Ending the Semester with ES2007S

Presentations. The one word that never failed to strike anxiety, fear and stress in me for as long as I can remember. Being a quiet and introverted person, speaking to few people, especially strangers and new people, was stressful enough at times, let alone presenting to an audience, with so many pairs of eyes staring intently at you, scrutinising your every move.

This was before I entered NUS. Since then, I attempted being more initiative in speaking to other people and that has made me more outgoing in informal settings. But when it comes to formal presentations, the word "sian", which means "oh, not again" in Singlish, never fails to pop up in my head and the whole cycle of fear and anxiety repeats itself. However, things were to change for the better after taking the module ES2007S Professional Communication, and I am glad to say my fear of presentation and speaking in front of an audience had diminished. 

Prior to taking this module, presentations were akin to an impending doom to me, as I always thought that I sounded and looked out of place in front of an audience and was always afraid I cannot be heard. I avoided speaking up and presenting as far as possible, whether in class or during workshops, something which I kind of regret now as looking back to my past, I had had several good opportunities to speak, yet I chose to give them a miss.  Also, presentations to me were simply information sessions where you just had to say what you prepared loud and clear, and voila! Your job is done. But ES2007S has changed my whole perception of a presentation. I realised that there is so much more to it than delivering information. It is really a lot about effective communication, from the non-verbals to engaging your audience and talking to them. In fact, presentations are modified forms of conversations, just that your audience size is now bigger.

Contrary to my previous self, I am now less afraid of presentations and even anticipate more opportunities to present, even though I may be uncertain of how I would do. It is almost like I had been injected with an extra boost of confidence and daringness to try out different styles of presenting, and not worry too much about how I will fare, since after all university is the best time to try new things, make mistakes and learn from them before we enter the real world out there. Just keep calm and give it a go.

I had a total of 4 presentations this semester, and I am happy to say that I have improved from the first presentation I did for an engineering module (which I felt was really bad) to the last presentation for the ES2007S proposal project. Overtime, as I learnt more about communication and presentation skills, I became more confident with each presentation I did, and felt more comfortable and aware whenever I presented. I could still remember what happened during my last presentation for the semester, which was for my ES2007S proposal group's oral presentation. Before it was my turn, I kept telling myself “Take charge. I want to tell the audience what I have prepared.” and kept chanting this “mantra” to myself until it was my turn to present. And it turned out to be rather effective in calming me down and making myself more focused on the task at hand. It was one of the rare times when I felt more awake during a presentation and was actually aware of what I was saying to the audience. I also realized that this was probably because I did not rely heavily on my script and had just enough practice to familiarise myself with the points to cover, hence the words came out naturally just like how I would normally speak to someone.  

Apart from the valuable practical and technical knowledge I have picked up from ES2007S, the people who went through this journey with me also made it more memorable. I got to meet many wonderful people, each with their own unique personalities and strengths which I could learn from. I am also really grateful to be taught by Dr Radhika, a very approachable and knowledgeable professor whose lessons were easy to understand. I have indeed learnt a lot from her. 

I remember on the first day of school this semester, one of my engineering professors told the class “Environmental engineers (in fact I think this applies to every profession) must be good story tellers, if not you can’t convince people of your design or justify it well.” (Something along these lines) Thinking back, I am really glad I chose to take ES2007S. Knowing the quiet and introverted person I am, I knew that I needed this course and that it will help me step out of my comfort zone and overcome my fear of presentations and public speaking. Indeed, after 12 weeks into it, I am heartened to say that I am now more confident than before and my expectations of the module had materialised. I believe that all the skills and tips I picked up here will definitely come in useful in the future, especially when I start work, since in the working world out there, being able to speak well is a valuable and highly sought after skill. The 12 weeks of hard work had indeed been worth it. Congratulations to all my course mates who made it through!

Just a little quote to end of my final blog post for this module:

      “The only person you should try to be better than...

                                      ...is the person you were yesterday.”

Here wishing everyone all the best in their future endeavours and in everything you do! :D