It feels like it was yesterday when I wrote my first post on “why developing effective communication skills is important for me?” Time really passes very quickly and it has come to the end of this semester.
After this course, I came to realise that effective communication is not just the verbal way of interacting with others, non-verbal cues such as hand gestures and facial expressions are equally important. Effective communication is still the key to maintaining a good relationship with future colleagues, peers and even family members, as it helps to leave a good impression on people and prevent misunderstandings from taking place.
The group research project undertaken for the module allowed for generation and clear organisation of ideas. By having to work in a group, it provided the interaction opportunities and developed our delivery and interpersonal skills through having to deliver messages and convince the group mates of the ideas.
The small class setting provided many chances for interaction between classmates. This allowed for exposure for working with different people and thus allows us to get used to working with different people which is highly essential in the future working life.
I believe the communication skills that I have developed from this course will be highly useful upon my graduation, such as writing a good resume and application letter for a job. This will give me an edge over others especially in the current competitive society.
Last but not least, I feel great knowing all of you and I really had great fun interacting with every single one of you, despite the stress that we got from having to meet the deadlines of the assignments and project. I do hope we can keep in touch and meet once in a while in the Science Canteen for a meal, or even at Macdonald’s for the convenience of the Engineers. =) Special thanks to Ms Happy for your guidance throughout this entire course.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Biodata
Wang Xiujun is a second year Chemistry student from the Faculty of Science in the National University of Singapore. Having great passion in Chemistry, her life long goal is to contribute to the development of the Chemistry Industry and to be able to apply her knowledge of Chemistry for future developments in the Organic Chemistry fields to improve the lives of others.
Xiujun is a studious individual who displays an interest in learning and seeking excellence. She always does her work meticulously, paying great attention to detail, aiming to produce work of high quality. She sets clear goals for herself and shows determination in achieving them. She believes in perseverance and determination, as these traits will be beneficial to her life in achieving her goals.
Throughout the years of Xiujun’s education, she has developed her potential as a leader through various leadership opportunities. She was the welfare administrator of her Chinese Orchestra group in secondary school and also led as a leader during a camp organised by the Children’s Society for the under-privileged children.
Apart from the academics, Xiujun has a great interest in music. She was a member of the Chinese Orchestra during her secondary school years and a member of the Guitar Ensemble during her college years. Her participation in performing for various concerts has enabled her to be more confident of herself and she also coordinated effectively with her peers to work on the music pieces together.
Xiujun is someone who loves the simplicity of life. She treasures friendship and kinship as they are an important part of her life. Being able to spend time with her family and friends is one of her favourite past times.
Xiujun is a studious individual who displays an interest in learning and seeking excellence. She always does her work meticulously, paying great attention to detail, aiming to produce work of high quality. She sets clear goals for herself and shows determination in achieving them. She believes in perseverance and determination, as these traits will be beneficial to her life in achieving her goals.
Throughout the years of Xiujun’s education, she has developed her potential as a leader through various leadership opportunities. She was the welfare administrator of her Chinese Orchestra group in secondary school and also led as a leader during a camp organised by the Children’s Society for the under-privileged children.
Apart from the academics, Xiujun has a great interest in music. She was a member of the Chinese Orchestra during her secondary school years and a member of the Guitar Ensemble during her college years. Her participation in performing for various concerts has enabled her to be more confident of herself and she also coordinated effectively with her peers to work on the music pieces together.
Xiujun is someone who loves the simplicity of life. She treasures friendship and kinship as they are an important part of her life. Being able to spend time with her family and friends is one of her favourite past times.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Open Topic: Communiation with the little ones
My sister married an Australian 7 years ago and they have two children. There are many ways in which my Caucasian brother-in-law differs from us.
For one instance, the way he disciplines his children is very different from most Asian family. My brother-in-law never believes in physical punishment for his children. His way for punishment for his children is to designate a corner of his house called the ‘naughty corner’ and make them do reflections there. Canes are banned in Australia and they do not believe in caning children. Whenever his children do something wrong, he will rationalize the problem with them and counsel them instead of just merely scolding them or punishing them physically. He believes that proper communication is a better teaching method than physical punishment.
My parents are curious about the rationale behind teaching children in such a way as it is very different from how they used to teach us. My brother-in-law explained that he does not want to hurt his children physically and cause emotional trauma. He feels that children learn more when you rationalize with them rather than using physical punishment and scolding them.
