' that actually happened during the actual presentation. And it kind of made me realize that it had been a while since I ever felt so nervous about presenting. I have always been comfortable presenting or even speaking up about my opinions so it had relatively always been a breeze. The thing was, I had always been presenting the way I've for a pretty long time without much of any constructive feedback from previous classes. That probably made me slip into this comfort zone where I assumed my presentation skills were decent enough to get my points across.

However, this module literally made me sit up and take notice that there was still a long way to go to perfect those presentation skills. The effort put in by the classmates, those much-thought about feedback to weigh in on my presenting abilities and not forgetting the considerable component it held in the overall grading of the module, all these managed to zoom in on my glaring weak points that I hadn't really reflected on or bothered about before then. In a way, it was a good learning experience that enabled me to take stock of what I still had to brush up on; my speed of delivery, weird facial expressions whenever I stumbled and those repetitive hand motions. It was pretty intimidating to present against the better speakers who seem to have this natural flair for speaking to the audience. However, that made me appreciate the fact that one's presentation abilities had to be constantly and rigorously practiced if one were to get better, appear more fluent and at ease.

Learning to communicate ideas across to the audience, verbally and non-verbally; I tried to keep that in mind consistently as our group went through the actual presentation session. I found myself consistently making the effort to remain composed in the event of those occasional stumbles instead of giving in to the natural instinct to pull a face. Furthermore, the prior rehearsing of my script had fortunately enabled me to register the need to slow down my pace of delivery. After a couple of attempts, I feel that I am finally able to commit to slowing myself down when presenting.  

After the OP, there was still a couple of issues that I believe compromised my overall quality; the stumbles that affected the fluency of the delivery. But the most important take-away that I have gathered from this oral presentation experience was the realization that consistent practice and taking heed of the feedback given would gradually but surely pave the way for honing my presentation abilities better; and a bit more of confidence wouldn't hurt! With that, I’m going to take this experience as another lesson learnt to keep note of while prepping myself better for the next presentation that comes my way.