8/31/15 – Introduction/Communication Process
The first class of the semester was basically an
introduction and overview of the course. We first went over a description of
class objectives and what came to peoples’ minds with the phrase “oral
communication.” Some of these responses included public speaking/giving
presentations, one on one persuasions, informative talks, elevator pitches, and
communicating with other disciplines, cultures, and ages. I could see how all
of these are crucial aspects of successful oral communication. Additionally, we
went over the article entitled “What It Takes to Be Great.” This article
debunked the myth that most people who are good at something are naturally
talented at it and argued that hard work is essential to mastering something.
It also emphasized the 10,000 hour rule that states that it takes 10,000 hours
of practice to be good at something. Not only is a lot of practice important,
but deliberate practice is also just as essential. Deliberate practice is using
the right technique to practice and setting specific reachable goals for
yourself. Lastly, we went over the various components of the IOCSR and what
each component would entail.
Key takeaways:
One key takeaway from my first class is how valuable oral
communication is to being successful in a work environment and even getting
hired at a job you want. No matter what major you are in nowadays, recruiters
from companies always want a well rounded individual that is comfortable
expressing themselves and communicating with others in a variety of
professional settings. Although the content of what you are saying may vary,
the way you say it can greatly impact your audiences’ reaction. Personally, I
have always struggled with public speaking and get extremely nervous when I
have to present in front of my classmates, so this class will definitely push
the boundaries of my comfort zone. Because I know oral communication in a professional
setting is one of my greatest weaknesses, I realized I must consciously work
hard to ask for feedback and practice in order to improve upon this area before
the stakes are higher. This is primarily why I was excited to start this course
that would teach me to express myself more eloquently.
9/14/15- Elevator Pitches
In this second class each of us presented a prepared 30-90
second elevator pitch to help us land a job. The goal of the pitch was to
summarize who you are, what you do, and why you are the perfect candidate for a
specific position. Everyone went up one by one and presented their elevator
pitches in front of the whole class while everyone else wrote down what they
thought were that person’s strengths and weaknesses on a feedback form. Every
person also got someone else to record his or her pitch so that he or she could
rewatch the speech in the future. We were also told that we would be giving
another elevator pitch at the end of the semester and would compare that one to
the one we gave today to see how far we had come. As there were about 30
students in the class, this exercise took the entire class. At the very end, we
all watched our own speeches and commented on what we liked, disliked, and
wanted to change about the Elevator Pitch Presentation as a whole. Lastly, we
distributed everyone’s feedback forms so that they could take it back with them
and look over everyone’s critiques of their speech.
Key takeaways:
Although I think giving an actual elevator pitch to a large
audience simply listening is a little unrealistic in the real world, I nevertheless
really liked this class because it forced me out of my comfort zone. I hate
public speaking and presentations, and get extremely nervous whenever I am
forced to do either. However, I know these skills are vital ones in the
business world and companies are always looking for effective communicators who
are able to effectively convey their message to large audiences as well as to
other individuals. Giving an elevator pitch to my whole class for 30-90 seconds
may not be a big deal to others, but it was definitely a challenge for me.
Before this assignment, I actually prepared and rehearsed my pitch repeatedly
in front of a mirror to make sure I could get it just right during the presentation.
When I was actually up there, I remembered everything, but I think the
over-preparing may have actually worked against me, as some of the comments on
my feedback forms said I sounded monotone or spoke too fast. I think I could’ve
put more passion and excitement into my speech but it was hard for me to do so
at the time because I was so anxious to simply get it over with. I actually
really enjoyed the feedback forms component because it was helpful to get
constructive criticism on aspects of my speech I could improve on for the final
pitch at the end of the semester. Despite how much I hate listening to my own
voice and watching myself doing something, I thought having a recording of my
speech to play back and watch was a beneficial experience as well. This way I
noticed that I was indeed talking extremely fast with almost no emotion on my
face or intonation in my voice, and in the future now I know I have to work on
those two components while I am giving a public presentation.