However, others may argue that children are too young to understand what you are telling them, as such, physical punishment would be a better way to make them learn from their mistakes. Communication with small children is a challenge as they might not understand what you are trying to tell them. At the same time, it is also equally difficult for us to figure out what they are trying to tell us. Sometimes adults may wrongly accuse their child and physically punish them without listening to their explanation. So what exactly is the best way to reach out to the hearts and minds of the little ones and enable effective communication with them?
For one instance, the way he disciplines his children is very different from most Asian family. My brother-in-law never believes in physical punishment for his children. His way for punishment for his children is to designate a corner of his house called the ‘naughty corner’ and make them do reflections there. Canes are banned in Australia and they do not believe in caning children. Whenever his children do something wrong, he will rationalize the problem with them and counsel them instead of just merely scolding them or punishing them physically. He believes that proper communication is a better teaching method than physical punishment.
My parents are curious about the rationale behind teaching children in such a way as it is very different from how they used to teach us. My brother-in-law explained that he does not want to hurt his children physically and cause emotional trauma. He feels that children learn more when you rationalize with them rather than using physical punishment and scolding them.
However, others may argue that children are too young to understand what you are telling them, as such, physical punishment would be a better way to make them learn from their mistakes. Communication with small children is a challenge as they might not understand what you are trying to tell them. At the same time, it is also equally difficult for us to figure out what they are trying to tell us. Sometimes adults may wrongly accuse their child and physically punish them without listening to their explanation. So what exactly is the best way to reach out to the hearts and minds of the little ones and enable effective communication with them?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour
When people speak of the Singaporean culture, they are referring to certain traits and behaviours of Singaporeans that are not easily found in other countries, such as multi-racialism. Conflicts often happen when different types of cultures come together, and there was this incident that happened a couple of months back in the supermarket near my house.
I was queuing up for a cashier who was a Malay lady. Right in front of me stood a Chinese man with his basket of groceries which included a few pork products. When it was the Chinese man’s turn for payment, the cashier looked into the basket and passed him a plastic bag, expecting him to pack those pork-products into the plastic bag himself. The man looked reluctant to do so, but packed them into the bags anyway. The cashier gave the man his change in a hurry, resulting in the coins falling to the ground, which he felt the cashier was mad and angry at him for causing her to handle pork products. He cursed and swore at her as he walked out of the supermarket. The cashier remained quiet throughout the ordeal.
As a Singaporean living in this multi-racial society, I feel that both parties were at fault. It was inconsiderate of the man to buy pork-products and queue for the Malay cashier, when there were so many other cashiers to choose from. If he chose to queue for a Malay cashier, he should not feel unwilling to pack those products himself as he should understand and respect other races’ culture and religion. As for the cashier, she should have been more polite by requesting him to pack those pork-products himself. She should be mindful in the way she handed the change to the customer since she works in the service industry where courtesy is of utmost important.
I was queuing up for a cashier who was a Malay lady. Right in front of me stood a Chinese man with his basket of groceries which included a few pork products. When it was the Chinese man’s turn for payment, the cashier looked into the basket and passed him a plastic bag, expecting him to pack those pork-products into the plastic bag himself. The man looked reluctant to do so, but packed them into the bags anyway. The cashier gave the man his change in a hurry, resulting in the coins falling to the ground, which he felt the cashier was mad and angry at him for causing her to handle pork products. He cursed and swore at her as he walked out of the supermarket. The cashier remained quiet throughout the ordeal.
As a Singaporean living in this multi-racial society, I feel that both parties were at fault. It was inconsiderate of the man to buy pork-products and queue for the Malay cashier, when there were so many other cashiers to choose from. If he chose to queue for a Malay cashier, he should not feel unwilling to pack those products himself as he should understand and respect other races’ culture and religion. As for the cashier, she should have been more polite by requesting him to pack those pork-products himself. She should be mindful in the way she handed the change to the customer since she works in the service industry where courtesy is of utmost important.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Business Correspondence Critique
The letter goes....
28 January 2009
WANG XIUJUN
BLK *** #**-***
…………….. (Address)
Dear Policyholder
Notice Of Payment Due
Thank you for insuring with Income.
