After our first project as a group I have a better understanding of other ways to communicate when working with other people no matter the circumstance. Especially in this day and age with the pandemic, technology has made it somewhat easier to be able to communicate, have class and work with people. Within the project we were all split into 3 groups and each group had to create a powerpoint presentation based on chapters/topics from the book "COMM 6: Speech Communication" and their overall understanding of these chapters. I would say when joining group 2 to present chapter 9 we all worked well with each other and everyone played their part well even those who couldn't make it. Using WhatsApp played an important role when figuring different things out when it came down to who gets what topics, how many words each person would present, while also giving each other different tips and praising each other when another group member added some flavor to the powerpoint. To quickly sum up the topic it was about the different groups and what type of communication the groups used while giving you examples of how some of these groups are used in our society. At first it took us a little while to get everything together and sorted out by making decisions based on how many word each person would have to make slides about. As a group we decided everyone would get 3 words the most, and maybe a few members within our group got an extra word or so. Once we got organized and everyone figured out what they were going to do and how to do it, it was smooth sailing from that point onward. As a group we also decided to go for a practice run just to see how we were going to present and, I liked that everyone communicated within the group chat to let everyone know about their current situations, and why they couldn't make it. I myself didn't attend the meeting and I had to find a different way to participate within the presentation for that day. I talked to the rest of the group and they gave some useful opinions on how I could just screen record myself presenting my slides, and send it in to them. Which wasn't a problem for me and allowed me to write down some key points and topics, I should talk about within my prerecorded presentation and figuring out how can I fit what I need to discuss within, the time we each had to present. It was a fun first project and allowed everyone within the group to be creative and had me excited to show what we thought the chapter meant to us as a group. Although we may have faced some minor roadblocks within the beginning, we were able to push through and get the assignment done as a collective. For myself, what I would say when it came to creating my slides was finding different pictures, gifs, and videos that I could use. Another part of creating my slides was being able to manipulate the text boxes and sort of make them look like scrolls, to input minor but important details that I wanted the class to know.
Group 1 was the first to present and their presentation was based on the chapter "Intercultural Communication." I really like how well put together group 1's presentation was, especially with the time they had being that they were the first group presenting. They set a great tone/foundation which also gave me ideas on what I could bring to my own slides and how I should be presenting. They struggled a little bit when it came down to screen sharing which was to be expected, and not all pieces of the presentation flowed smoothly but, I give much respect to their group for working through some of the technical issues and were able to present a great project to us. Their powerpoint was very informative and had many pictures, videos and lots of color which kept me very engaged with their presentation and what they had to say. One thing that was new to me that I learned from their presentation was the word "Culture Shock" and how some people may feel a sort of discomfort psychologically that affects them when being put into a new cultural setting. Which I can understand being sort of out of place or that you sort of don't belong because, you may not know too much about a culture and their ways. But all in all, group 1 presented an amazing powerpoint and did a great job setting the tone/foundation of how we can do our projects.
Last to present was group 3 who's slides were based on the chapter " Group leadership and problem solving." I enjoyed their presentation and even noticed how they sort of had the same style as group 2 yet was, different in their own ways. It was still very informative and had a lot of pictures, videos and gifs which again kept me engaged with what they had to present. I also learned a new term within their presentation which was "Symposium" which means "a meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, especially a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience." To piggy back off the term it reminds me a-lot like the app "Clubhouse" and its used pretty much in the same way, and admins can create groups based on certain topics and allows everyone to listen and speak within that group. Overall group 3 did a great job on their presentation and did a great job keeping me engaged and I like how they used our presentation to guide them on some cool things they can add to their presentation. All in all for a first group project as a class we all did very well bringing our own little sauce and spices to each and every project. It may be hard at times and of course you will face a few difficulties along the way when working in groups, but this first project taught me other yet efficient ways to talk to group members and do good work together as a collective.