9/21/2015- Guest Speaker – Dr. Jeff Kudisch – (What Skills
are Critical for Career Success?)
Summary:
During this class session, we had a
guest speaker, Dr. Jeff Kudisch, come in from the Office of Career Services and
offer advice on how to land a job and interview successfully. Dr. Kudisch is
the Assistant Dean of Corporate Relations as well as the Managing Director of
the Office of Career Services. He started the class off with a presentation
entitled “Succeeding Amidst the War for Talent: Tips for Career Success.” After
briefly introducing the Office of Career Services and their mission (to provide
students with experiences and opportunities to begin their careers and to
partner with employers), Dr. Kudisch began examining the top skills that
employers are seeking nowadays. Many of the top skills were not surprising but
pretty common sense, such as leadership, ability to work in a team, and problem
solving skills. However, something new I learned was that executives look for
the 5 Q’s, meaning not only do they look for the Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
that gets your foot in the door, but are also seeking in potential candidates
the qualities of Emotional Quotience/Intelligence (EQ), Cultural
Quotient/Intelligence (CQ), Passion Quotient (PQ), and Courage Quotient (CRQ).
Next, we got to watch a video
entitled “How to Get A Dream Job” in which a psychologist tries to transform
the worst job candidate he could find into a great one in merely 3 days. The
poor man who had the worst interview spoke monotonously, said he didn’t have
his cover letter, and came across as bland, lacking drive, competition, and
confidence. Although Andrew, the man, claimed he had inner confidence, he had
trouble displaying that confidence in an interview as outward confidence. After
the video, Dr. Kudisch asked the class if we thought it was real, and when Eddy
said he thought it wasn’t, Dr. Kudisch actually asked him to come to the front
of the class and gave him interview questions on the spot to answer. I thought
Eddy did a great job of answering the questions how he did because he was
confident, concise, and detailed in his answers, considering how nervous he
must’ve felt standing up there in front of all his peers and teacher. After Eddy finished the mini mock interview,
Dr. Kudisch asked the class what he did well and points he could improve on.
Dr. Kudisch also emphasized that
70% of what you say is what you’re not saying, meaning that body language was
extremely important in conveying a message to an employer of your personal
brand and the kind of job candidate you are. Hand gestures should be used
appropriately to accentuate your important points, not as a nervous tick or
used to sign out what you’re saying to your interviewer. Eye contact is also
crucial because it shows that you are fully engaged in the conversation and
confident in yourself. Lastly, Dr. Kudisch explained how to successfully
prepare and strategize for an interview, going into the situation having done
research and prepared 5-7 questions to ask at the end to show initiative,
engagement, and passion.
Key Takeaways:
So far, this class session has been
my favorite in the semester because of the useful information Dr. Kudisch
provided and how applicable this knowledge is to all of our lives. I thought
the session was enrapturing and that the whole class was captivated by Dr.
Kudisch’s presenting skills and intriguing powerpoint presentation. He had no
trouble getting and keeping the attention of all of us because we all want and
need to know the secrets to landing an internship or job, as that is what we
are ultimately in school for. Getting goods grades and excelling in classes is
merely a vehicle for achieving our ultimate goal, which would be to get a
satisfying job after graduation.
First, in one scene of the video we
watched, the psychologist asks Andrew, the weak job interviewee, to sell
himself to him across a packed subway train. Andrew had extreme difficulty with
this first exercise because he found it challenging to deliver a clear, concise
pitch without including many um’s and uh’s, as well as hesitation. I empathized
with him in this scene because I, along with many of my peers I’m sure, was
able to relate to the uncertainty and throwing in unnecessary filler words such
as like, um, and uh’s. This unprofessional talking habit is one of the biggest
faults of my public speaking that I need to work on in the future.
After Eddy went up there impromptu
and answered a couple typical interview questions, the lesson I took away from
Dr. Kudisch cold calling him up there was that practicing your elevator pitch,
interviewing skills, and overall brand was essential because you never know
when you might need to impress an employer or forge a quick connection with a
recruiter.
