It is extremely tough to create a synthesis of everything we have learned in this class, especially when many of the most useful things we gained from this class was just pure experience. Obviously the overarching theme of what I have done this year is get better at communications, but communications has so many key components. For this reason, I have chosen to separate my synthesis into multiple sections to try to portray what information is best utilized in various different sections of my life.
Presenting to a Group |
If I had to choose a most impactful section, it would without a doubt be my ability to present to a group. With all the work Ira has done with the class as well as the guest speakers, I feel much more confident in my ability as a speaker.
In my eyes, the most important thing about presenting to a group is confidence. Even if the audience is not looking for it, they can tell how comfortable you are on stage. While having an important message is vital to giving a good talk, people aren't willing or able to listen to your points when you are nervous. Being nervous is easily visible in habits like awkward laughter, weak vocal tone, pacing, weak body language, and abnormal hand gestures. You must be able to overcome being nervous in able to give a good talk. I have picked up numerous tips on increasing confidence throughout the semester. The first would be to practice your material over and over and over again. If you know what you are talking about, there is a lot less stress in the situation. For me, this is a crucial tip because I tend to be lazy and avoid practicing. I have always been more of the wing it type, but practice really increases performance. If you are still nervous of speaking in front of a crowd even if you know what you are going to say, you just need to overcome your mental fears. This again comes with practice of speaking in front of people, but there are short term ways to overcome this as well. A strange way to overcome this is to do push ups or jumping jacks before going up to present to get the jitters out. You can also think about it mentally. No one cares as much as you think they do. You aren't as important to their lives as you think you are, so messing up a little bit is okay. Once you can get these fears and nervousness out, you will be able to give a good talk because you are confident. |
Another important thing Ira has taught us is to focus on the words you are saying. Words have power, and they should be treated as such. Even if you are confident in what you are saying, you may still be in a rut if you don't have anything intelligent to say to people. A good way to add some power your message is to use literary techniques such as metaphors, dialogue, repetition, repetition, and repetition. Starting with repetition, there is power in repeating things 3 times because it resonates with the listener. Using repetition can really help drive home a point that people will remember. Dialogue can help bring stories alive and make people feel more engaged with the talk. Finally, metaphors are great to help simplify tough subjects. In summary, though, words are also very important to the power of a talk.
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The final point I would like to make about how to give a talk is the congruence between your words and body language. I have discussed the importance of words and some of the importance of body language in the section with confidence, but even if both are strongly portraying a message, you want to make sure it is the same message. For instance, one of our speakers demonstrated this by telling us to put our finger on our forehead while actually putting his finger to his chin. Most people followed what he did and not what he said. This shows the importance of using body language that matches your words. When using conflicting body language and words, your point gets lost. When using both words and body language congruently, you can be an extremely effective speaker.
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Leading, Teamwork, Businesses, and Change
In order to be an effective person, leader, organization, team, etc., one must be able to adapt and readily change. Throughout the semester, one of the recurring themes was change to survive. This is true on a personal level with people having to adjust to rapidly changing job markets, and at an organizational level where companies must adjust their old ways of doing things to match the efficiency of others in the market. Better yet, if companies and people can predict change and be the one ahead of the curve, they will be able to be leaps and bounds ahead of competitors. The catch is that they must be rapidly changing. As soon as someone or something becomes comfortable and stagnant, there will be someone who is making the audibles that will help overtake the incumbent.
Now the reason I talk about change in this section is because on an organizational level, change can only be initiated by a strong leader with an open minded team. Allow me to start with the leader. In order for a leader to create successful change, he must have two major things: trust and charisma. Trust is a fundamental part of all business, especially when trying to alter a company's way of doing something. Even if people can get over the leaps and bounds of what a company is changing and why they are doing it, the changes can never be implemented with the distrust of coworkers or management. People simply will not listen. The other component is charisma. Charisma can help to gain trust, but it really helps to get peoples' attention. Charisma is what makes other people want to listen to you. Charisma is what makes a leader convincing. When management is charismatic and has employees' trust, changes can be made.
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Changes can't be made without the team following behind, but with a good team, many things can be accomplished. This falls back to the point of trust and team chemistry. A team's worth is more than just a sum of each person. A "dream team" with all the best players can fall short to a seemingly inferior squad that works together better. Members don't necessarily have to like each other, but when you can get together a team of diverse skill sets that trusts each other, real progress will be made.
Whether you are trying to make change, trying to convince someone of something, trying to make a friend, or any other activity that involves any form of communication; my biggest advice to myself would be to just try to be a decent human. Many things can be overcome with common sense. Nit picky things like how to give an effective message in a presentation are not completely obvious, but when it comes to dealing with people, it boils down to treat people the way they would like to be treated. Now you may say, "I thought the phrase was treat people the way you would like to be treated," and you would be right. However, my boss at the challenge course has changed the way I see the phrase. Everyone is different, and what might be okay to you might not be great for someone else. If you can treat people the way they want to be treated, people are likely to respect you, trust you, and want to listen to you.
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My Everyday Life Most of this section are taken from other concepts we learned in class, Dale Carnegie material, and my personal experiences.
Another tip I have learned, which is partially what my Youtube channel is centered around, is being positive. You have the power to influence other people in so many ways, and in every way having a positive attitude makes the outcome better. When being positive while giving criticism, people are more likely to listen and less likely to be hurt. Being positive increases your chances of people trusting you because you positively influence their mood. In general, making it a goal to smile at everyone can make your as well as their day better. Positivity brings hope, and it is the best way to live your life.
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Conclusion
I believe that I have grown a tremendous amount through this class in different ways. The most valuable asset I have gained is experience in presenting in my opinion. Knowledge from most classes only goes so far, but there is no substitute for having experience. The only times I ever presented before this class were half jokingly to try and make other class presentations not seem so boring or awkward. Telling stories, giving my elevator pitch, and giving an entire TED Talk has propelled me to a place where I at least have done a bit of serious presenting. I am by no means perfect. I would actually consider myself very far from it, but that is where the things I learned in this class will help fill some gaps. Early in the year we learned about deliberate practice, where you are practicing with the intent of receiving feedback and improving. Using this and pushing myself in the future will help me to become a powerful speaker later in my career. I have already seen visual improvements in my Youtube videos, though, which are a good way to visualize my journey as a speaker. On the introduction page, I posted my very first video, which was alright, but I was very awkward. I was embarassed to look at the camera, and tried to hide it by forcing myself to awkwardly look at it using multiple takes. Above on this page is my latest video, which took only one take. While it is short, I believe it does show my increased confidence and comfortability in front of the camera. I feel this same way when presenting live. I hope to continue progressing in my communications in the future as I take on the business world. Thank you for reading :)