It’s the final blog post for this semester already, and I can’t believe how time has passed so quickly. My final semester in NUS as an undergraduate is drawing to a close, just one final lap to go before I enter a new phase of life.
I’m really glad I took up a friend’s advice on taking this module. One area which I think I really developed through the many projects and presentations, is my oral presentation skills.
Before I took up this module, I’ve always feared public speaking. By forcing myself to face the many presentations involved in the completion of this module, I can safely say that I now feel alot more comfortable in presenting. Besides, this course also thought me that practice is the key to perfecting my presentation skills. Now I try not to shun any chances of presenting, but instead accept each chance as an avenue to further improve myself.
In the past, I never really understood the importance of having a script (I know brad advocates familiarisation instead of memorising), but one main benefit of having a script (in my opinion), is that I will not have to struggle to find the right words to bring myself across. However, that being said, being familiar with the topic you’re presenting, is definitely of utmost importance if you want to appear natural and confident, and that’s what I want to work towards in future. 🙂
Thirdly, I learnt how to hide my nervousness better through the many presentations by changing my stance. By being less rigid, the nervousness seems to dissipates and I get more confident as I speak.
Lastly, as Brad pointed out, my main problem lies in my pronounciation. I’ve been to speech therapy when I was young to correct my pronounciation and I’ve always thought I was okay now. By pointing out my flaws during the peer teaching, I managed to consciously remind myself to articulate my words clearly during the oral presentation (although i still stumbled over my words when I get too nervous or excited) but I’m improving! 🙂
Thanks for all the help Brad! 🙂
ES2007 Professional Communication 
I was so happy to read in this final post that you focused yet again on presenting, BaoWen. Certainly, as a pharmacist, you will be speaking every day to colleagues and patients. In that context, everything we discussed is of vital importance since you will need clarity in your communication.
Do you want to know something that you and I have in common? I also regularly saw a speech therapist as a child.
In fact, it was always quite odd to me because I felt that I spoke just fine. What I discovered, however, was that “fine” to my ears wasn’t clear to others. Since that time, I have cleared the various hurdles. As you know, it’s often a matter of realizing the problem and making conscious, concerted effort. (Have you seen the film The KIng’s Speech? You must!)
You have no doubt made great strides as well, BaoWen. But I want you to continue. I suggest:
1) practice again the sound shapes (mouth shapes) — you can find these online (www.uiowa.edu/acadtech/phonetics/ )
2) do a google search for tongue twisters (such as those at geocities.com) and practice
3) explore btinternet.com, check for vowelmachine, and again practice
In addition, the most fun thing I can think of is singing along with youtube videos of English songs that you like!
In any case, I appreciate you sharing your feelings on this issue, and I wish you all the best as you “accept each chance as an avenue to further improve….”
Hi brad!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with speech therapy with me, it’s hard to believe you actually had to undergo that in the past, really. Oh and I’ve watched the King’s Speech before! One of my closest friend is a speech therapist-to-be and she recommended me to watch it, it’s really amazing to see how one of the most debilitating speech problems can be rectified as long as one has enough patience and sufficient practice is done! I will definitely continue to work on improving my speech abilities 🙂
And that friend who advised you to take this module would be…? Haha!
As a friend, I’ve seen you gain confidence over the years, and I’m glad that you’re even more confident now, with all these practical skills you have newly acquired. And, most fears can be overcome!
Jiayou Baowen! (:
Similarly, i’ve seen how your presentation skills have improved too! Well done! 🙂
Hi Bao Wen!
Great that you took a brave step in choosing this module to face your fears. Glad that you will now fully embrace any chance of presentation as an opportunity to improve yourself. You have become more confident throughout the course and not once did not let your pronounciation affect your confidence. I am sure that with the same attitude you had in wanting to face your fear of public speaking, you will do well in overcoming your pronounciation. Best of luck in your future endeavors.
P.S. I hope you see the King’s Speech as recommended by Brad, it is really an inspiring film http://www.kingsspeech.com/about.html
Hi dwayne! 🙂 thanks for the confidence haha. i’ve watched the King’s Speech before, but i didn’t know it was so popular though! 😀 All the best to you too, never stop improving! 🙂
Hey Baowen! It was great getting to know you through this course and I really had fun doing SingaBrella with you and Phyllis!
I’m glad that you felt you improved over this semester in multiple ways, now you can take all these skills into the work force and achieve big things! haha.
Good luck with your exams and graduation!
Gail
Hi baowen,
I think you have improved significantly over the semester especially your pronunciation. I like the fact that you are willing to identify your area of weakness and work on it. The first step to improve is always to face the problem first: )
Hope that you will do even better in the future with all the skills acquired from this module: )
I wish you all the best for finals!
Michelle
Hi Bao Wen,
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I am glad that you have found ways to improve your pronunciation. It takes courage to accept your weakness and make a conscious effort to change! Hope that this course and our feedback will be useful to you. Communication is a important area for your career path but I am confident that you will continue to strive for improvement.
All the best for your finals and your future endeavors!
Hello Baowen,
You have presented well for the final presentation. It was natural and confident. I also agree that familiarising script is the key the fluency of speech. Hence, never make drastic changes right before your presentation. They might be fatal 🙂
I have really enjoyed working with you and Gail on Umbrella Vending Machine. We had so much fun drafting out the content of the project. Really hope that this idea can be sold to an investor. By then, we will be earning big bucks!
Coming back to reality, all the best for your future job and goodluck for you FINAL exams!!! 🙂
Cheers,
Phyllis