The part of Dr. Kudisch’s
presentation that I found most beneficial was the section on Interview
Preparation and Strategies because it introduced many tips that I know I will
use in the future, such as that you should keep responses to questions in an
interview 2-3 minutes in length, only talk about job related topics, and try to
come off as authentic and humble, not cocky and arrogant, but yet remain
confident. He also advised us to do research on the recruiter ahead of time if
we knew who he/she would be because “similarity breeds attractiveness”, meaning
recruiters unconsciously rate a person higher if they perceive themselves to
have things in common with that person. Then, during the interview, we should
ask questions that somehow tie in with our similarities and also try to get the
recruiter talking about their own experience because they don’t often have the
chance to do so.
The resources Dr. Kudisch
introduced us to are also invaluable to me because I will definitely utilize
them in the future to practice skills and look up information. Some of these
include toastmasters.com, a community that strengthens oral communication
skills, Interview Stream, The Virtual Interviewer that helps you polish
interview skills through answering questions on an online video recording,
glassdoor.com, Careerbuilder, InternMatch (all of which help you find out about
interview and internship opportunities) among others.
He ended the class by repeating a
quote, “Your brand is what people say about you when you leave the room.” –
Jeff Bezos. This saying deeply resonated with me because I realized its
veracity, not only in professional aspects, but personally as well. How you
present yourself is how people will think and probably speak of you when you
aren’t there, because when it is when someone is not present that people are
the most honest about their perceptions. I took away that is highly critical to
stay genuine to your own personality, goals, and mindset while working on
improving your personal brand by leveraging your natural strengths and
beginning to work on improving weaknesses.
9/28- Strategic Self-Awareness/
Understanding Your Personal Effectiveness
Summary: In this class session we explored the power of
public speaking. We viewed a video on how lucrative the public speaking
business is as we watched talented and charismatic speakers cashing in on
Americans’ desire for success.
Additionally, we discussed what made someone a good leader
and what makes someone a good manager to their employees. One great example of
how highly companies value the necessity of having a great manager is Google’s
“Project Oxygen”, their operation to build better bosses and teams. In order to
do this, they surveyed employees through feedback surveys, analyzed performance
reviews, and used the information gathered to develop programs to train certain
skills in their current managers. These 8 key skills include:
1. Be a good coach.
2. Empower your
team and don't micromanage.
3. Express interest
in team members' success and personal well-being
4. Don't be a
sissy. Be productive and results-oriented.
5. Be a good
communicator and listen to your team.
6. Help your
employees with career development.
7. Have a clear
vision and strategy for the team.
8. Have key
technical skills so you can help advise the team.
Additionally, Google revealed
that employees much preferred a manager to be accessible rather than be
technically skills, and technical skills are at the bottom of the list.
Therefore, contrary to what you might believe, having vast technical knowledge
does not enable you to connect effectively with your employees. You need to be
approachable and someone your employees would feel comfortable around. In other
words, you need to demonstrate Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Emotional intelligence is how effectively you
exercise your emotions to serve you rather than hinder you. Someone with a strong
EQ shows strong motivation, empathy, self-awareness, self-regulation, and
social skills. The higher rank you are in an organization, the more important
Emotional Intelligence becomes. Most people spend most of their time
collaborating with others through meetings, so the oral communication piece is
extremely critical to their communication success.
Key Takeaway Points:
I never realized that there existed entire days of
motivational speaking sessions. I definitely underestimated the power of public
speaking as an industry and never imagined that people would pay so much money
just to get a few hours or a day of inspirational empowerment.
