What did he say ?

Hey all

I wonder if any of you still blog or reads this. But whatever I'll write anyway...

Just came back from Genting Malaysia and had a great holiday with my family. Genting was fun and a great tourist spot. Although Malaysia isn't far from Singapore the default language used in Malaysia is malay rather than english in Singapore.

I am a Singaporean who sadly cannot count to ten in malay. It caused me many inconveniences when everyone you meet and buy something from always tells you the price in malay. It is rather awkward to have to say "pardon me?" and then try to converse with them in english.

Perhaps it is because they assumed i was a malaysian which by default would have received training in the language. I was fortunate that malaysians speak english, if not i would probably have to resort to non verbal cues.

To conclude, language and words are vital in communication. It is always good to learn at least the basics of the language of your neighbouring country or the country you are going to travel to and that would give you a huge convenience. For singaporean chinese who can't speak a word of malay, i suggest you at least learn the bare minimum to get you by.(this is not hard if you have malay or malaysian friends)

A side reason perhaps is because Singaporean and Malaysians have so much in common and we look so similar that in Malaysia it is inevitable that people initiate conversations with you in Malay. Being able to understand will really bring about lots of convenience.

Cheers

Frozen little packet of sweetness

Hey all

Have you tried frozen grapes? If you haven't perhaps you can try it. It is a great healthy snack while studying for your exams.

Step 1 : buy a packet of grapes.
Step 2: Wash them... You don't want to be consuming pesticide.
Step3 : Put them in a container... Since the freezer is for frozen meat you won't know what bacteria is in there.
Step 4: Yes you guessed it... Put in freezer
Step 5: indulge...

Its really nice especially if you buy the seedless once. You can chew on it and its kind of crunchy. Alternatively you can let it melt in your mouth. Both ways its delicious.

Ok back to studying.

Cheers

See-chai-wash-vegetables.blogspot.com - LIVES!

(NUH hospital room setting)

Beep ... Beep ... Beep ... Beep ...
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...

Nurse: OH MY GOD DOCTOR, DOCTOR!!!

(Doctor arrives)

Doctor: Give me a read on the blood pressure...

(Doctor sets up defribillator)

Doctor: CHARGING... OK CLEAR

PZZT!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...

Doctor: Come on live, live...
Doctor: CHARGING... OK CLEAR

PZZT!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...
Beep ... Beep ... Beep ... Beep ...

Ok patient see-chai-wash-vegetables.blogspot.com lives...

Doctor: Nurse, continue to monitor the pulse rate and condition of the patient and notify immediately if anything happens to it again.

The End

ES2007S - Looking back

13 weeks have past and it is the end of ES2007S. Officially the course has ended but the skills learnt and the friendship forged lives on. In these 13 weeks we learnt about almost every aspect of communication. It started off theoretical with lots of readings and then along the way lots of opportunity to apply the theories learnt.

One of the biggest skills that I picked up was presentation skills. My lack of confidence to address a crowd leaves me petrified just like the elevator test (selling your idea in 30 seconds just like in an elevator) that we did. Since day 1, Brad (our tutor) decided to throw us into the deep end of the pool and had us present in front of the class. In front of unfamiliar faces it was difficult and naturally I didn’t do well. I know I probably would screw up my presentation again but somehow it just keeps me coming back for more. I always wanted to apply what I learnt in the previous presentation and I think it’s that fighting spirit that kept me going. After every presentation I’ll murmur to myself and present the whole presentation again to myself.

The biggest flaw for me in this aspect was the lack of confidence and being uncomfortable in front of the crowd. During rehearsals when nothing matters, I seem to be able to do a good job. But when I’m actually in the spotlight I become very uncomfortable. After ES2007S I became so much more confident and at ease with myself in front of a crowd. The next two presentations for other modules was a breeze for me. I didn’t have cue cards I didn’t even need long preparation and rehearsals. I just went up and talked.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the whole process of a job search. As I was really looking to intern in the firm that I chose, I was actually killing two birds with one stone. The tailoring of resume to fit the job description was something new. There was even a cheat of plucking words from the advertisement itself. The mock interview was fun and we got both perspectives as an interviewer and interviewee. However the enquiry letter that I eventually sent out did not get me an interview because they were not hiring. But at least I got a reply.

