My GT Experience

Today, I will be sharing on my GT experience, which was the first graded presentation of this module. I was pretty excited to work with the other 3 of my team mates, as it was my first time working with them.

Our team met up quite often to discuss on the content to include in the presentation. Being the second group to present, I was initially quite worried as the first group did a really good job in delivering the content.

This GT was a great experience for me as there were many first(s). It was the first time I attempted not using a script for the presentation and I was glad I took the risk, as the feedback given to me was that I did not sound like I was reading from the script in my mind. It was also the first presentation that I received numerous honest and critical feedback from my peers, which I felt was a refreshing experience. The feedback I received was that my hand gestures appeared to be constrained, as my hand gestures were constrained within a small box. This made my presentation look less natural. I was glad that my peers pointed that out as it was an area that I could work on. After watching the video of myself, I agreed with the feedback and that I appeared to be a tad too stiff. Also, I felt that I did not give sufficient pauses during the presentation, and another feedback i received was that I was going on and on without pauses. Lastly, there were some comments that the presentation slides had too much animations which could be distracting.

All in all, the GT experience was a good one, where I learnt about my areas of weaknesses. I am definitely keeping those feedback in mind in my future presentations.

Main Question/Thesis/Outline

Topic C

Problem
NUS does not know which aspects of oral communication skills should they prioritize to help their students.

Purpose
To identify aspects of oral communication which is crucial to NUS graduates and recommend curriculum changes for the university to improve on these aspects.

Questions
1) Which aspects of oral communication is the most important in the workplace?
2) What are the elements contributing to effective oral presentation?
3) What are the elements contributing to  effective interaction among colleagues and clients?
4) What are employers looking out for in fresh graduates?

Interpersonal Conflict - Of Incompatible Goals

Having lived in the house for some 30 years, my parents decided to renovate the house and give it a complete overhaul.

And so the question back then was who to trust the job with? A random contractor may do the job but my parents felt that it would be better to leave the job to someone we know. Thus, the job was left in the hands of this acquaintance of my father.

Ideas were finalised, the prices were fixed and the renovation works started. The acquaintance promised to deliver quality results during our numerous discussions. Floor tiles were chosen and carpentry works were decided. We thought everything (well, almost everything) was settled and the renovation would be completed soon.

However, we soon realised that the renovation was delayed due to insufficient stocks of the materials we ordered. And we were not informed about it until we went down to check on the progress of the renovation. And so it turned out that the materials we ordered were not out of stock, but merely low in stock. Misunderstandings arose and my parents were disgusted that the person whom they trusted was in fact a dishonest person. Calls demanding for an explanation were made but not returned. When returned, frivolous excuses were made. My mum demanded to meet him for an explanation.

I was there too, to hear what the acquaintance had to say. (Well at that point in time, we were almost ready to treat him as a foe.)

All he mentioned were excuses that we predicted and my mum questioned him on several other issues and decisions that were made without our consent, based on his assumptions. All he bothered about was the profit that he will make if materials of a lower price were purchased. He disregarded the trust we had in him and it was obvious that we have a different set of goals from him. For ours, it was to simply renovate our house with the belief that since he was someone we knew, he would do a good job. And as for him it is pretty obvious that all that was on his mind was his profit margin.

The renovation works finally completed (with delays here and there) and you would think that the conflict is resolved but whenever I see him on the streets I'd try my best not to glare at him.

And so, my question is - would you do the same if this happened to you?