I also learned that the number one reason people leave
companies is because they hate their boss. This did not surprise me in the
least because it is impossible to continue to work for someone you dislike and
who doesn’t understand how to communicate effectively with you. Through my
personal work experience, I can also see how crucial of a role the 8 key traits
of good managers play into employee satisfaction. Earlier this year I worked at
a law firm in the College Park area. My duties included proofreading legal
documents such as wills and estate contracts, as well as looking up statues on
a legal database. Since I haven’t taken Business Law yet, it was challenging
because I did not understand much of the legal jargon or what certain words or
phrases meant. However, my boss was a good coach and always taught me the
skills necessary to complete the task. He also expressed interest in my well
being by always asking me how school was going and how my weekend was, so I
knew he cared about me more than just a worker. Additionally, he never
micromanaged me and gave me the space I needed to complete projects. The reason
I left was to pursue a more relevant position for my future career, and when I
gave him my two weeks notice, he was extremely understanding, which showed him
that he valued my personal career development, and I think that is very rare in
a manager because usually they just care about how you can help them.
10/5/15 – Strategic Self-Awareness/ Understanding Your
Personal Effectiveness Part 2
Summary:
This class was about the puzzle of motivation and what
drives employees in a work setting. Motivation is defined as forces that
energize, direct, and sustain a person’s efforts.
I learned motivation is internal, complex and different for
each person, and that fear may be an effective short-term motivator, but if you
want to motivate someone in the long term, you must do so through joy. In the
Change or Die article, a point that I thought to be interesting was that
patients with unhealthy lifestyles who were suffering serious health problems
because of their unhealthy habits were more likely to change if you emphasized
the joy of living and being with their loved ones rather than instilled the
fear of death in them.
Moreover, Dan Pink explained in his Ted Talk about the
puzzle of motivation that contingent motivators are fine when there is a simple
set of rules and the task is cut and dry, but they do not work well for tasks
that require creative thinking and innovation because such rewards narrow focus
and restrict possibility. As long as the task was purely mechanical, the higher
the reward, the better the performance. However, when offered a reward, people
actually take longer to figure out a task that requires them to use their
brains as opposed to not given a financial incentive. Instead, he argues that
autonomy, mastery, and purpose are the building blocks for motivating business
people.
Next, we delved into the topic of change and the complexity
behind the factors that drive someone to actually change. By watching the Who
Moved My Cheese video, we learned that sometimes people may dwell more on their
losses and linger unhappily on their misfortunes instead of adapting to the
situation and looking to move forward (Hem refusing to venture back out into
the maze in search of new cheese). I believe that cheese in this scenario
represents our personal happiness and success. When Hem and Haw (the little
people) were happy and content, they never noticed any small changes in their
cheese supply, however, the mice (Skip and Scurry) monitored every little
detail so they would be prepared when one day all the cheese disappeared, and
they would be ready to venture back out in search of more cheese.
Key takeaways:
Two shocking facts that I learned from this class were that
most people in an organization are either not engaged or actively disengaged,
and that business majors score lower and study less than other majors. I would
have imagined that most people are interested and involved in their
organization because they choose to work there, but apparently much is needed
to retain an employer’s interest. The specific piece that business majors work
harder and score lower than our counterparts is also surprising to me because
personally, I know a lot of my peers who are extremely conscientious and
ambitious. Overall, however, the message I received was that motivation is an
individual process, and I have to make that active decision to push myself.
Some myths about change I learned include that crisis is
powerful impetus, change is motivated by fear, the facts will set us free,
small gradual changes are easier to sustain than large ones, and that we can’t
change because our brains are hardwired to be a certain way. The main key
takeaway point I gained from this section of the lecture was that the best
inspiration comes from leaders who can create compelling and positive visions
of the future. Narratives are what matter, not facts, and radical changes may
be riskier, but they are more effective at the end of the day.
I think the narrative of “Who Moved My Cheese” truly
illustrates how stubborn and stuck in their way of thinking many of us can be
in an easy to understand way. Much of the time, I feel exactly like Hem,
staring at what I have and reluctant to move on in search of improved
conditions. Recently, I had to make a decision to quit my current job to pursue
a new offer that would be more beneficial to my career in the long run. One
simple catch: I do not like change and was already comfortable in the daily
routine of my old job. It would be scary to start all over again in a new place
with a new boss and new assignments that I might have no idea how to do and
risk embarrassment. At the end of the day, however, I finally pushed myself to
make the switch and gathered up the courage to tell my boss that I would be
quitting. I recently started my position working as a Business Process Analyst
for the Division of IT and it has been every bit as promising as I thought it
would be: I am much more interested in my actual assignments than my prior job
working for a law firm because it is actually want I want to do with my future,
whereas while I was content and settled into my previous position, I had no
real passion for law.