We would like to inform you that the following payment is due:
Reference Description Due Date Amount ($)
XXX Living Refund 09/02/2009 1 YR YYY
Total Payable YYY
For policies that are paid on monthly mode, this notice includes previous (if any), current and next months’ premiums.
To ensure continuity of your policy coverage, kindly make the premium payment within the grace period of thirty days from the due date.
All payments received after 25 JAN 2009 are not reflected here. If you have already made the payment, we thank you for your prompt response and ask that you please ignore this notice.
Your payment reference number is ZZZ. Please quote this reference when making payment via Internet banking, phone banking, ATM or AXS to ensure that your records are updated promptly.
Cheque payments should be made in favour of ‘NTUC Income’ together with the payment slip below. Alternatively, you can also pay your premium by NETS or cash at any of our servicing branches.
At any time, you may access our Policy Online Enquiry (POLE) at www.income.com.sg to check your policy details and premium payments.
In the meantime, if you have any queries, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Officers at 6788 1122 or email us at csquery@income.com.sg. We will be most happy to assist you.
Yours Sincerely
Linda Quek
Manager
Finance
My Post:
A well-written letter should adopt the 7Cs in writing, and of course to be relevant to the subject of the letter. Moreover, it should also be in the correct format with appropriate headings.
The attached letter was well-written as the tone used is appropriate and it is both clear and concise since it uses the fewest number of words to convey all the information to the reader. Moreover, the format used is correct with the salutation and a positive closing line.
However, there are some points for improvement. In the recipient’s name at the start of the letter, there was no courtesy title such as “Miss Wang Xiujun”. Even though the company may not have a record of the correct courtesy title, the writer should choose the most neutral title like “Ms” for ladies and “Mr” for men.
Furthermore, the writer used “you” and “your” too frequently in the body of the letter. It makes the reader feel that it is like a command or an order to pay the bill, especially when the sentence is started with words like “to ensure” and “for”.
Letter writing is of high importance for effective communication in the workplace. Thus, mastering the basic skills for writing letters is a must-learn for everyone.
28 January 2009
WANG XIUJUN
BLK *** #**-***
…………….. (Address)
Dear Policyholder
Notice Of Payment Due
Thank you for insuring with Income.
We would like to inform you that the following payment is due:
Reference Description Due Date Amount ($)
XXX Living Refund 09/02/2009 1 YR YYY
Total Payable YYY
For policies that are paid on monthly mode, this notice includes previous (if any), current and next months’ premiums.
To ensure continuity of your policy coverage, kindly make the premium payment within the grace period of thirty days from the due date.
All payments received after 25 JAN 2009 are not reflected here. If you have already made the payment, we thank you for your prompt response and ask that you please ignore this notice.
Your payment reference number is ZZZ. Please quote this reference when making payment via Internet banking, phone banking, ATM or AXS to ensure that your records are updated promptly.
Cheque payments should be made in favour of ‘NTUC Income’ together with the payment slip below. Alternatively, you can also pay your premium by NETS or cash at any of our servicing branches.
At any time, you may access our Policy Online Enquiry (POLE) at www.income.com.sg to check your policy details and premium payments.
In the meantime, if you have any queries, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Officers at 6788 1122 or email us at csquery@income.com.sg. We will be most happy to assist you.
Yours Sincerely
Linda Quek
Manager
Finance
My Post:
A well-written letter should adopt the 7Cs in writing, and of course to be relevant to the subject of the letter. Moreover, it should also be in the correct format with appropriate headings.
The attached letter was well-written as the tone used is appropriate and it is both clear and concise since it uses the fewest number of words to convey all the information to the reader. Moreover, the format used is correct with the salutation and a positive closing line.
However, there are some points for improvement. In the recipient’s name at the start of the letter, there was no courtesy title such as “Miss Wang Xiujun”. Even though the company may not have a record of the correct courtesy title, the writer should choose the most neutral title like “Ms” for ladies and “Mr” for men.
Furthermore, the writer used “you” and “your” too frequently in the body of the letter. It makes the reader feel that it is like a command or an order to pay the bill, especially when the sentence is started with words like “to ensure” and “for”.
Letter writing is of high importance for effective communication in the workplace. Thus, mastering the basic skills for writing letters is a must-learn for everyone.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Resolving interpersonal conflict
Valerie and Yvonne are my two good friends during my secondary school years. The three of us used to hang out together every day in school and even after school hours. However, a major conflict broke out between them about a month ago, due to their clashing characters.
