Developing
Soft Skills and Personality
Body Language for Group Discussions are similar
to the ones we studied for interviews:
✓Appearance, attitude, personality & positive outlook.
Dress, Handshake, Body Language, Enthusiasm
Discussed various aspects and components of Group Discussion
Top most qualities are all related to body language and soft skills
Evaluation criteria are based 75% on soft skills/body language
only 25% is related to subject-knowledge.
Don’ts:
Highlights Being Anxious to talk too much or nervous and talks little
Showing aggressive behaviour, arrogant gestures
of the Distractive body language (Biting nails, shaking legs,
Last Lecture Picking nose, playing with pen)
Do’s:
Maintaining eye-contact
Smiling, Remaining cheerful
Open palm gestures, upright walk
Nodding to show agreement
Assume the personality needed for the job even before getting the job!
Many would speak effortlessly in informal situations
Would fear so much to give a formal presentation
Oral presentation of a report
Marketing a product
Describing a new business proposal
Using: A power point presentation
Black Board
Overhead projector
Handouts/handwritten notes
3
Not only for an Indian Hindi speaker . . .
but also for an American is . . .
Public Speaking
Oral presentation is a formal act of public speaking with a
definitive communicative purpose in mind.
Speaking before a group is
the number-one fear of Americans
death comes in seventh,
with snake and insects in between.
✓The Book of Lists
Humiliation
Unfamiliarity with the situation
That something would go wrong
Be confident
Have a positive self image
(avoid self-underestimation)
Avoid comparing yourself with others
Be determined to do something about this fear
Start practicing at a small,
informal level
Adrenaline secretes ONLY during
FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE!
➢People are buried in their own thoughts
and insecurities!
➢They do not have time to observe your
nervousness!
Know your subject
Believe in Your Subject
Practice, Practice, Practice
9
Visualize your Delivery
Know your Subject
Respect Preparation
Practice Presentation
Relax your Mind
Respect your Audience
Build up Confidence by remembering
That you are presenting to your friends.
You are all in this together.
As long as you prepare properly your
examiners will realise this from your
performance and reward you accordingly.
Breathe deeply.
The first few minutes are the worst.
Forget Everything And Run
or
Face Everything And Rise.
The Choice is Yours.
~Zig Zagler
12
Developing
Soft Skills and Personality
Presentation Skills: Overcoming Fear and
Developing Courage
✓Irrespective of language, the greatest fear for many
human beings is public speaking.
✓People fear–
Humiliation, unfamiliarity and the unexpected.
Highlights Overcoming Fear
of the Remaining confident, having a positive self image
Being determined to do something about the fear
Last Lecture Practicing at a small informal level
Pumping out the inner resources like adrenaline
Knowing that people don’t really care about what you do
Knowing the subject thoroughly and believing in it
Preparing and Practicing
Keeping a relaxed frame of mind
Being empathetic to the audience
Visualizing your delivery
• View the Venue
• Welcome the Viewer
• Master Your Material
• Calm your mind
• Visualize Yourself Speaking
3
•Realize People Want A Winning Leader
•Avoid apologies
•Focus on Your Message -- not the medium
•Turn Nervousness into Positive Energy
•Gain Experience
4
View the Venue
become familiar with the place in which
you will speak.
Welcome the Viewer
Greet the audience as they arrive
smile, maintain eye contact
5
Master your material
Practice your speech or presentation
Calm your Mind
Engage yourself in exercises
to release tension
6
Visualize Yourself Speaking
Success is achievable if you visualize
People Want a Winning Leader
audience want speakers to succeed - not
fail.
wants the speaker to take lead, tackle
viewers
7
Avoid Apologies
Never mention your nervousness or apologize
for it
Focus on Your Message -- not the
medium
Do not nurture anxieties but concentrate on
your message
8
Turn Nervousness into Positive
Energy
Nervous energy is an asset to you. Harness
it, and transform it into vitality and
enthusiasm.
Gain Experience
Experience builds confidence in public
speaking
9
MAIN OBJECTIVES OF
PUBLIC SPEAKING
• To Entertain
(interest or amuse the audience)
• To Educate
(inform or to teach the audience)
• To Provoke
(stimulate or to impress the audience)
• To Influence
(convince or persuade the audience)
10
Structure your Speech
11
➢ Tell the audience what you are
going to tell them
➢ Then tell them
➢ At the end tell them what you
have told them
12
Begin with a question
Open with a story
Start with a quote
Use a startling statement
13
Establish relevancy of
topic to audience.