10/12 – Leading with Communication
Summary:
This class period was all about how to lead through
effective communication. A key trait effective communicators demonstrate is
charisma, the ability to communicate a clear, visionary, and inspirational
message that captivates and motivates an audience. Most importantly, charisma
can be learned; anyone can be trained in what are known as “charismatic
leadership tactics.” There are 12 tactics in total, 9 verbal and 3 nonverbal.
The verbal tactics include metaphors, similies, analogies, stories and
anecdotes, contrasts, rhetorical questions, three part lists, expressions of
moral conviction, reflections of group sentiments, setting high goals, and
conveying confidence that they can be achieved. The three nonverbal tactics are
animated voice, facial expressions, and gestures. In Olivia Fox Cabane’s speech
at Google entitled Charisma, Leadership, and the Imposter Syndrome, she states
that there are three main components of charisma: presence, power, and warmth.
Presence is achieved through maintaining eye contact, and even focusing on
people’s pupils and your own toes to increase self-awareness. Power can be
attained through strategic positioning of your body, aka Alpha Gorilla body
language: making yourself as big as possible like an alpha gorilla would do.
Warmth is perhaps the hardest of the three because it cannot be faked. Key
tellers of warmth are eyes and voice.
Lastly we also discussed the concept of Tipping Point
Leadership. The idea of “tipping point” is the concept that once beliefs of a
critical mass of people are engaged, conversion to a new idea then spreads like
an epidemic. There are usually four hurdles that discourage change: the
Cognitive Hurdle (how to find new ways to communicate?), the Resource Hurdle
(how to focus on hot spots and bargain with partner organizations?), the
Motivational Hurdle (how to frame the challenge to match an organization’s
various levels?), and the Political Hurdle (how to identify and silence
internal opponents while isolating external ones?) A real life case study of
Tipping Point Leadership in practice is the case of police chief Bill Bratton
who transformed New York from an extremely dangerous place to the safest large
city in the nation through overcoming these four hurdles to bring about
transformative and long lasting change.
Key takeaways:
Although I also felt that all great speakers had something
in common, I could never pinpoint what that characteristic or skill was. After
this class, I became confident that it was charisma. I thought it was valuable
lecture because not only did we learn what charisma was, we also learned the 12
Charismatic Learning Tactics we can begin to insert into our speeches in order
to give more captivating and impactful speeches. One trouble I sometimes have
when giving a presentation is really connecting to my audience. I feel that
often I am just giving them a talk and they are bored listening to me drone on
and on, because there is they think there is nothing in it for them to be
sitting there listening to me. Now I know if I can exude presence, power, and
warmth I will be greater able to command an audience’s attention. A small but
critical point that I can make an effort to improve is my own body language
when giving speeches. I realized sometimes I shrink or hunch my body while
looking down. This is a clear sign of insecurity and in the future I will try
to adapt the “Alpha Gorilla pose” into my speeches – stand up tall and straight
and show the audience that what I have to say is content worth listening to.
This small improvement in body language, combined with sprinkling my speech
with verbal Charismatic Learning Tactics, such as including metaphor, stories,
and lists, will greatly improve my future presentations.
10/19 – Ira Koretsky, Chief Storyteller (Giving
Presentations)
Summary: During this
class, we had the privilege of having a guest speaker, Ira Koretsky, come in
and talk to us about how to “Speak Like Ted”, or offer strategies to become as
inspiring and memorable as the world’s top speakers. Ted is about vulnerability
and authenticity, and they do not invite smooth or slick and polished speakers.
