Interim Reflection Week 6

Finding out what efficient communication means is why we had all these lessons in creating content that reaches the target audience. Frankly speaking, I am more than proud to say that I gradually attained the ability to communicate in sync with others and, most importantly, with myself.

Making Media was a memorable journey for me to understand the true nature of communication. Working on different academic and creative areas, I got to know where is a good place for a message to start being delivered; how I can speak the same language as my clients and viewers only through words, audio, and visuals. Consistency, hence, means everything. It is clearly not just a mindset but a logically developed information flow.

Other than all the new academic experiences with content writing, designing a magazine, or making a podcast, I now understand, to some extent, that working and discussing with my teammates is also a communication practice and is a part of the assignment after all. In my podcast self-reflection, I mentioned that I played the vocal role in the group as I kept it fun and smooth for everyone. That was for the communication flow, but there is more to it. Having no stress or rush in talking helps with our atmosphere; however, as we moved on to making the magazine, which requires a much heavier workload and investment, I realized that consistency is the most essential factor that reinforces lovely teamwork. It can be so dangerous once we misunderstand each other. Our work would make no more sense and become incomplete. It happened in our designing the magazine layout, in which we were imagining different ways of executing the final products even though we had the same layout idea. After looking at each of the members’ assigned parts in one piece, we had to arrange a meeting immediately. We decided to sit together until we finalized the magazine because each part did not have the same elements or style. We went through every single component again, clarifying the main focus and purpose of the products and the final destination we wanted to head to. Thinking back, it must have been at fault of the whole group, as we did not state what we wanted clearly and were showing our personal edges to the team's work. That is inconsistency. Honestly, I would never have thought we as a team could ever clash with each others’ ideas, but then it dawned on me that we are all humans with very distinctive personalities in one way or another. As long as we make our statement clear, focusing on the team’s desire and not taking it personally, we will all speak in one language again.

Speaking to others may be quite a task, but communicating with myself is even more complicated. One-on-one communication is undoubtedly necessary when I aim to achieve something and figure out things on my own. For the portfolio, I had to confront myself many times, asking the questions of “What do I want to do”, and “Who am I?”. However, the more I wondered, the more confusing it became for me to address myself. There were so many unanswered questions in my head that led me to baffling points where I did not know what I wanted, just like when I miscommunicated with my magazine team. Therefore, I applied the same method as when I fixed the problem with my magazine team - browsing through every detail and deciding the one message I wanted to reinforce. It was, obviously, not easy. But by taking a step back from all the ideas and outlines I created, I had a broader and more objective view of what I wanted to choose and what was the best idea. It took long enough for me to eventually make up my mind, but throughout the process, I understood that consistent communication is vital. I only can choose one from all, and once I pick up that big idea, I also have to learn how to develop a smooth, not patchy, flow of supporting ideas.

Overall, what I have obtained from the courses is amazingly noticeable, from new editing tools and content writing to constructing layouts. But up till this point, the lessons of effective and consistent communication is the biggest key to me. Communication was honestly something I thought I had been honing and practicing ever since I was born. However, the greatness and professionalism have been taken to a new level - something I had never experienced before starting my path at RMIT. It is an entirely new universe to explore - sometimes too vast to even know where to start and how to keep focusing on myself, but I am genuinely excited to be a part of it.