Ok finally the 7Cs. I know I kind of violated all of them in my blog posts. But I try hard to stick with them in other reports that I write. Perhaps it was difficult to be very concise in blog posts because I feel like I’m talking to my friends here. But in a report or something more formal I definitely stick to the 7Cs.
Skills wise ES2007s has really made a significant impact to the way I speak write and present. I have already started applying the skills learnt such as using the 7Cs in reports, writing business correspondents to professors, designing powerful PowerPoint slides and presenting with confidence. Some of my group mates also called me the presentation guru. Can you believe that?

Friendship wise, I came into ES2007s without a friend. It was rather intimidating to have no familiar faces in the class. Almost immediately we needed to do peer-teaching and I was grouped with Iris who became my first friend in class. (Thanks Iris for putting up with me asking you what we need to prepare for the next class). As the weeks goes by and with the help of the blogs, everyone started to get to know one another. Although I did not work with everyone in class but we soon become close enough to have lunch together after Thursday class. The topic on the table was not all about ES2007s and I recall talking about clubbing and lubrications.

I really felt that I have made 14 new friends in this course which is another valuable thing to takeaway. It is the first time which I felt so emotionally attached to a class that I thought of a celebration at the end. I wanted to celebrate with my new found friends all the hard work that we put into the class and also our Brad who patiently coached us to be effective communicators.
Choosing to take ES2007S is one of the best decisions I made in NUS. I wish everyone all the best in the upcoming exams and also to those graduating hope you get the jobs you like (hopefully also very high paying) by employing the skills learnt in ES2007s.

Thats all folks

PLEASE HELP ME…

A very difficult issue...

Hi friends from ES2007S if you are reading this I’m glad you are and I really need your help. I have a huge moral and ethics situation here that I cannot resolve. I want to hear from as many people as possible before I decide what to do tomorrow morning.

A little background…

I’ve been working in a design project which is a huge project for mechanical engineering students which spans across 2 semesters. Throughout the process I have made lots of great friends in the group. Everyone in there had great personality and I treasure all the friendships that were forged.

Last semester I had no qualms with agreeing to a common peer review because everybody did a fair amount of work. However in this semester everything changed. Different people involved themselves with different tasks and there were people in the group who contributed negligibly. Being the main designer for 2 sub systems (lighting and dashboard display of a car) had to single-handedly do all the wiring connections and connections. I could not delegate the tasks with my teammates since the systems were very complex and would take a long time to explain. On top of that since I’m only soldering 1 circuit board there is no way others could help me. I’m not upset with the fact that I had much more to do than my teammates and some of them helped me as far as they could and I’m very appreciative.

The problem…

Peer evaluation. It comes in a form a table where you need to rank everyone in the group and also give a grade to individual aspects of in terms of contribution, attitude and all. Although not openly agreed, everyone had the common understanding that peer evaluation will be done together with everyone writing the same thing similar to what we did that last semester.
I personally felt that this was really unfair because there were people who contributed much less than others. I’m not saying that I have done the most and there were certainly people who did more than me. A combined peer evaluation will simply not reflect the extra commitment and effort. The professor was not there to monitor and keep track of individual contributions and peer evaluation is one of the ways that he could have a gauge. Another grading venue which the professor will judge is through the log book which we had to submit. For my logbook I logged everything about the two sub-systems that I did and nothing more. However there are teammates who wrote about every system in the project in which some they did not even participate. A third venue of evaluation would be the presentation that we gave. But since everyone had to have something to present I had to give up 1 subsystem to another teammate.

The concern…

I’m really concerned over how the professors would have valued the amount of work that was invested by me. In all three aspects of individual grading, none reflects the fact that I’ve done a lot. After all the sweat, doing yoga in a tight compartment and soldering the millions of points that needed soldering, I really wanted to be appreciated. The only chance I have now is peer evaluation.

