Have
you ever encountered times although you have done so much preparation and
practiced so many times with your well written script, at the very moment of
presentation you started to panic and stammered all the way through and messed
up your whole project? Well, I HAVE.
And it happens to me all the time. I get very nervous whenever I do
presentations and seem to have developed
a phobia about making speeches or talking more professionally. If anyone of you
still remembers, this actually happened on my very second ES2007S lesson. I
blanked-out in the middle of my explanation and stumbled badly even after
rehearsing with Venna!
Clarity and coherence are my biggest
flaws. Most of the time, nervousness has caused me to speak at such a fast pace that whatever comes out of my mouth causes
confusion and misunderstandings with my listeners. Thus, hopefully through the mock interviews
and oral presentations, I am able to build more confidence in myself and leave
good impressions to people after communicating with them.
Another reason why effective
communication is important to me is the art of Non-verbal Communication.
Whenever we are communicating with people, our body posture, eye contact with
them and gestures can convey a lot to our listeners. Paraphrasing from the
article, HelpGuide.org on “Nonverbal Communication”, our non-verbal language
often contradicts with what we are trying to say. And when such confusion
arises, the listener may often choose to believe in your body language. I would
certainly not want the other party to see me as someone who is distrustful or
look uncomfortable with them, and hence jeopardise our relationship. Thus, I believe
that by refining my sensitivity towards the understanding of non-verbal
language, I will be able to communicate my intended messages more successfully
and understand others better.
Of course, effective communication
includes the skill of active listening and forming constructive criticism where
I am able to bring out points while being courteous and tactful. And to me, Effective
communication determines how you portray yourself, how people perceive you and
ultimately the kind of relationships established, be it those you are intimate
with, or those in the business community, or even acquaintances. No matter how smart one person may be, how great an
idea you may have, the inability to communicate effectively for people to
understand would undermine all efforts. While I find myself a decent
communicator when it comes to casual talk, I cannot confidently say that I am
anywhere near being a professional one. Hopefully I will change for the better
through this module!
