Kira Lyell
ENC 1210
Professor Dick
April 20, 2017
Word Count: 613
This
technical writing class has taught me a lot that I can use in my future. Each
lesson that I have learned will help me be a better student and in my career.
The lessons that had the largest impact on me include various message types,
appropriate email etiquette, and effective oral presentations.
The first
lesson I will talk about is the lesson on various message types. I hope to
pursue a career in the criminal justice field as a legal assistant. I will use
many different types of writings. I will primarily use e-mails, letters, and memos
to communicate with other office’s and my own coworkers. At first, I didn’t
think that there were many differences between these three types of communications,
but it turns out that they are very different. E-mails, letters, and memos
mainly differ in the way that they are formatted on paper. For example, letters
include a letterhead, but memos do not. You also cannot just send e-mails,
letters, and memos to anyone. Letters are written to people outside of the
company, memos are written to people inside of the company, and e-mails can be
written to people inside and outside of the company. If I would have never
learned the difference between these types of communication, I would not be
able to properly use them in the future.
The second
lesson I have learned is how to appropriately approach an email. The reason
that I believe that this lesson is so important is because so many business,
companies, and offices use e-mail as a primary source of communication. E-mail
is also a very convenient form of communication. You can send an email to
multiple recipients, “blind copy” and “carbon copy” recipients, include
attachments, and share website links. E-mails are also used for communication
inside and outside of the workplace. With how technology is growing and
becoming more accessible to everyone, I feel that it is very important to learn
how to properly format an email, especially if you want to work in an office
setting like I do.
The last
lesson that I will be discussing is how to effectively give an oral
presentation. In most careers, you will eventually have to speak in front of
your coworkers. Speaking in front of people has always been one of my largest fears.
Whenever I stand up to talk in front of a crowd, no matter how small or large,
I freeze up. But what I didn’t realize was that there was a lot of things that
I could use to my advantage to strengthen my oral presentation. When delivering
a presentation, it is important to make eye contact, move around, and position
your hands properly. I know an issue that I have is feeling shy and awkward
because I know that’s how I look. But, if I control my body language and
present myself correctly, people won’t think I’m nervous. It is also important
that I remember to speak loud and clear when presenting. It is important that I
speak loud enough for everyone to hear me, but not too fast. People tend to
talk faster whenever they get nervous, and this is something that I am guilty
of. It’s important to make sure your appealing as a speaker and that your
audience can hear you, so you can successfully deliver your presentation.
The three
lessons I mentioned above are only a handful of lessons that I learned and could
apply in the workplace. Learning various message types, appropriate email
etiquette, and effective oral presentations will be very beneficial in my
future career as a legal assistant.