The Questions…

If you are in my situation

Do you message the whole group telling them that you are uncomfortable with the group decided peer evaluation?

Would you have just conformed to the crowd and go with the group decided peer evaluation?
OR
Would you have submitted an honest peer review that you have filled in to how you feel? There is no way that anyone in the team will find out.

By submitting an honest peer review is it very unethical and immoral?

If you are the professor and you realize that only 1 person out of the 8 has a peer evaluation would you mark him down?
On top of that would you even consider his ranking in the peer review since he was the only one which might reflect the fact that he might not be a team player?

Do you think that emailing the professor directly to tell the group to do the peer evaluation individually would be a good idea?

To Conclude…

I’m really in a dilemma right now. On one hand I value these friends I made and on the other it is my grades that are in concerned. I really don’t think I can accept it if I do not get rewarded for all the effort I put into this project. Am I overvaluing grades and downplaying friendship? Please give me your honest feedback and what you would do in my situation as it would influence my course of action.

Thanks in advance.

Reflection on Oral presentation

See Chai’s ES2007S lament

The project work of ES2007S is finally over for me after today’s oral presentation. On one hand I feel totally relieved as I can concentrate on assignments of other modules which have snowballed over the past few weeks. On the other hand I feel a little sad because it kind of marks the end of ES2007S. At the same time I will really miss the memorable moments shared with Iris and Geraldine during project meeting.

Alright let’s get on with the reflection on oral presentation. I remember after the peer teaching session, I was looking forward to presenting in front of the class again incorporating all the lessons that I have learnt then. Yet today I felt rather disappointed with my part of the oral.

Preparation aspect
Firstly I felt that we did not cater enough time to prepare for the presentation. Everyone in the team has a busy schedule and meeting was often conducted in the evening when everyone is already drained. On top of that, we only finalized the content at 3.30 am the night before. This meant that there was little time for rehearsal and also to get the content in my head. During rehearsals I would forget all the things I was meant to say. I must admit I did not have a good run before the actual presentation. I’m sure Iris and Geraldine was quite worried about that.

Content aspect
Another reason which I felt was disappointing was the amount of content I was presenting. If you ask me I would say that it was pathetic. The benefits that I came up with were not even something that needs heavy research in order to come up with. This brings me to my third point.
Have you ever had the feeling that you invested so much time and effort into something only to be disappointed later?
That was how I felt with the presentation. We have done so much and gained so much insight but none of them could be used in the presentation. Perhaps I failed terribly in bringing the team in focus during the research as the chair.

Delivery aspect
Delivery aspect went better than expected for me. Not respective to professional communication standards definitely. Respective to the rehearsal which I forgot almost everything I only forgot 25% of what I was supposed to say. Also, relative to the 1 minute elevator test which I was practically frozen solid in class, today presentation was only slightly better.
I was never known to be quiet or soft spoken to my peers. Am I? Iris and Geraldine will definitely disagree with me being soft-spoken. I wonder where my voice went when I was presenting. I couldn’t believe it when Brad mentioned that I was too soft.

Two saving graces for me today probably were that I tried very hard on the eye contact thing (I certainly hope some of my classmates caught that) and me not turning back to look at the slides (simply because there was nothing there!).

I admit I was never good at oral presentation. The reason for today’s poor presentation was probably due to the lack of self confidence, lack of practice, lack of passion on the things I was presenting and the previous incident where I froze in front of the whole class. I was totally uncomfortable with standing in front of a crowd. The only time I was at ease was during the Q&A session. However when I tried to add on to something Geraldine said the whole class burst into laughter I can’t help but wonder why?

I wished I had ended the project and ES2007S on a better note. I felt that I have learnt so much and yet when it is time for application I failed. I’m sorry if you had to read through this article. I wished I could find something more positive about my part of the presentation but I could find none.

