Blog Post #6: Final Reflection

Thinking back, the decision to step out of my comfort zone and bid for this module was because of the desire to equip myself with practical skills; such as resume-writing and how to be a better communicator, which are definitely of use in the future.

13 weeks later, I am glad to say that this module has offered me the skills which I wanted to pick up as well as skills that I had never thought that I could pick up through this course; such as being an active listener and making critical and constructive comments. I believe these life-long skills would certainly help me in the different aspects of my life besides my career.

On a whole, the main message that this course conveyed to me is that understanding the different aspects of communication (verbal and non-verbal) are very crucial to effectively convey a message, prevent any misunderstanding, resolve conflict, persuade or convince others. However, just understanding the communication skills is not sufficient. We have to integrate it into our daily lives and practice it for some time before we could become better at it.

Overall, I am grateful for being able to learn together with the other fellow classmates and I would like to thank Ms Happy Goh for guiding us through this module. (:

Blog Post #5: Reflection on Oral Presentation

Personally, i am really glad that my group's presentation went smoothly. However, we could have spent more time rehearsing to achieve a more confident and persuasive result, rather than perfecting our slides.

Our slides were made to look simple with clear, direct points. For statistical figures, we represented them using pie charts instead of bar charts so audiences can focus on one object and see the statistics relationship easily. We had also set a theme at the beginning to catch our audiences' attention, that is YES 2010! By adding a Y to our proposed module code, we hope to make it sound more dynamic; which i believe we did from the audiences' responses (: Overall, i feel that our slides were neatly done but we could have used more relevant animation to enhance the visual aids.

On the other hand, there are several aspects of my presentation that I need to improve on. Ms Goh commented that my voice was too soft and somewhat monotone. For this, I did try to project my voice to ensure the panel can hear me. But as I proceed with my slides, I was nervous that I tend to either read-off from my cue cards or turn backwards to refer to my slides. I actually know what I am supposed to present but I lack the confident to do so without having my cue cards as a back-up. So in the end, I tend to over rely on it. I was actually reading instead of presenting. My problem of being monotone needs to be overcome by more practices.

WengYin also told me that my body composure changed after I reached my second slide: from standing straight to bending one knee. I am sorry for showing a nonchalant posture. I was shuffling my feet back and fro during the Q & A session too. These would not have reflected nicely on my team so I would take note in future.

Blog Post #4: An Intercultural Situation

I have a golden retriever who loves to swim. Once, when I brought him to the beach, there was a Malay family swimming in the sea. As Rover walked towards the sea, the children screamed “Anjing!” (I’ve heard it often enough to know that it means dog in Malay) and the parents quickly ushered everyone out of the water and retreated to their picnic mat.

After Rover was done swimming, we went to the nearest toilet to rinse him off. While I was doing that, a Malay cleaner scolded me for polluting the waters. Since I was done with Rover, I decided not to argue with him and left. As we were walking back, I noticed that the Malay family had gone back to swimming in the sea.

Before letting Rover into the sea, I made sure that we were as far away as possible from the Malay family. By getting out of the sea while Rover was in it and getting back in once he was out, the Malay family communicated non-verbally that they were still uncomfortable being in the same waters as Rover, even though we were very far apart. The cleaner was more direct, verging on ethnocentrism, when he accused me of polluting the waters.

I understand from my neighbour, who is Malay, that Muslims view dogs as ritually impure. Thus, they are not allowed to come into contact with bodily fluids, such as saliva, of dogs. That was why the Malay family quickly exited when they saw Rover stepping into the sea and why the cleaner was displeased with me.

That was a one-off incident though. I’ve met Malays who smile politely and let Rover and I pass before going on their way, which I’m thankful for because there are others who bounce away from me, as though there’s a monster on the other end of the leash.

Blog Post #3: Application Letter Critique

Yeo Siew Ting
Block 971 Hougang Street 91
#09-202
Singapore 530971
Mobile: +65 90225266
E-mail: siewting_06@hotmail.com

7th February 2010

Human Resource Manager
Gaia Science Pte Ltd
Blk 102F Pasir Panjang Rd
#06-03
Singapore 118530

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Application for Sales Product Manager Position

I am writing in response to apply for the position of Sales Product Manager. I am an undergraduate majoring in Chemistry at National University of Singapore (NUS). I would be graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in May 2010 and would like to begin a fulfilling career in marketing with your organization.

