No Regrets!

Dear Brad & fellow classmates,

I breathe a sigh of sadness relief as I pen this final blog post. Because this would mean that I no longer need to update this blog. No more having to meet the Sunday dateline. No more pressure to make comments (after this Wednesday that is).

But in spite of all these, I dare say that I never regretted setting up a blog. I would even go a step further to say that I never regretted taking this module. Because ES2007S has been instrumental in developing me into a more effective communicator.

How so? I noticed 3 elements in the structure of the course which made this possible:
1.Theoretical
2.Practical
3.Evaluation

I enjoyed the process of learning about a particular communication skill before applying it. The vast resources given on the course webpage as well as the peer teaching proved to be immensely helpful in laying the foundation for learning.

To be effective, the theoretical has to be translated to the practical. And there were ample opportunities for practice. For example, the recent oral presentation was an excellent chance to practise the “Steve Jobs” approach. Despite being apprehensive initially, I found that the minimalistic approach to slideware empowered me as a speaker to better engage the audience.

Finally, I am most thankful for the honest but tactful evaluation from Brad as well as my classmates. Being highly sensitive to criticisms, there were times where I found it particularly difficult to receive or give constructive criticisms objectively.

However, I soon realized the value of constructive criticisms as footholds for personal growth. Mountain climbers use footholds as leverage for advancing up the summit. Likewise, by actively listening to these criticisms, I was able to improve and further develop my communication skills to their full potential.

I must admit that it was daunting to have so many skilled communicators in our class. It was only after getting to know them that I realized that it took much training and perseverance to become effective communicators. This has encouraged me personally. I now consider it my fortune to be able to tap into the wealth of insights from my classmates who are experienced speakers.

To conclude, I have learnt so much about communication skills from Brad and my peers. The only limitation was the constraint of time. ES2007S was like an introductory course which has a broad coverage but barely scratched the surface. I felt that there was still so much more to learn in terms of the depth of each aspect of communication skills. Nevertheless, ES2007S was a robust package of communication skills. No regrets, I say!

Cheers,
Zhisheng

p.s. Thank you Brad & my ES2007S classmates for making this module a memorable and wonderful experience!