FINAL REFLECTIONS, FINALLY

ES2007S is finally over!

I suppose its always good to reflect after the completion of a module and consolidate everything one has learnt over the 13 or so weeks, and I've definitely learnt a significant amount this semester.

One of the more important things I've come to understand this past 4 months concerns the duality of communication; not only is the content of the message being transmitted is important, but so to the means and method at which it is being transmitted. Formally these are known as verbal and non-verbal communication, and in most formal settings I believe it is important to prepare adequately for both. In that sense I think this module is unique because it has made me more aware of what I am "not saying". I'm graduating in a few weeks and I think such skills would prove useful in the workplace, especially if they are used effectively to emphasize what I am "actually saying". 

The classroom experience was definitely different from what I'm used to. I quite like this kind of setting, where students are encourage to participate and offer input, whether within the physicals confines of the class or in cyberspace. Its quite unfortunate really that most engineering modules are not this flexible, though it is not to say that all engineering classes are not enjoyable.

Many unique characters in this class has made this entire experience quite the memorable one. It has been my pleasure knowing all of you and hopefully our paths will cross sometime in the future. 

This will be my final blog post.

Presentation Reflections

I just concluded my oral presentation with Team Coordonner Les this past Thursday. I would say that I'm quite satisfied with how it went. It is always very satisfying to see that all your preparations has paid off.  

Presentation reflections... Get it?

It was not always smooth sailing though and definitely the journey to get ourselves ready for this presentation was not an easy one. Team Coordonner Les consists of 4 very different individuals, which means 4 different presentation styles. I suppose its a common problem with any group presentation setting. Making the presentation seamless, or in fact to work together cohesively, is quite tricky but we tried our best. Lunchtime bonding sessions does help though.

Team Coordonner Les

Our presentations had a few strengths, but the one I would like to highlight is that everything we did was very deliberate. We knew what we had to do; which was to convince the URA that they had a significant problem on their hands, and that our solution was the best one they can get. Everything else fell into place once every group member understood that. The structure of the slides, what we had to say, and perhaps to a certain extent where we stood were all pre-planned as such in the hopes that URA would understand the problem at hand and accept our proposal.

Naturally our presentation also had some weaknesses, and one of them was probably the nerves of the presenters. I'm pretty sure that all of us were quite rattled at the thought of doing this presentation, though it manifested to different degrees in the different members. Nonetheless it should be said that some of our group members have made large strides forward in this aspect; I am absolutely convinced that if we had done this presentation a month ago it would have a completely different outcome.

Overall though this experience had been quite the interesting one. Normally as an engineering undergraduate we hardly pay much attention to the way we present. After all the strength of the project normally speaks for itself. I've come to understand though that for real life projects though the quality of your proposal is almost secondary. First you need to get someone to listen to you and your idea, and for that good presentation skills are essential.

I don't move, therefore I am professional

This past week in class we learnt that one of the ways to make a good presentation is to have a fixed stance. Now I know this is probably not a hard-and-fast rule; merely just a recommendation, which got me thinking if there is ever a "proper" way to make a professional presentation without being completely static. After all on the face of it someone just standing there and talking doesn't sound terribly interesting right?

As with most things in life, TV has the answer, and it therefore justifies the many hours I've spent in front of it. The "Walk-and-Talk" is a story-telling technique sometimes used in film and television. It involves the characters having a conversation while en route to another location. New characters may be added and existing characters may leave during the "Walk-and-Talk". It serves to smooth a transition from one scene to another, as well as to highlight how busy the characters are.

More importantly (I feel) however, the "Walk-and-Talk" introduces a visual element that is interesting to the eye to what would otherwise be a static scene of people talking. It can also give the illusion that the story is progressing, as if the characters are walking ever closer to the credits.

Now that's fine for TV, but can "Walk-and-Talk" work for a presentation? Well Al Gore certainly was anything but still during his now famous speech Inconvenient Truth speech. If I remember correctly he climbed into a crane and talked as it elevated him. He was trying to illustrate how much the carbon levels has increased over the years, and it seemed pretty effective (to me at least) to do so while he was increasing his altitude.

Well not everyone can drag a crane into a classroom right? So unlike Al Gore, the rest of us are pretty much limited to lateral movements. That has not deterred some though. Comedians are known to walk across stage while doing stand-up (pretty ironic isn't it?). It is very commonly used when they are done with one joke and want to move on to a completely new topic.

Side note (yes i'm changing the topic slightly here... move your computer monitor across your desk if you want to get the sense of "Walk-and-Talk"), stand up comics are probably the least proper examples when it comes to professional communication. However this may not have always been the case. Consider the following:-

In Renaissance times, the King was considered to be a 'God on Earth' and it was only his Court Jester (or Fool) appointed both to amuse him and remind him of his humanity, who was allowed to speak plainly. In King Lear, it is up to the Fool to remind the King of the consequences of his actions. - Royal Shakespeare Company

So once upon a time, the Court Jester was the only one that was allowed to tell the King the truth. He had to be harsh (though not too harsh else he might find himself a head shorter) and frank. He delivered hard news to the King in the form of jokes and insults, and he probably did it while juggling or doing head stands. I'm not sure if the King would be too amused if he had a fixed stance.

In conclusion I suppose that walking can be a very useful visual tool in some sense; To show you are done with one chapter and want to talk about something else, you literally "move on" to a new topic. It can be very effective; it was definitely good enough for King Lear at least. However it should be said that our presentation next week is for a completely different "ang moh".

Something to think about nonetheless. Good luck for all your preparations!