The Purpose and the Problem statement

Problem statement
Nursing involve lots of interaction with patients and also other health care professions. Therefore it is vital for nurses to be able to communicate effectively. Miscommunication often arises in the hospital setting, thus reflecting a need to further look into the communication skills of nurses. Although miscommunication can never be totally avoided, improving the communication skills of nurses we hope to minimize such instances thus improving the overall standards of Singapore's health care industry.

Purpose Statement
The purpose of this proposal is to highlight key communication skills that are vital for a nurse to execute his/her daily duties. At the same time we aim to identify the communication skills that current nurses are lacking. By doing so we aim for further research to be conducted and eventually a change in the curriculum to equip future nursing graduate with the relevant communication skills. As such they will be able to excel in their workplace bringing professional health care to the patients.

Proposal Benefits Draft 1

To improve the health care standards in Singapore
Singapore has been striving for medical excellence and aims to be a regional, if not worldwide, medical hub. A professional service is expected and one aspect of that is effective communication. Thus by conducting this needs analysis we could identify key communication skills which are lacking in the current nursing industry. We could then modify the nursing curriculum to better equip nurses trained in NUS with the communication skills they need to excel in their workplace. This could have far reaching benefits in improving health care standards in Singapore which many patients will benefit from. Furthermore, raising the health care standards in Singapore would allow Singapore to compete with its regional competitors such as Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan thus bringing revenue to the country.

To improve communication between nurses and the patients and patients' relative
Effective communication between nurses and patients and their family members is important as it promotes understanding between health care givers and public. With such understanding, nurses will better understand the needs of their patients and thus better treatment can be administered. Better understanding also results in lesser conflict and complaints which is beneficial for the hospital both in reputation and in resources by avoiding litigation.

To improve communication skills between nurses and other health care givers
Effective communication between nurses and other health care givers results in smoother operations in the hospital. Nurses will be able to effectively communicate the patient's needs to the doctors thus assisting the doctor in making accurate diagnosis. Patients will benefit from this and receive prompt and accurate medical treatment. Good communication skills also reduces incidents of miscommunication thus minimizing conflict between fellow health care givers.

To enhance nurses trained in NUS and give them a more competitive edge
By understanding the communication needs of the nursing industry, NUS could better equip their graduate nurses with skills which may give them an edge in performing in the workplace. This would allow NUS graduate nurses excel in the workplace and advance smoothly in their career. By producing highly skilled nurses, the School of Nursing would also receive good reputation thus contributing to NUS's reach for global excellence. This is especially important for a new nursing school with a reputation to build. Hospitals also benefits as less training is required.

To enhance the image of NUS
By producing top quality nurses which are highly valued by the nursing industry, NUS will be a step closer of becoming a world class university. NUS will then be poised to meet the competition from local and foreign institutes. The nursing program will also become more prestigious and future nurses trained in NUS will be more employable which is beneficial for NUS nursing graduates.

Intercultural Conflict - To tip or not to tip

I’m sure many people are familiar with “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” But how many of us are willing to do so when it burns a hole in our pockets. If you are unsure what I’m talking about, I’m talking about the culture of tipping. There is hardly a tipping culture in Singapore and sometimes Singaporeans travelling abroad may find it difficult to accustom to such practices. Such intercultural ignorance may lead to unpleasant consequences which might ruin an otherwise pleasant holiday experience.

In Singapore we do not bother ourselves with tips because a service charge has been automatically included into our bills and we are fully used to it. All we have to do is pay the final amount reflected. However, in other countries this service charge may not be included in the bill and a tip is expected. In those cases it is up to individual discretion as to how much to tip.

How much is the right amount? It varies from place to place and from profession to profession. Therefore one should find out what is the minimum before heading out on a holiday. The amount to tip also depends on how you rate the service and what are you trying to convey to the service staff. An under tip might suggest that you think the service staff’s service was sub-standard.

So what if I do not leave a tip? I would be out of the restaurant before the waiter/waitress knows how much I tipped. You are half right. However some waiters might come after you and call you names which would be unpleasant. Others might form an impression that Singaporeans are cheapskates and do not know the rules and subsequent Singaporeans will be treated with poor service. So if you happen to get bad service overseas, it might be due to Singaporeans who have visited before you. With our country’s name at stake such issues should not be taken lightly.
To tip or not to tip has always been a hotly debated topic. Some reason that some occupations are so under paid that they depended on the tip to make a decent wage. Others feel that the workers wage should be the employer’s responsibility. Whichever side you stand on the decision is entirely up to you.

