BlOG # 6 WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES AT ES2007S

Parting is such a sweet sorrow. Yes we should smile because we have met, learned and gained experiences.

Thanks to my classmates and Ms Fazilah for all the teaching and guidance. I really enjoyed myself and have learned how to improve my communication competence. I have learned how to listen actively and at the same now look out for non-verbal cues that might are useful feedback to the communicator. Come to think about it, these are little details that I often take little notice on and I am glad that through this course, I am able to incorporate these insights into my everyday life. Most importantly, I have learned the techniques on how to engage the audience and that will be useful for my final year project. Also, I think the crucial skills I have learnt were to write the good application letter and resumes and how to perform and anticipate for mock interviews. Through this course, I believe I am adept in these essential skills required for job hunt. However, I feel that the skills acquired in class are only bare foundation to communication. As such, constant practising and incorporation of skills (e.g. application of 7Cs) to everyday communication will help to improve one’s communication competence. In addition, one needs to reflect on the skills learnt and I feel blogging has been a useful platform for me to express my thoughts and feelings.

Of course, learning cannot take place without a great participation from the class. I feel that our class were very active during lesson and were not hesitant to share their experiences and ideas. Thus, I feel active engagement in class promotes a very comfortable atmosphere for learning and sharing. With that, I was more willing to share and talk more during class. I am pleased to have taken up this course which has better enriched me on what it takes to have a good and effective communication with others.

Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I'll miss you
Until we meet again! 

BLOG # 5 REFECTION ON MY ORAL PRESENTATION

"The art of pleasing consists in being pleased."

Hazlitt, William 

The journey in preparing for the presentation had been an enjoyable one. I must say my team was very clear about our project and the goals we aim to achieve during the presentation. This boosts our confidence so that we can effectively persuade others with the ideas that we believe in.

Looking at individual’s performance, I was fairly nervous about it, but I do have to say I felt that it went surprisingly better than expected.  I have noted some improvement from my previous peer teaching and is probably attributed to reflections on the mistakes made during the previous encounter. I believe I spoke more confidently in front of the crowd because I was much prepared than before. To do this, I make sure I practice my speech by rehearsing in front of the mirror so that I am familiarised with my slides. Practicing with the rest of the group members also helps to reduce the tendency of me rushing through my presentations and to establish consistency and promote coordination in the group.  With all the preparation effort, I was certain that I paced my speech well during the oral presentation. In addition, rehearsing in front of the mirror allows me to examine the non-verbal cues for example facial expressions, gesture and posture that I might portray unconsciously. I believe such non-verbal cues help to enhance the delivery of ideas for effective persuasion and I felt that I managed to keep them in check by analyzing the feedback from my audience during the presentation.

My team was quite prepared and remained calm throughout the question and answer section. I feel that this preparedness was possible because all of us were forced to be critical of the slides we have created. During the final collaboration, my team got together and scrutinised the slides from another perspective to come out with a list of possible questions.

Having mentioned the good points, I do have some negative points that I have gathered. For instance, I realised that I may skip the slides because of the time constraint. I think such abrupt distraction reflects a lack of professional communication. Thus, it is important to put necessary things in the slides that you intend to present so as to increase one’s conciseness and help to keep the presentation within the time limit. Of course, it is equally important to focus on the main point in each slide and briefly summarise after each slide so that the audience can better assimilate the details.

BLOG # 4 CULTURE SHOCK!

We have some insights on the importance of intercultural communication in the various contexts during class. So I am here to blog on some intercultural experiences I have gone through.

I used to work in an "authentic" Japanese restaurant and it was a real culture shock to me. I meant authentic because this particular Japanese restaurant (Santouka) is owned by the Japanese people and they have came all the way down to search for manpower for their first outlet in South East Asia. Nevertheless, the experience in Santouka was an unforgettable one.

