At the beginning of this module, I aimed to improve my public speaking abilities after receiving feedback before entering into SIT that I talk too quickly when I am frightened and I aimed to also enhance my technical writing abilities.
I've learned, forgotten, and re-learned a few things throughout the module, but I'm still improving on my oral presentation skills, critical thinking, and the importance of teamwork. As such, I learned to use a tone that was confident, persuasive, and targeted. I learnt to reduce the use of filler words like "like". Too much repetition can frustrate your audience and disrupt the flow of your presentation. I relearned how to use rhetorical questions in my presentations to connect with my audience. I found that if I spoke too long, the audience would lose sight of me. Professor Brad pointed out that I used the wrong terminology such as “dive into” when handing over the next speaker of my group, Lokes. This needs to be improved so that the presentation smoothly transitions to the next speaker.
The Paul Elder Framework allowed me to objectively analyse arguments and concepts by using unbiased information and eliminating distractions that cloud your judgment. Part of this framework specifies expertise, understanding, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Knowledge is defined as the ability to understand important facts. Understanding a topic or topic question means being able to understand what the topic is. The ability to analyse and relate information is the ability to apply thought processes.
The 7 C's of communication also helped me work on group projects. It helped make sure the team was on the right track. Learning how to cite APA style took time, but was very important to avoid problems. The reports are very specific about what the elements do, but you should learn to abuse overly general remarks.
Through this process, I learned to be more open-minded. When I listened to your team instead of arguing for myself, I get a lot of new ideas. To progress through this module, I needed to be open to criticism and ideas not only from my teammates but from those with more expertise. Constructive feedback helps improve your writing and presentation skills.
When writing a technical report to test my writing skills, I needed to ensure that the citations and information I produced were valid, reliable, and actionable; ensuring the points or information were linked. I like the balance of group work. For example, one person may have extensive knowledge and ideas on a particular topic, while another person may have excellent writing skills without grammatical errors. Writing technical reports is key to building a great team.
I also learned in this module how to give a presentation with confidence, how to understand what you are going to say and how to always think before you speak. In the future, I would like to further improve my presentation and writing skills. As I gain more experience and take on the task, I can continue to improve my writing and also critical thinking skills such as research, planning and outlining, editing, revision, and structure.
Overall, I found this module very engaging and helpful. I feel that my communication in class has improved and I know how to write a technical report properly. This module has allowed me to improve in many aspects, giving me a general idea of where I stand and how much I need to improve. I hope that the skills I gained from this module will assist me with my future endeavours.