- Here is a little something I would like to share with all of you
Whenever you sign a credit card do take note at where you sign there is actually a column which says tips and is deliberately left blank. It is for customers to fill in the amount of tips to pay. However in most of Singapore’s context we tend to just sign and continue to leave it blank. There have been incidents where service staff actually fills that in after you signed and in the end that amount was paid. To prevent such incidents from happening remember to cross out the tips part and rewrite the total you want to pay at the final line again.

Application Letter Draft 2

Application for Internship

I am writing to enquire whether there are any internship opportunities in DesignworksUSA Singapore studio. I am currently a year three Mechanical Engineering student with a specialisation in Automotive Engineering.

From the resume attached you will see that I have held key leadership roles from secondary school all the way to my national service days. I have a good sense of responsibility and have been proven worthy of tasks assigned to me thus far. Another key trait I possess is being sociable and positive. Therefore, not only do I enjoy working as a team, I bring about a positive working experience to my colleagues.

I am currently working on a project of designing a Velomobile (electronic assisted personal transport system). I am in the team responsible for the mechanical drive as well as electrical systems of the Velomobile. I have developed the skills of design and research and also acquired considerable knowledge in this field through the project. At the same time I have also gained hands on experiences of putting the electrical systems together and learnt to work within constraints.

My passion for automobiles have made me chose Automotive Engineering as my specialisation in university. In my past time I would also read articles and watch programmes which are related to cars. The complexities of a modern day automobile never fail to fascinate me.

I would be able to start my internship from the 10th of May until the end of July. I am willing to take up any internship opportunity as it would broaden my horizons in this field.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Application Letter Draft 1

xxx Toa Payoh Lorong x
#xx-xxx
Singapore 310217

3rd February 2010
Mr Magnus Aspegren
Director
DesignworksUSA, Singapore Studio
1 HarbourFront Avenue
#xxx-xx/07
Keppel Bay Tower
Singapore 098632

Dear Mr Aspegren,

Application for Internship

I am writing to enquire whether there are any internship opportunities in DesignworksUSA Singapore studio. I am currently a year three Mechanical Engineering student with a specialisation in Automotive Engineering.

From the resume attached you will see that I have held key leadership roles from secondary school all the way to my national service days. I have a good sense of responsibility and have been proven worthy of tasks assigned to me thus far. Another key trait I possess is being sociable and positive. Therefore, not only do I enjoy working as a team, I bring about a positive working experience with my colleagues.

I am currently working on a project designing a Velomobile (electronic assisted personal transport system). I am in the team which is responsible for the mechanical drive as well as electrical systems of the Velomobile. I have developed the skills of design and research and also gain considerable knowledge in this field through the project. At the same time I have also gained hands on experiences of putting the electrical systems together and learnt to work within constrains.

My passion for automobiles have made me chose Automotive Engineering as my specialisation in university. In my past time I would also read articles and watch programmes which relates to cars. The complexities of a modern day automobile never fail to fascinate me.

I would be able to start my internship from the 10th of May until the end of July. I am willing to take up any internship opportunity as it would broaden my horizons in this field.


Yours Sincerely,


Cheung See Chai

A little for you shopaholics

With Chinese New Year round the corner and the gimmick of having to change new clothes My friends and I have decided to go shopping. Since they were mostly girls majority of our shopping centred around girls clothes.

Shopping at this point of the year is such a pain... It seems like this is the only opportunity for people to buy clothes. I hate shopping in a crowded place and worst of all the queue to the fitting room was so long. Another problem is that the size tend to run out really quickly so even after you survive the fitting room you might have to leave disappointed.

