Career e-Portfolio · Entrepreneurial Communication · DLSU

A founder
learning to speak.

I did not come into this course to learn business. I came in already building one. I run Cabana Club, my events company, and WEEBIE, my marketing and web studio, while finishing my degree in Entrepreneurship at De La Salle University, where I earned the Silver Best Practicum Award. What I needed was the language to make it all land: in writing, and out loud. This is the record of that term.

Watch the film See the work Silver · Best Practicum
00

Show yourself · talk · move

The film

Three and a half minutes on camera: who I am, the lessons that changed how I communicate, and the proof of how far I have come. This is me doing exactly what the course taught me to do.

01

Conciseness · quality

Summary of every lesson

Six lessons, and where each one now lives in my real businesses.

  1. 01

    The 8 Cs of Effective Communication

    A message only works when all eight are true at once: clear, complete, concise, concrete, considerate, correct, courteous, and coherent. Drop one and the reader misreads you.

    How I apply it. Every WEEBIE proposal and client email now runs through the eight Cs before I hit send.

  2. 02

    Grice's Cooperative Principle

    Conversation works because both sides cooperate, by four maxims: be exact (quantity), be truthful (quality), be relevant (relation), and be clear (manner).

    How I apply it. It is the line between sounding confident and being trustworthy. I cite what I claim, stay on topic, and respect the reader's time.

  3. 03

    Business Storytelling · Kelly Parker

    Facts and figures tell, but stories sell. Open with a problem and a pursuit, paint it in vivid imagery, then close with a call to action.

    How I apply it. I stopped listing what a Cabana Club event includes and started telling the story of the night.

  4. 04

    Nonverbal Communication · Joe Navarro

    Around eighty percent of communication is nonverbal and largely subconscious. You read clusters of cues, not a single gesture, and you influence people mostly without words.

    How I apply it. How I stand and hold eye contact is part of every pitch. It is why I chose to be on camera here, not behind a document.

  5. 05

    Business Theories for Data Commentary

    Naming the right framework turns a raw number into an insight: SWOT, the 4 Ps, break-even, Maslow, the Ansoff matrix, Porter's Five Forces, and more.

    How I apply it. I can justify a decision to an investor in their own language. A revenue lift is product development on the Ansoff matrix, not just a good month.

  6. 06

    Social Media & Entrepreneurial Intention

    Vesci, Crudele, Feola and Parente (2022) found that social media dependency genuinely raises entrepreneurial intention, mostly by shaping attitude and perceived control, not peer pressure.

    How I apply it. Proof of why the platforms I build on actually matter, and practice at trusting real research over online opinion.

02

Completeness · quantity

Everything I made

Every output this term, individual and group. My contribution is called out on each.

GroupNon-prose forms · Belo Essentials

NPF

Non-Prose Forms, on real data. In our Group 7 deck on Belo Essentials, my slide was Non-Prose Form #1: Figure 1, a bar chart of Belo's social media following. One glance says what a paragraph cannot: the founder's personal account dwarfs the brand's own pages. Rebuilt below with the same data.

GroupAnalysis · Belo Essentials

Data Commentary

The partner to NPF. The same deck then read the figures out loud. My Figure 1 fed the first commentary: Belo's strategy revolves around Dr. Vicki Belo's personal brand, so the promotions deserve a fuller Marketing Mix. Figure 2's ratings, 68% five-star and 20% four-star for 88% positive, grounded the second: protect that trust, applying Stakeholder Theory.

IndividualSpoken · video

Self-Introduction & Pitch Video

I had to sell myself on camera: introduce who I am and pitch. It built my confidence, made me a clearer speaker, and taught me how to communicate with corporations.

IndividualWritten · Quiz 2 · Part 2

Mock Cover Letter

My first ever cover letter, written as a real application: Apple's marketing team, for a Marketing Coordinator role. I never planned to apply for a job because I was building my own companies, so this made me put my story, Cabana Club, WEEBIE, the Silver Best Practicum Award, into one page that asks for something.

“I have learned that good marketing is not decoration; it is a clear message delivered to the right people at the right time.”

The submitted cover letter: Yatson Matais' letterhead, addressed to the hiring manager of Apple's marketing team, dated July 20, 2026. Read the full letter
GroupQuiz 1 · Part 1

SK-II Data Commentary

My contribution. I brought ideas to the table, gave my time, and delivered every part that was assigned to me. Our Figure 1 traced SK-II's key milestones from the 1970s to 2014, and the commentary read that trend into a recommendation: keep innovating, consistent with the Ansoff Growth Matrix.

Quiz 1 Part 1: Figure 1, key milestones in the growth and development of SK-II from the 1970s to 2014, above our data commentary. Read the full page
GroupQuiz 2 · Part 1 · Panaderia Delight

Panaderia Delight

My contribution. Our business growth strategy for a neighborhood bakery, rebuilt around one product: the Chef's Bread of the Day, a blind-box bread drop for curiosity-driven merienda buyers, under the line "Good Bread. Good Mood. Good Day." I put ₱5,000 of our ₱30,000 starting capital on the table and delivered my assigned parts, and the plan ran the term's frameworks for real, from Kawasaki's innovation rules to Kelly Parker's storytelling in the pitch. The line ran from a ₱79 solo pandesal to the ₱599 Barkada Bundle of 24.