The key to preparing a successful speech is to consider the overarching
question: what do you want to be
known for?
The 8 keys to great talks are as follows:
1. Promise a better tomorrow. What’s in it for the people listening to your speech? What should be their biggest takeaway?
1. Promise a better tomorrow. What’s in it for the people listening to your speech? What should be their biggest takeaway?
2. Turn their world upside down. Offer a twist to the normal
presentation, show a different angle, and just be interesting.
3. Develop a catchy Call-2-Action. Your action should be
easily repeatable, inspire action, and less than or equal to 7 words.
4. Make memorable moments.
5. Tell great stories – induce as many laughs as possible,
because humor makes people warm up to you as a speaker.
6. Show only compelling visuals.
7. Practice like an Olympian.
8. Paint your presentation.
Key takeaways:
My main key takeaways from Ira’s first presentation were
that the three most important factors that will determine a speech’s success or
failure were the content, your voice, and your body language. The second piece
is that it is absolutely essential to make your PowerPoint slides great because
bad PowerPoints detract from presentations. In the future, I will definitely
need to consider this piece with more weight, because I know I have had some
plain and boring PowerPoint slideshows in the past to accompany my oral presentation.
No wonder why my peers fell asleep during my speech! I would always cram too
much text onto each slide and now I realize that is not a smart way to give a
presentation. Additionally, I would read off my slides while presenting and in
retrospect, I should’ve realized that people are capable of reading for
themselves.
10/26 – Ira Korestky, Chief Storyteller (Personal Branding)
Summary:
Ira’s second session with us was all about personal branding
and how to land the job you want. All of us wonder how we can wow hiring
managers with effective personal branding. At this point, most of us lack much
work experience, so what do recruiters hire on? The answer is potential. What
you have to offer the company is tied to your value proposition, or promise.
To grab peoples’ attention, tell a story in the beginning of
a presentation and use body language as an indicator. Giving a talk is all
about the intersection between the heart (emotion and connection), delivery (pacing,
tone, body language, and figures of speech), and mind (factual, believable, and
trustworthy). Moreover, to become more
eloquent, you should also use speaking enhancements, such as repetition,
alliteration, and metaphors. Speeding up or slowing down your pace and raising
your volume or lowering it can also keep the audience on the edge of their
seats and listen closer to what you have to say.
Key takeaways:
Ira also told us to spice up our Linked in profile and
change the headline to something unique that would catch employers’ attention.
My profile picture on LinkedIn was still my high school yearbook picture and
about two years old. It was not an accurate portrayal of the person I was
today; it was blurry and outdated. I finally stopped procrastinating and got an
official LinkedIn portrait taken for me by a friend and uploaded it. I’m so
glad I finally did because now my profile looks much crisper and cleaner.
Ira also made the point that you should always send a real
invite to connect on LinkedIn with someone, never the generic message. This was
something new for me to do in the future, because I would usually always send
the generic default message without thinking twice. Now I will always make sure
to customize my requests to colleagues, professors, or employers.
Another key takeaway was that every life experience can be a
business story, and that “chance favors only the prepared mind”, meaning that
you can spin anything that happens to you to be a business lesson and learn
from it.
A couple miscellaneous helpful tips I will take from the
presentation are to run an Internet search for your name for 10 or more pages
because you never know what could come up, and you want to make sure you are
only represented in a positive light online when employers perform a background
check. To build further upon your professional social media presence, I will
“deliberately” share my content on any blogs or on LinkedIn, as well as post
meaningful comments on others’ blogs in order to forget lasting relationships
and use the Internet as a vessel for networking. Part of using the Internet to
network is ensuring that my LinkedIn is top notch. I made sure that it was
through uploading a professional
Additionally, an excellent way to figure out what your
personal brand is is through running a Wordle on different documents, such as
your resume, to figure out which words you use the most to describe yourself.
Also, I will use the phrase “I am a student liberally”, because I know it will open
many doors and opportunities for me, since people are more willing to help out
students.
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