Having worked various restaurants, I was impressed and sometimes found it awkward while working with the Japanese. There are times I was asked to do what the Japanese usually do back home. For example, the workers have to come half an hour earlier before work starts to begin greeting cheer as a form of encouragement. The Japanese also have a habit of slurping loudly during their consumption of food. Sometimes I found the habits redundant and could not understand the importance of practicing such routines in the local context.

However, I was pretty impressed by the Japanese's relentless attitude to maintain good food hygiene practices. The Japanese believe serving fresh food is the way to keep the restaurant running. To achieve the ideal temperature of the food, they actually monitor the temperature to maintain the standard they have set in Japan. So for example, if a bowl of soup was left for quite some time and the server was late to retrieve it, they would replace another bowl of soup instead. This was in contrast to many typical profit-driven companies found in Singapore where food wastage should be kept minimised.

Intercultural communication involves adjustment to other habits and culture. This is because people from different cultures use different signals to signify quite different things. So perhaps the Japanese feel that by coming early for greeting cheer is a form of motivation for workers but the locals may perceive as a waste of time and loss of payment which did not serve any motivation at all. Thus it is important to recognise that each culture has its own rules and customs to better improve intercultural communication.

BLOG #3 PEER REVIEW OF MY APPLICATION LETTER

Hi all, I have put up my application letter as well as the advertisement. In my case, I am writing an application for internship programme at A*STAR. I appreciate your time in reviewing my application letter and welcome any critique from you. Thanks.

Corporate Internship Programme

Each year, A*STAR offers internship opportunities to select group of young undergraduates.  During the two-month internship program, you will work closely with a mentor on a project related to the development of Singapore's R&D landscape.

Examples of projects undertaken during the internship include organisation of symposiums and coordination of R&D surveys. Please note that this two-month internship programme is not a lab-based attachment.

At the end of the internship, you will be required to submit a project report and/or make a presentation to a management panel. We welcome internship applicants who meet the following criteria:

·         Undergraduates preferably pursuing a science or engineering degree

·         Strong academic track record

·         Self-motivated team player with good communication and leadership skills

·         Able to multi-task in a fast-paced work environment

·         Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident

Interns should be available for a continuous period of two months between June and August. You will receive a monthly allowance and participate in a professional development workshop during the internship stint.

If you are keen to be part of our dynamic organisation and the vibrant community at Biopolis, please complete the attached application form and send it to: a-star_recruit@a-star.edu.sg. Please indicate "Corporate Internship Programme" in the subject header of the email.

Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR)
1 Fusionopolis Way,
#20-10 Connexis,
Singapore 138632
Att: HR Department (Corporate Internship Programme)

·         Download Application Form

Application letter


Ng Ting Ting

Blk 219 Serangoon Ave 4

#10-218 Singapore 550219

ngting2@gmail.com

97307141

February 8, 2011

HR Department (Corporate Internship Programme)

Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR)
1 Fusionopolis Way
#20-10 Connexis
Singapore 138632

Dear Sir/Madam

Application for internship opportunities at A*STAR

I have learnt about your internship opportunities at the NUS Career Fair 2011 and am excited to join this coming vocational period, from May to August. I am currently a third year Life Sciences student at NUS and am intending to proceed to honours specialising in biomedical science. I am seeking internship opportunities to further enhance my knowledge learnt in school as well as to gain valuable scientific insights which will be useful for my final year project during my honours year.

Having researched that A*STAR has dedicated laboratories like P53 laboratory which investigates various signalling pathway in cancer, I am motivated to sign up as I believe I have the necessary credentials for the research work. As a Life Sciences undergraduate student, I have undergone various lab sessions at NUS which has helped me develop foundations in the laboratory work. Thus, I am well-equipped with practical skills like microbial and molecular techniques which will help me to perform my research during the course of internships.  Intrigued by the various Life Sciences modules during the year of specialisation, I have developed great interest in Pharmacology and have done well in these modules. Through a strong participation in my Co-Curriculum Activity (CCA), I have displayed good communication skills and a team player in the course of discharging my leadership duties.

