#6 - oral presentation reflection

First of all, I would like to say I'm really glad to have worked with my team mates and a pat on the back for all of us! It's overrr!!

I think that our hard work has definitely paid off! After countless rounds of practise and feedbacks from each other, we have all improved so much from our first rehearsal.

I felt much more confident presenting today as compared to the peer teaching session. Maybe this is due to the fact that I was a lot more prepared and the lessons we had beforehand definitely helped me. The feedback session after the peer teaching session has also given me valuable tips which enabled me to improve.

I felt I was more enthusiastic this time round. Benefits of sharing a personal story I believe! This is a tip I will definitely remember in times to come. I also made an effort to maintain good eye contact with the audience, brushed up my gesturing skills, introduced appropriate pauses and kept my smile. I think our team made a good decision to click the powerpoint slides for each other because then we could focus more on the audience instead of worrying whether the correct slide was on display.

On the other hand, I think I should have slowed down my speed. Because during the practise rounds, I kept exceeding 5 minutes so I naturally sped up. I should also have used more visual aids because I think that would make my presentation more memorable. Lastly, during the Q&A session, I should have maintained eye contact with the rest of the audience, instead of just focusing on the person who asked the question.

To end this post, I would like to thank the friendly faces in the audience, your smiles have definitely given me extra confidence! :)

#5 - Здравствуйте! Buon giorno! 안녕하세요!

Some time ago, I went on a trip to China and I thought that since we were of the same race, I should not face any difficulties fitting in. However, I soon realized that a difference in culture does exist even though we were all of Chinese descent.

When we are trying to get the waitress's attention in Singapore, we normally call out ‘小姐’ (xiao jie) which means 'Miss' and is considered pretty polite. And might even receive a smile if the lady serving you is much older than the age group the term is supposed to be used for.

However, when I tried to attract the attention of a waitress in China by calling out ‘小姐’, I received hostile stares. Little did I know that this term is actually used to address prostitutes in China! No wonder I did not get my cup of water in the end, I guess I should be thankful I did not have some thrown towards me. The correct term to address a waiter or waitress in China is ‘服务员’ (fu wu yuan).

Through this little episode, I came to realize that to assume something really does make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'. Well, in this case, more of me. I think that in order to communication effectively, one should try to read up and understand the culture of the country you are traveling to or the people you will be communicating with. They would definitely appreciative of your effort! And let's not forget the importance of non-verbal communication. I think the cartoon below brings across the very fundamental point that your actions might mean one thing in your country and something totally different in another.