Here we are again at the start of yet another Polytechnic academic year.
Some of you would already be veterans (that’s you, final year student!), navigating with familiarity the day-to-day ins and outs of Poly life.
For others, perhaps this is your first time dipping your toes into the vast ocean as you start your Poly education this year.
No matter how long you’ve been in Poly, here are some tips and tricks for three important things that make the majority of your Poly life—Presentation, assignment briefs and free period.
#1 Presentations
For almost all modules in every course, there will be project work or coursework that would require you to present a deck of slides to your lecturer and class.
Presentations might even be your bread and butter, especially if you are in a course like Business.
I’ve learnt 3 tips for preparing presentations in Poly that may be helpful for you too:
A. The KISS principle
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I don’t mean going about smooching your lecturers and your peers.
Coined by the American Navy in 1960, KISS is an acronym that stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid”. The theory is that a plan or system functions the best if it is kept simple.
It is very easy to fall into the trap of piling on information and excessively embellishing the slide deck with epic transitions. However, less is more.
Simple slide templates and backgrounds as the design work best. Websites like Canva, Slides Go or Slides Carnival are some good places to start searching for templates.
Most of the slide templates from the above websites sometimes come with customised fonts. However, you may also consider changing them to other fonts that are easier to read.
Instead of the default fonts like Times New Roman, Arial and Calibri, spruce up your website with these fonts that will add a special touch to your presentation.
Furthermore, make sure the fonts are of an appropriate colour. Yellow script on a white background and navy blue on a black background just won’t do! It causes strain on the reader’s eyes as it is hard to make sense of the word when the colours are too
B. Rule of Three
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As much as possible, keep your slides uncluttered.
A good rule to go by is the Rule of Three. It has been used to great effect all around us—Singapore’s environmental care slogan: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, the National Pledge, “Regardless of race, language, or religion…” and even the nursery story of The Three Little Pigs. Rule of Three feels natural and helps to capture your audience’s attention.
C. Practice, practice, practice.
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Cliché, but I could not emphasize this enough. The best presentations are always the ones that have been rehearsed countless times.
Even if you can get to where you look at the slide and can articulate everything you need to without looking at a script, you may be just memorising and articulating your words blindly.
A better way would be to know every part of your assignment or project at the back of your hand and speak from your understanding instead of memory.
I once heard the saying, “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise until you can’t get it wrong.”
There is a point we can learn from the quote—to be extremely prepared for a presentation—but above all, remember that humans make mistakes. However, as much as possible, be prepared to your best ability.
Some things that helped me include rehearsing in front of a mirror and getting my friends and family to watch, listen and provide feedback. I also prepared cue cards to help me remember certain pointers in the presentation. When we strive for excellence, we will be rewarded.
#2 Assignment Briefs
Sometimes, you get an assignment brief that is so boggling. It could be due to a lack of information or too much of it.
The first and most simple step to take is to try asking the lecturer for their advice. Most of them are approachable and open to listening.
However, sometimes assignment briefs may seem brief (pun not intended) but are intentionally done so to allow students an opportunity to explore the topic deeper and decide how to best tackle it. In such cases, think about how the assignment might relate to what you’ve been studying in your lessons.
Assignments are meant to reinforce what you’ve learned and to allow you to practically use them in some way. It helps to have the conclusion of your assignment in mind as that is what you will aim to achieve and will act as a frame of reference while you work through it.
It helps to ask around to find out how your other classmates or seniors have tackled it to see if there is a central or common theme to all their submissions.
#3 Free Period
One of the greatest joys of going to Polytechnic is finding out that your timetable isn’t always packed from start to finish as it was in Primary or Secondary school!
Some days might be, but that would mean you would have other days that are more relaxed.
This may present a problem, albeit a good one, on what to do with the sudden additional free time. Frankly, time management is really about self-discipline and self-control in keeping to a schedule. Here are some ways to go about planning your free time for more productivity in the day.
A. Have a daily to-do list
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This was a habit that I picked up during my Poly days. I used to have a sticky note on the desktop screen of my laptop that had my deadlines for assignments, projects, coursework, etc. If anything, this should help you keep on track with what needs to be done.
Set realistic goals for yourself to finish X and Y by today and strike them off from the list. Don’t delete them from the list so that you can have a visual indication of your progression throughout the day!
B. Plan your breaks
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It sounds silly, but this is important too! Without scheduled breaks, you may fall into the temptation to keep going on and on with your work.
The opposite is true as well—if you don’t plan your breaks, you may be susceptible to take breaks as and when you feel like doing so. Trust me, it happens more often than we think.
Think of how often we turn to our phones to go on social media, watch one video, or to reply our friends. If we add the total time we spend on such things, it might easily amount to an hour or more.
By scheduling breaks, we learn discipline as well as how to rest which are both important for developing not only as a student, but a human.
C. Learn to prioritise
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In Poly, every module is graded and each coursework or test carries a certain percentage of the grade. All this adds up to your GPA for the semester and ultimately your cumulative GPA (cGPA) over the three years.
I wasn’t a straight-A student and there were just some modules that no matter how hard I studied, I just simply couldn’t understand.
That’s ok. It just means that we need to choose which battles to focus on. This is going to be critical when you reach the most stressful period in every semester—the assignment deadline and exam weeks where you feel like screaming, running around in circles, and pulling your hair out.
Maximise your time on tests or projects that you know you can score well on. Of course, this doesn’t mean you completely ignore the others. Make sure those are submitted on time too!
If you’re feeling anxious and unsure of how to navigate through Poly, or just want to know if what you’re going through is normal, I hope my sharing helps you feel a little more assured.
If all these are too much for you to remember, just remember this—All we can do is our best. Trust that your best will be enough and that you are enough. With that, you will be okay.