For all of you who want a better experience I share with you the quiet tanquil of Orchard Central. It has quite alot of boutiques that are unique. There is no need to fight and queue for the fitting room and you won't see many people choosing the same outfit as you. We went into a shop named SKYE level 3 orchard central and her dress there is beautiful. The only problem was the dresses there were a little pricey.(average about $150 a dress)However good use of charisma and effective communication skills should do the job if you know what i mean. The designs there are fantastic and we spent a long time in the shop. The lady boss there is a very nice woman with a rather glib tongue. In the end she even gave us free earings and both my friend and her were very happy closing the deal.

I'm sure everyone has certain tips and skills when it comes to bargaining. Perhaps all you shopaholics can use the comment box to exchange tips for one another regarding bargaining. Its definitely a valuable skill

Ok Happy shopping everyone.

Happy Chinese New Year

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict: Your Friends are not My friends

Scenario:
A is a boy and B is a girl. A is in a relationship with B for more than a year now. Both of them graduated from secondary school together but A went to Junior College while B went to polytechnic. A has an outgoing character and made many male friends since he went into a science stream and majority in the class are males. B on the other hand is a little shy and made few friends in polytechnic. Since she went into engineering her class was filled with guys too and her few friends were all male.

When Valentine’s Day came two of B’s friends confessed that they held a torch for her and even bought expensive gifts for her. What should B do to turn them both down and yet maintain friendship between all of them keeping in mind that they are her only few friends in school?

B being really honest with A told him about the whole event. This made A jealous and he immediately placed her friends out of his circle of trust. However A did not tell B to leave all her friends because he understands the importance of having friends in school. A is really uncomfortable with the fact that B’s friends have such motive and B spends more time with them then himself. Such jealousy and suspicion has cause lots of conflict between the couple.

Here is an example of a quarrel between them. A and B had a date but A’s school ends an hour later than B. However B was late for the date because she accompanied her friends to lunch but she did not eat. She truthfully told A about it. During the date B did not eat much and A immediately suspected B of eating before she arrived.
What would you do if you were A in both the mini example and also to solve this whole conflict between you and B’s friends?

Singlish and Malinglish

Dear all

I've just been wondering about what was mentioned in class yesterday. Brad made a comment about Singlish being a mixture of chinese and all its dialect into english while malinglish had malay mixed into english.

Have anyone heard of Tamil or other India's language mixed into english?

My primary and secondary school english teacher were both Indian so perhaps that gave me an impression that Indian generally speak less Singlish and more English.
I must apologise for the sweeping statement, but personally that's how i feel.

I know people are easily offended by sweeping statements but that is definitely not my intent here. Feel free to comment.

Effective Communication

This post is written because I realised from the schedule that my previous post wasn’t totally relevant. And so here I am again. Hopefully this will complement the previous post to make bring it into focus.

Isn’t communication just about getting the message across? Or so I thought. After two lessons of ES2007S I realise it’s not so simple. Communication is not just about interaction between people that we come into contact with but also about getting information from all around us. With the advancement of technology, the competition within the human race becomes ever more intense. If we cannot communicate
effectively, our voice will be drowned out and lose out in the global playing field.

So what is effective communication? I personally feel that an act of communication is considered effective if both parties have exchanged information or expression on the same level of understanding and the desired effects of the act has been achieved on both sides. This is often easier said than done. However mastering the art of communication is a continuous process which starts from the day we were born till the day we die. (Just think of the day you started saying your first words and now and what you will be after completing this course.)

Effective communication is important to me firstly because in order to survive in this harsh economic environment we need to communicate effectively. I’m really looking forward to learning the skills of communicating professionally as I’ll be stepping into the working world really soon. Secondly, being a people person, effective communication helps me in building relationships and maintaining the friendship that is forged previously. Thirdly, I love putting a smile on people’s face and only by being able to communicate effectively can I do so.

I’m glad I’ve taken up this module in my quest on mastering the art of communication. And I am certainly fortunate to have all of you on this similar quest.