Get audience involvement.
14
Use clear language to state point.
Use evidence both verbal and visual
to support your point.
Amplify your point with an incident
or anecdote.
Develop a logical transition or bridge
to your next point.
15
Summarize your points.
State your conclusion.
Make it relevant to your
audience.
16
So many of our dreams at first
seem impossible, then they seem
improbable,
and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
~ Christopher Reeve
17
Developing
Soft Skills and Personality
Presentation Skills: Becoming a Professional
✓View the Venue
✓Welcome the Viewer
✓ Master Your Material
✓ Calm your mind
✓ Visualize Yourself Speaking
✓Realize People Want A Winning Leader
✓Avoid apologies
✓Focus on Your Message -- not the medium
Highlights ✓Turn Nervousness into Positive Energy
✓Gain Experience
of the
Last Lecture Main Objectives of Public Speaking:
✓To Entertain, Educate, Provoke, Influence
Structuring & Delivering Your Speech
3 or 4 major points; starting strongly & clearly; making
use of anecdotes, summarising briefly, making it
relevant, ending with a positive note
Study yourself in a mirror
Body language reflects what you are saying
Dress appropriately for the occasion
Relax your facial muscles and smile
Pause after each main point
Eye contact initially with someone
approachable
3
Avoid Hiding
Avoid looking nervous
Look into the eyes of allies
Look on the forehead of opponents
Maintain eye contact with all
4
Do not shift legs
Do not make frantic movement
Do not move back and forth
Do not dance!
Use open posture
Gestures with hands: emphasis
Speak in a natural tone
Do’s
Face the audience.
Look at each person in the audience.
Glance at notes occasionally.
Smile!
Don’t look at the mouse; Get someone else to click the mouse.
Don’ts
Do not hold on to anything!
Do not Read directly from your notes/screen!
Do not put hands in pockets!
Do not keep looking at the screen!
Do not look at the professor/examiner only!
Do’s
Speak loudly and clearly; enunciate.
Speak slowly but with confidence.
Emphasize important points—
by slowing down and/or speaking louder.
Make a transition to the next speaker (in team presentation).
Don’ts
❖Race through your speech!
❖Read directly from notes/screen
❖Talk too fast!
❖Talk deliberately slow!
❖Mumble!
❖Exceed the time-limit!
Turn back on audience
Slouch,
Keep hands in pockets
Hands in Speech
• Rest the palms if you are nervous
• Open palms if you are confident
• Avoid: inserting them in pockets
Keeping them on the back
Crossing hands
• The best gesture is anything that
correlates the verbal part of
communication.
Be Spontaneous like a child!
I’ve learned that
people will forget
what you said,
people will forget
what you did,
but people will never forget
how you made them feel.
~ Maya Angelou
Developing
Soft Skills and Personality
Body Language in Public Speaking
✓Practice before the mirror
✓Dress appropriately
✓ Do not hide
✓ Maintain eye contact with all
✓ Do not shift legs
Highlights ✓Do not hold on to anything
✓Face the audience
of the ✓Keep the palm open
Last Lecture ✓Do not put hands in the pocket
✓Speak loudly and clearly
✓Maintain a normal pace
✓Never slouch
✓Never turn back to the audience!
Pictures
Photographs Illustrate key points
Graphs
Pie-Charts Reinforce verbal message
Maps Stimulate audience interest
Diagrams
Arial view Focus audience attention
A model
Blueprint 3
➢ NO LONG SENTENCES. Bullets (keywords & phrases)
➢ Appropriate font size
➢ Appropriate colors
➢ SPELL-CHECK every slide!
➢ Check visibility.
➢ Speak to the audience, not the visual.
➢ Stop talking when making adjustments to equipment.
➢ Remove/change visual when finished with topic.
➢ Do not leave visual aids too long
➢ Decide how to advance slides.
4
visible in the back row?
relevant to your presentation?
short, so they don’t distract the audience too
much from the oral portion of the presentation?
Well-timed in relation to your presentation?
5
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6
Standing in a position where you obscure the screen
Getting lost in digressions!