Valerie is outgoing and very friendly. She was the popular one in the class, constantly surrounded by a group of friends. Although she could be quite tactless at times, people still liked her for her bubbly character.
On the other hand, Yvonne is more of an introvert and gets emotional rather easily. She can also be overly sensitive to comments from her peers.
At the class gathering last month, Yvonne started saying very sarcastic things to Valerie, such as “yeah, you are the most popular one”, and criticized Valerie in every way. Valerie was puzzled by Yvonne's behavior and attitude towards her so she approached Yvonne for clarification. Yvonne started lashing out all the grudges she bore towards Valerie. She said that Valerie was insensitive and wanted Valerie to know how she felt all these years by being sarcastic to her. She was also unhappy that Valerie nicknamed her “auntie”. She felt that Valerie is always making fun of her and embarrassing her.
Valerie, being both hurt and angry over Yvonne’s ridiculous comments, has not been talking to her since then.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding between the girls. What can I do to help salvage this wonderful friendship that we used to share?
Valerie is outgoing and very friendly. She was the popular one in the class, constantly surrounded by a group of friends. Although she could be quite tactless at times, people still liked her for her bubbly character.
On the other hand, Yvonne is more of an introvert and gets emotional rather easily. She can also be overly sensitive to comments from her peers.
At the class gathering last month, Yvonne started saying very sarcastic things to Valerie, such as “yeah, you are the most popular one”, and criticized Valerie in every way. Valerie was puzzled by Yvonne's behavior and attitude towards her so she approached Yvonne for clarification. Yvonne started lashing out all the grudges she bore towards Valerie. She said that Valerie was insensitive and wanted Valerie to know how she felt all these years by being sarcastic to her. She was also unhappy that Valerie nicknamed her “auntie”. She felt that Valerie is always making fun of her and embarrassing her.
Valerie, being both hurt and angry over Yvonne’s ridiculous comments, has not been talking to her since then.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding between the girls. What can I do to help salvage this wonderful friendship that we used to share?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Why developing effective communication skills is important for me?
We often heard of the phrase, “office politics”. As the phrase suggests, there are politics in almost every workplace. Handling office politic is not an easy task at all. There are always ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in this game of politics, and nobody wants to be the ‘loser’, including myself. The above is only one situation where effective communication is an important attribute to surviving well in the working society. In life, there are many tasks that cannot be performed successfully without an effective communication system.
On a personal note, sometimes I wonder what my friends think about how I behave. Was I being rude in saying certain words or doing certain actions? Does my speech or body language leads to misrepresentation of what I truly mean? Communication can come across very differently due to many factors such as cultural and gender differences. One simple smile from you may be interpreted by another differently; some may feel that it is sarcastic; others may feel that it is sincere, all depending on the situation and the impression you give to the other party. It is important for one to develop a holistic set of effective communication skills in speech and body language, in order for people to be able to convey their thoughts properly without being misunderstood.
Effective communication is important for improvement of my interaction skills with peers and future colleagues. This matters to me as I am going to enter the workforce in a year or two years’ time, and good communication skills are imminent in a successful career. During the short interview, communication skills play a significant role as small gestures and the use of language can determine the first impression you convey to the employer.
At the end of this module, I hope to be able to achieve professional presentation skills and be able to carry myself well, also not forgetting to learn to be more sensitive towards others, leaving a good impression for everyone.
On a personal note, sometimes I wonder what my friends think about how I behave. Was I being rude in saying certain words or doing certain actions? Does my speech or body language leads to misrepresentation of what I truly mean? Communication can come across very differently due to many factors such as cultural and gender differences. One simple smile from you may be interpreted by another differently; some may feel that it is sarcastic; others may feel that it is sincere, all depending on the situation and the impression you give to the other party. It is important for one to develop a holistic set of effective communication skills in speech and body language, in order for people to be able to convey their thoughts properly without being misunderstood.
Effective communication is important for improvement of my interaction skills with peers and future colleagues. This matters to me as I am going to enter the workforce in a year or two years’ time, and good communication skills are imminent in a successful career. During the short interview, communication skills play a significant role as small gestures and the use of language can determine the first impression you convey to the employer.
At the end of this module, I hope to be able to achieve professional presentation skills and be able to carry myself well, also not forgetting to learn to be more sensitive towards others, leaving a good impression for everyone.
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