Sunday, 14 April 2013

Writing on writing and speaking, speaking for my speaking and writing

As the end of the semester approaches, with only one final presentation left for Biz Comm, this seems like an especially relevant time to ponder on the recently past trial of FOP/RW double combo.

The report was a relatively simpler piece of work, with my virginity for *pretentious academic writing* being broken last semester with the Ideas & Exposition module. It is evident that prior experience with such writing would have familiarised me with the structure and citation style required, not to mention the tone of writing required. As a result, I probably spent considerably less time writing compared to my peers, and had much more time to refine it into a masterpiece. Clearly though, my refinements are bad, since I couldn't even catch wrongly labelled section references.

Also, my use of "cryptic words", as quoted from the marker, just seems poorly executed in hindsight. My idea of introducing an element of mystery into the paper to pique interest just seems like a clumsy attempt that did not manage to articulate any idea now, and hopefully this can be rectified in future writing attempts.

And now it's time to review the atrocious (slightly) attempt at FOP. The delivery was mostly alright I suppose, with the unnaturalness of my speech largely remedied and mostly an improvement from the GT. Progress that should be celebrated, I suppose. But, that's where the good news stopped.

Again, I tried out something more risky, adopting a story-like approach to the presentation. Sadly, the organisation and structure was lacking as a result of inadequate preparation, and the whole presentation just could not persuade. The recommendation section was especially unclear. Time to go back to fundamentals I suppose, and perhaps if I had tested with a mock audience I could have refined it more too. With that in mind, hopefully FIPD turns out better.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the critical reflection, Zech. I like the way you zoom into some of the core problems, even with a tinge of humor. (No longer a what for *pretentious academic writing*? And which I&E did you take?)

    In any case, what I most appreciate in this post is that you candidly document your weaknesses, which should allow you to steer clear of those in the future. At the same time, you may be a bit harsh on yourself. Your FOP was far from atrocious. It simply lacked the final tie in of clear-cut recs. (Those did come through in the report.)

    Still, I'd suggest that you not abandon the story telling technique all together in future presentations. I look forward to seeing the FIPD and how that worked for you.

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  2. Thanks Brad! The module I took is currently under the Utown Programme as IEM1201E: From Human to Posthuman, but I think it was once offered as a level 2000 I&E module before Utown started. Well I still kind of flopped FIPD though I hope it'll make for a fun viewing. ;/

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