“It doesn’t matter how slowly you go-so long as you do not stop.”-Confucius

Something that shouts "ME"

Hi all
I realised that I made a post without first introducing myself.
I’m a 3rd year Mechanical Engineer student specialising in Automotive Engineering. I realise I’m the only engineer in the class so hopefully I carry the name of my faculty well. Hope I do not come across as an “engiNERD”. I’m actually quite the opposite really.
A bit about myself I used to be really active in sports doing gymnastics in secondary school and JC followed by canoe polo in year 1 of NUS. But as you can probably see I’ve not been exercising for a while and I don’t look like one. I use to enjoy soccer as well when younger and in the army. Now I enjoy more indoor and quieter activities.
I’m someone who loves the company of friends. My mum is often annoyed that I spend so much of my time out with my friends. When I’m out with my friends we do what typical Singaporeans love doing; shopping and eating. I enjoy shopping with my rich friends because it is really an eye opener for me (or you will never know where the rich people spend their money on). Also, we would drive around the island just to satisfy our cravings. We will also hang out at nice places just to chat away over tea and cake. Another bunch of my friends enjoy singing and we will go into a KTV to sing our lungs out. I also enjoy a quiet game of poker (texas hold’em) and mah-jong.
There will be times where I just want to be home and alone too. That is when I’ll park myself for hours in front of my computer either on computer games or on YouTube. I’m not really into Facebook so I’m not very prompt there. There is one particular show that I religiously watch and that is “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”(on CBS every week night) on YouTube. He is a stand up comedian and I love watching him. Hopefully one day I can be as confident in my speech that I can stand in front of a crowd and put smiles on their faces. If there is one thing I would recommend to my friends here in ES2007S is Craig Ferguson. Even amidst the entertainment of watching his monologue, we can still pick up lots of communication skills from him.
Alright I think I’ve bored you enough already. And in case you were looking for “leopard PREENS” and “ZEEPBRA” in this post then there you go... ( the bad English is embedded within the post for you to spot)
Cheers
P.S. If you share some common interest we can gladly have a heated discussion in the comments column.

L'art de la communication professionnelle

Bonjour Group 2 of ES2007S !

First time ever blogging and I must say I'm kind of excited. Can't wait to try out so here I am. :) Lets try to post something.

...

Hmm seems like I have no material to post. Ok maybe lets recap what I learnt in class today...

Well today I learnt that communication is both an art and a science. We can build basic models to understand what communication is. It is also an art because we cannot properly quantify it and there are infinite number of ways one can choose to "get the message across" Some individuals do it well others don't. Well my take on this is that we need to understand a basic framework (which is the science) of communication and then build on it according to your individual experience, your audience and also the context to effectively communicate your thoughts and idea(which is the art).

I believe that a basic requirement to communicate effectively is mastery of the chosen language between you and your audience. I've constantly faced such problems in the past(and I still do sometimes) because of my poor command of english. I think this can be related to the encoding and the decoding part of communication. Its like having an outdated coding and decoding machine.

After being in school for more than a decade, I would not say I've communicated professionally. But even on a personal level when it comes to understanding a joke. It is quite frustrating to have your other group of friends bursting into laughter while you pause to ponder where the punchline is. So the importance of communication cannot be stressed enough.

Another point which I figured is that I'm not very good at names. I'm sorry Iris that your name slipped my mind even after you just introduced yourself. But now I'll not forget anymore. Looking forward to peer teach with you :) I figured that there is a way to remember someone and that is by attaching something to the person which i see brad actively doing. Like Shih Yun from Taiwan and Lin Hui the wakeboarder pardon the spelling errors if any. I also figured that its harder to interact with someone new when you know absolutely nothing about the individual. You do not know what interests him/her or will he/she get offended by the things you say. So i guess by knowing your audience you can better interact and effectively convey your message be it professional or person. If you know your enemy and yourself you need not fear the result of hundred battles - Sun Tzu

On closing and maybe something that everyone can think about...

If there are so many variables to consider in a conversation how can we cope when its face to face? How do you process all the variables and react instantly? This will be especially true when it comes to an interview with your prospective employer no? I guess we will be enlightened along the way.

Cheers !