I believe that my prior knowledge and experience gained through my education in NUS would have equipped me with the knowledge relevant to sales and marketing of scientific, laboratory and research instruments to the scientific research community and industries. The courses that I had taken include Instrumental Analysis, Advanced Experiments in Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry. Hands-on laboratory work together with theory based modules had allowed me to deal with many scientific instruments and machineries. With addition of my willingness to learn more about the products that I will be responsible for promoting, I am sure I will be able to provide excellent customer service through extensive product knowledge and to handle any inquiries and eventual sales order.

My past work experiences have allowed me to develop excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills too. I was mainly responsible for promoting apparels in the customer service line and I aimed to hit the monthly sales quota. Being a dynamic, self-motivated and result-orientated person, I am able to complete my tasks successfully. Customers gave feedback that reflected their appreciation for my service and I see these as a rewarding experience.

One of my most challenging experiences was working with Research International Asia Pte Ltd, where I was assigned to complete projects with very demanding deadlines. I had to rush reports under stress and time constraints. Through this experience, I was trained to be diligent, resourceful, and to be able to multi-task. As the projects were assigned to small groups, I got the chance to work in a variety of disciplines with the team where I displayed and developed good interpersonal skills.

I am very interested to get into this line as I feel that it will be exciting to be doing work and be at the cutting edge of science at the same time. The responsibilities of a sales product manager may be largely managerial, but it is in an area where there are real scientific challenges. I feel that I possess the chemical knowledge and experience essential when it comes to sales and marketing of scientific, laboratory & research instruments; so I would like to take this as a chance to broaden my experience outside of chemistry as I adopt strategic planning and tactical activities to promote the products to the relevant communities.

In view of your company's objectives and possible openings, I believe that my capabilities are in line with your current needs. If your organization is looking for a dependable, results-oriented professional with a desire to learn, I would be glad to discuss how my expertise and ability may be of help to your organization. I am confident that I would be an asset to the company in terms of sourcing out new accounts and bringing in more business opportunities.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Yeo Siew Ting

Blog Post #2: Interpersonal conflict- based on a past experience

A close friend and you planned to take a language elective module together. Both of you have being good friends since secondary school days and are glad to be in the same university. The module conducts 3 tutorials weekly and has about 10 tutorial slots available for each tutorial A, B and C.

The balloting for tutorial slots starts next week. You crossed out slots that clashes with your timetable and sent her a list of timings that she can choose to fit into her schedule. 5 days passed and you had not received any reply. You sent her a SMS to remind her about it but she only got back to you the night before the balloting day. Her reply was a brief SMS indicating the 3 slots she had decided on. You checked and realized you were unable to take any of the slots with her.

You got anxious and called her immediately. She then explained that, “Oh I’m sorry, I’m so busy that I forgot to tell you that I found a friend of the same major as me who is taking this module too. Our timetables are similar so I'm taking the tutorials with her.” Hearing this, you felt betrayed that she actually planned this module with another friend without updating you.

You were left to take this module alone. You felt that she should have let you know earlier instead of you calling her up to learn about it at the last minute. She tried to ask you out as if nothing happened but you don't feel like hanging out with her for the time being.

How would you have reacted if it happened on you? Also, what do you think could be done to maintain this friendship with your close friend?

Blog Post #1: Why are effective communication skills important to me:

Effective communication is all about conveying your intended messages to people clearly and unambiguously; where the party receives them with as little distortion as possible. This process can be fraught with error such as messages muddled by the sender or misinterpretation by the recipient. Such error can cause confusion, wasted effort or even a missed opportunity. In many instances of our life, we’ll need to adopt effective communication skills be it on a causal event, a job interview or a formal meeting. Good communication can bring you closer to success both personally and professionally as you work towards your goals.

Whether one needs to communicate general day-to-day information or major changes in your organization, the best communications require some good planning. By putting yourself in the shoes of your audience, think about what do they need to hear? What is their preferred way of receiving the information? What will stop them from listening to what you have to deliver? And how will you know if they have got the messages? All these depend on the kind of situation surrounding your communications. Channels for conveying your message across can be through sms, email, letter, phone calls or face to face. It is important to structure your message and to adopt a neutral tone for a written format. While for a verbal format, it should be noted that nonverbal communication cues can affect interpersonal interactions.

In a multi-cultural country like Singapore where I’ll probably live my life working at after I graduate, I see the need to foster intercultural communication skills in addition to those general skills as mentioned above. This helps create an audience-focused communication plan where potential conflicts can be avoided.

Overall, in spite of greater importance being placed on communication skills, many individuals like me continue to struggle with the inability to communicate ideas effectively. I hope that this module can help to prepare me for my career progression as I pick up skills taught along the way.