I am highly aware of the superb reputation of your research company, and my conversations with several of your colleagues have indeed deepened my interest in attending. I know that, in addition to your well established faculty, the presence of many renowned researchers would certainly encourage a critical learning experience for me. It will be a privilege of continuing my interest at your fine institution. I can be contacted at above contacts and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Yours Faithfully

Ng Ting Ting

Enclosure: Resume and supporting academic documents

BLOG #2 UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND RESOLVING IT!

The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.”

-Joseph Joubert

Hello mates once again! Hope the above quote gives you some insight on what I’m going to blog today.

Most people feel that having conflict means the relationship is in jeopardy. However, conflict itself doesn’t necessarily damage a relationship.  It is more about how the conflict is being managed and resolved that will allow relationship to grow.

In any situation, there will be some form of inequality in communication, specifically superiority.

For example, mother and daughter who each want to have the final say in the daughter’s lifestyle. A seventeen year old daughter works at a pub as a part-time waitress and comes home late every night. Thinking that her daughter might have gone astray, the mother aggressively interrogated the daughter when she returned home. The daughter thinks her mother is being very cold towards her.

Very clearly, the parties have failed to recognize the content and relationship issues in an interpersonal communication. 

• The content in this conflict is the issue with coming home late at night.
• The daughter did not inform her mother of her new job and failed to let her know what time she will be back home and thus failed to acknowledge the relationship dimension. 

Therefore, the solution is to define both content and relationship issues. Define the content issue by compromising the time to come home as well as the underlying relationship issue to let each other know of their situations. Avoid mind-reading. Ask directly and politely. Empathize. Use a win-win approach as people are more likely to abide by the decisions reached in a win-win outcome than they are in win-lose resolutions.

Having said that, can we ever achieve a win- win approach in reality? 

BLOG # 1 WHY EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION MATTERS

Thanks for reading my first post for this module! =]

Before we can begin to learn how to communicate better, we need to first understand why communication is important in our lives. To me, communication is TO UNDERSTAND and TO BE UNDERSTOOD. This may sound common sense to most of us but little do we know of the actions/behaviours we actually have while communicating. (CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW!)

People engage in communication for a variety of reasons that is to learn, to relate, to influence and even to help in different contexts. Take me for an example; I will need to relate and influence my colleagues at work in the near future to build good rapport in order to work as a team. It is thus important for professional success and advancement. In addition, communicating with others allow me to learn more about myself. By talking to others, I gain valuable feedbacks on my feelings and thoughts which increase my self-awareness and thus expanding my blind spots as shown in the Johari’s window, which is crucial for development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships.

So while communication is important, it can be improved as well! Yes it is common sense to us but how willing are we to improve on our communications? I remembered asking some of my friends to take this module together. The responses I got were: “Communication has to be learnt from experiences and cannot be learnt through theoretical courses” and “ I can’t talk in front of the class and most of the assessment comes from oral presentation”. So they refuse to take this module. Apparently, I have failed to influence them enough and so I have to sign up for this module. Anyway, I feel that the communication skills such active listening is a skill which I hope I can improve on. Sometimes I find myself not applying active listening to certain situations I should have and as a result causing a strain to my relationship with others. Also, learning how to take note of verbal and non-verbal cues can help improve my communication competence.

In conclusion, effective communication does matter!

Enjoy the video!!

Take time.

TAKE TIME

Take time to think – It is the source of all power

Take time to read – It is the foundation of all wisdom

Take time to play-It is the source of perpetual youth

Take time to be quiet-It is the opportunity to seek God

Take time to be aware-It is the opportunity to help others

Take time to love and be loved-It is God’s greatest gift

Take time to laugh-It is the music of the soul

Take time to be friendly-It is the road to happiness

Take time to dream-It is what the future is made of

Take time to pray-It is the greatest power on earth

Take time to give-It is too short a day to be selfish

Take time to work-It is the price of success