Moving about too much
Keeping an eye on
the audience’s body language
✓If possible, e-mail files in advance (ppt)
✓Always keep a hard copy/transparencies
✓Always bring a soft copy on disc/pen drive
with all fonts and media included
✓And always rehearse—
With the presentation computer if possible
Chronological
Problem-cause-solution
Pro/Con
Sequential (1-2-3 . . .)
Use topics from your own experience
Develop narrative skills
Never speak without a purpose
Support your argument with
interesting examples, personal
anecdotes and funny facts
11
Project your voice
Speaking a little more loudly than normal
feels unusual at first but your audience won’t
notice.
They will only notice if you speak softly.
12
There is no point in giving
a presentation that the
audience can not
understand!
Enjoy Yourself!
Be Creative!
Develop your own style!
You will have your own fans!
14
15
Developing
Soft Skills and Personality
Purpose of Visuals
Illustrate key points; Reinforce verbal message
Stimulate audience interest; Focus audience attention
Visual Guidelines
Use of bullet points; suitable font size; checking
spelling; visibility; avoiding obscure materials;
Avoiding standing between the projector and the screen
Presentation Practicalities
Highlights E-mailing the presentation in advance
of the Keeping a hard/spare copy
Rehearsing with the computer
Last Lecture
Final Tips
Using topics from own experience; developing
narrative skills; speaking with purpose; using
anecdotes and funny facts;
communicating clearly & effectively.
Developing your own style.
The Art of Reading
Reading keeps the mind alive and progressive.
Reading is dreaming with open eyes. It inspires and transforms you.
The more you read, the more you know.
Reading kindles your thinking and imagination; unlike a television.
Read three hours a day; soon you will become learned!
Reading helps you gain new vocabulary, ideas and expression.
However, people have lost the passion for reading.
Many are afraid of reading as it consumes so much of time.
[the difficult and lengthy].
• Quick Preview:
• Detailed Preview:
• Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific
information, e.g. figures or names.
• Use WH questions.
• Locate key facts.
• Look for specific bits of information.
• E. g.: Checking a number in a telephone directory;
train timings; historical events; birth date, etc.
Tip: Don’t Skim when you actually need to Scan!
• Don’t read a sentence word by word or letter by letter:
An---apple---a---day---keeps---the---doctor---away.
A-n--An---a-p-p-le-apple---a---d-a-y-day---k-e-e-p-s-keeps---
t-h-e-the---d-o-c-t-o-r-doctor---a-w-a-y-away.
• Train your eyes to see words in groups/clusters: 3 or 4
words at a glance!
• An-apple a-day keeps-the doctor-away.
• An-apple-a-day keeps-the-doctor away.
• An-apple-a-day keeps-the-doctor-away.
• Each one groups words differently
• Try with slow speed at first a piece of writing
Check the comprehension by reading again in normal speed.
• Try with increased speed another piece
Your speed increases when you realize that you have not
missed anything in the second normal reading!
• Don’t be disappointed; practice regularly!
Remember . . .
Follow two golden principles in
reading:
1. GET ADDICTED TO READING!
2. IF YOU START ANYTHING;
FINISH IT!
It is what you read
when you don’t have to
that determines what you will be
when you can’t help it.
~ Oscar Wilde
Developing
Soft Skills and Personality
The Art of Reading: Techniques for Effective Reading
Previewing/Sampling
Helps you to eliminate what you do not want to read; and
chose the one you like to read!
Skimming
Glancing through the key words
Newspapers, magazines, travel brochures, etc.
Scanning
Highlights Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific
information, e.g. figures or names.
of the
Clustering
Last Lecture Reading words in groups
For quick and full comprehension
Close Reading
Reading for appreciation. [Literature/Philosophy]
Words are analysed for inner and in-depth meanings.
Developing addiction for reading; finishing, once started . . .
Summing Up: Concluding Thoughts . . . You start dying slowly . . .
You start dying slowly
if you do not travel,
if you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.
You start dying slowly
When you kill your self-esteem;
When you do not let others help you.
You start dying slowly
If you become a slave of your habits,
Walking everyday on the same paths…
If you do not change your routine,
If you do not wear different colours
Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.
You start dying slowly
If you avoid to feel passion
And their turbulent emotions;
Those which make your eyes glisten
And your heart beat fast.
You start dying slowly
If you do not change your life
when you are not satisfied with your job,
or with your love,
If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,
If you do not go after a dream,
If you do not allow yourself,
At least once in your lifetime,
To run away from sensible advice…
~ Pablo Neruda
