Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Back to what communication means to me

At the start of ES2007S, Brad made us write a blog post about what communication means to us. In that post, I wrote about how insecure I was about approaching strangers and opening up to them. This was probably due to my issue of low confidence, and on top of that, my inadequacy in communication skills as well. Over the years, I slowly tackled these issues to become who you see today. Yet, taking ES2007S was probably one of the most risk- taking steps I had ever taken in hope of improving myself as a person. The most valuable lesson that I took away from the course was to trust myself, to trust that I am no longer the low confident kid, that when I stand in front of the crowd what I say is worth listening to and that I am special in my own unique way.

Throughout this course, we were made (although forced seems to be a more appropriate word, haha) to do presentations and our research group mates were assigned. Initially, I was worried that it will be awkward for me to work with strangers. But surprisingly it was one of the most enjoyable projects I had ever done. The fact that Ranmali, Valarie, Ye Thu Win and I were of different nationality and background made the experience even more interesting. During each meeting, I was able to learn something new about foreign culture and to know them more personally and in turn allow them to know me as well. Stepping out of my comfort zone really let me experience things that I otherwise would not have experience; not being around my usual friends also made me understand that I am no longer the insecure child I used to be.

During presentation, subtle differences between personalities were shown as everyone step up to better their presentation skills. Through the presentations, I learned that while there is not a correct way of presenting, there are definitely styles which better suit a person's personality and hence improve on their delivery. Personally, knowing my content was the first step before I can develop my 'style' of delivery. Then it was about letting my personality come through during the presentation. In the past, I did what everyone did, which was to maintain eye contact, speak at an appropriate pace, memorise what was to be said. A consequence of that was a phobia of not presenting the correct way and tones of nervousness. Now, I feel that perhaps smiling, walking and cracking small jokes are acceptable as well as long as I use them correctly. I no longer feel the need to impersonate another person and adopt a ‘style’ that is not me. Well, I had not mastered the skill yet but I am sure I will one day.

Right now, if you ask me what communication means to me, I will still give you the same answer. Communication is not merely about talking but also about the things you say, how you say it and all the nonverbals that goes along. However, on top of that, people need to know themselves first. Through this course, I learned more about myself and how I had grown over the years as well as the various skills to make myself a better communicator.

Thank you, Brad and my 14 other classmates for making this module such an enjoyable one for me. Geraldine: Thank you for taking the module with me! Ranmali, Valarie and Ye Thu Win: Thank you for bearing with all my over the top behaviour and my constant fun-poking comments during the project meetings. It was really great working with you guys

7 comments:

  1. You know, I would never have thought of you as someone insecure or with low-confidence. You seemed so much at ease at making fun of me! Haha. Seriously though, I know exactly what you mean about getting to know yourself. This was such a self-discovering journey for all of us as we each did things we never thought we could do before.

    Stay in touch alright? It was great working with you too :)

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  2. Ranmali! I will bring you to wakeboard one day, when our irritating exams are all over. You can drop me a message anything:)

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  3. Hey Lin Hui,

    This is a well articulated post. Thank you for making me choose this module and time slot. I thought you nailed the idea of communication. I agree it is about knowing yourself and using communication skills to express yourself in your own unique way. You definitely grew a lot through this module. Just take a look at your first post and this post. You definitely improved a lot.

    Geraldine

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  4. Hi Linhui,

    The post is enunciated in a very clear way. Nice working with you , Valarie and Ranmali !
    Yeah, we are from different countries, different backgrounds and this is the unique nature of our team. Your constant fun-poking comments were really making us stress-relief during the projects. :)

    I like your definition of communication. I absolutely agree that we need to know ourselves first. If we are not aware of our “self”, it will be difficult to interact with each other; we can only be successful in one way channel without understanding ourselves.

    Can I join to your wake-board also? Stress relief after exams… Haha.

    Nice knowing and working with you !

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  5. Lin Hui!

    I never would have imagined the small tanned wakeboarding girl to be shy and have low confidence. But you have made a great improvement, in terms of understanding yourself better and how you can tap on your personality to fit your presentation to you. It has been great knowing you :)

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  6. Thanks, Lin Hui, for this heartfelt reflective post, for the various accolades for the course and for all your hard work during the term. I could not imagine you are rather shy. I'm glad you see the course as a step in the right direction for you.

    All the best in your future!

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  7. Hey Lin Hui!

    I really like how you ended your post on what communication means to you - it was very meaningful! Yes, I agree it's about knowing oneself first. This is because people shine through their personalities. I believe you are one of the people with great personality, reflected by the optimism that you have!

    Although I did not have a lot of team projects with you, except for the mock interview, I think you have improved in terms of your communication skills. That's for sure! You always present with confidence! =)

    All the best!~

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