Reflection on Technical Communication 1

Technical Communication 1 is not the first communication class I have attended. Previously, I have had three core modules of business communication over three years in polytechnic. During polytechnic, I can decide on my project teams, so that the teams I chose would tie into groups similar as other modules. This allowed projects to be done more efficiently as I do not have to keep meeting different groups of people, as they all have their other assignments to commit to. This was the difficult part across all modules. Although I understand that I have to work with different groups and types of people when I head out to work in the future, this arrangement of different groups for all modules seems a little unrealistic and was unpleasant, given the short time span. Despite all these cons, it has allowed me to work with time and dynamics constraints, which is a big learning point for me.

Through this short twenty hours course, I have learnt to write a decent technical report, product summary description and analysis, and giving a persuasive sales pitch. After being exposed, I have increased confidence in these areas, even though the practice was insufficient.

The challenge for myself was the final presentation, as I previously stutter a lot, and it has been at least 2 years since the last time I gave a presentation without a script. This has pushed me out of comfort zone, as I really need to believe in my product to be able to sell it. There are also rooms for improvement after this course: reading and practicing on different types of technical report.

In the long run, I hope to be able to write different types of report when I graduate, to better prepare myself for the workforce. I will also be able to see how the skills I learnt will be applied during my IWSP, and for my future use.