Starting capital
₱30,000
Projected 4-month sales
₱261,314
Projected net income
₱75,894
Panaderia Delight brand board: the logo over charcoal, the kraft Scroll Box unrolled with three breads, and the line Good Bread. Good Mood. Good Day. Panaderia Delight packaging board: a kraft tube with three breads on paper and a thank-you tag for supporting small and local.
IndividualReflection · A2

Communication Analysis

Analyzed a real Cabana Club merchant message against the 8 Cs and Grice's maxims. Read it in full below.

Read the reflection
IndividualReflection · A3

Verbal & Nonverbal Cues

A Visual, Verbal, and Vocal self-analysis of my self-introduction video: what worked, what to improve, and my promises.

Read the reflection
IndividualBuilt · live site

This e-Portfolio

Designed and built by me as a live website. The one piece that proves everything at once.

03

Coherence · relevance

Reflections on my growth

Two pieces where the learning became real: one written, one spoken.

A2

Communication Analysis · a Cabana Club merchant message

"Clear, complete, and courteous gets results, even in a busy group chat."

Looking back at the communication experiences I have had, the one that stands out most is the communication I had to do during the planning of one of our Cabana Club events. I posted in our merchants' group chat because I wanted to let the participating brands know about my concern with the booth layout. I also offered a solution, suggesting a different booth position I thought would work better because of the foot traffic I believed would be more beneficial. I was one of the Cabana Club event organizers, and my focus was on the convenience of the merchants.

I think my message was clear and to the point. According to the 8 Cs of Effective Communication, I did a good job of making my concern clear. I accurately summed up the issue, especially for a busy group chat, because I was direct and polite and I considered the merchants' interests. My message was logical and made sense to them, which is also the point of the 8 Cs. One area I could improve is completeness: I could have offered a short summary of the relevant details and the possible outcomes.

The message also followed Grice's maxim of quantity, because I did not go overboard and included just the right amount of information. It followed the maxim of relation, and it was clear, following the maxim of manner. I believe I followed the maxim of quality too, though I could have strengthened it by including actual data or observations rather than relying only on our team's experience.

The message achieved its purpose: the merchant understood the recommendation and was open to considering the new location. The communication principles helped avoid confusion and let us address the concern quickly.

How my writing improved

I learned to lead with the point and keep it courteous, so a single message could carry a concern and a solution at once.

What I will do next

Provide supporting data or evidence with recommendations, and anticipate the merchants' questions in the first message so fewer follow-ups are needed.

Why it matters to my business

Every event I run depends on merchants trusting my judgment quickly. Clear, complete communication is how that trust gets built.

The submitted page · A2

The original A2 reflection as submitted: one page analyzing my Cabana Club merchant group chat message against the 8 Cs and Grice's maxims. Open the original
A3

Verbal & Nonverbal Cues · self-analysis of my introduction video

I graded my own self-introduction video across the three Vs: Visual, Verbal, and Vocal. For each I named a strength, a point to improve, and a promise to myself.

Visual

Strength. I looked at the camera most of the time and seemed comfortable, which made the introduction feel natural and confident.

To improve. I looked away a few times while remembering my next point, and my expression stayed mostly the same throughout.

My promise. Practice my main points beforehand to hold eye contact, and use more expression and body language to keep the audience engaged.

Verbal

Strength. My introduction was easy to follow because I spoke about myself in a clear, organized way: who I am, what I study, and what I am involved in.

To improve. Some ideas needed more explaining. I moved to the next point too quickly without enough detail or examples.

My promise. Develop my ideas further, add specific examples, and prepare a simple outline so I cover everything I want to say.

Vocal

Strength. My voice sounded friendly and conversational, so the video felt personal rather than read from a script.

To improve. My voice got softer when I was thinking, and I spoke a bit too fast in places, making a few words less clear.

My promise. Speak a little louder, slow down on the important points, and practice speaking with more confidence.

The submitted table · A3

The original A3 table as submitted: Visual, Verbal and Vocal rows, each with a strength, a point to improve and my promise to improve. Open the original
04

Credibility · manner

How far I have come

Where I started

  • No cover letter, because I never planned to apply for a job.
  • Stiff on camera, second-guessing every word.
  • Moving through ideas too fast, without examples.
  • My voice dropping whenever I stopped to think.

Where I am now

  • A cover letter, and a live e-portfolio I designed and built.
  • Confident on camera, choosing to speak straight to the lens.
  • Writing that leads with the point and runs on the 8 Cs.
  • Able to communicate with corporations, not just customers.

The one lesson I am taking with me

Communication is not a talent you are born with. It is a skill you build, one output at a time.

Every piece I submitted this term made me clearer than the last.