In general, before coming to college I was someone who didn't generally believe in the value of self-reflection. I had never really tried it much before and it was something that I simply never really bough in to. Last year; however, completing the personal creative reflection helped me realize that self-reflection can, in fact, be very beneficial when it comes to self-improvement. Additionally, it helped me to recognize the value of really looking deep at what you are good at and what areas you can improve in, and then using that knowledge to your advantage by either utilizing your strengths or seeking to improve your weaknesses. In completing the PCR I learned a lot about myself and still to this day use some of the things that I learned in order to better succeed in aspects of my life. In completing the Interpersonal and oral communications skills reflection I gained similar insight as to my strengths and weaknesses and was challenged to improve myself over the course of the semester.
One of the most obvious ways that I have changed as a result of the IOCSR can be seen in my REFLECT action plans. In my opinion the changes that arose as a result of my implementation of the REFLECT action plans were clearly observable and undoubtedly beneficial. The strides that I was able to make in the categories of drive, collaboration, and strategic planning were massive and will help me not only in group work in school, but also in my career search and future career. As a result of the plans I put into place to improve on my REFLECT skills I am now more comfortable with operating with little to no instruction and both determining what needs to be done and actually doing it without instruction from my boss. I am also much more willing to work with others either in a study group or a group-work situation, and better able to manage the different kinds of people and personalities associated with different groups. Additionally, I have improved leaps and bounds in the area of strategic planning, which has in turn improved my ability to focus more on balancing long-term and short-term goals as opposed to having the majority of my focus be on day-to-day things. Finally, as a direct result of my implementation of REFLECT action plans, I am now better prepared for a future in business, both in terms of planning and in terms of having the skills necessary to succeed.
Another area that I have improved a great deal in this semester as a result of this course is my public speaking skills. Before this semester I would classify my public speaking ability as average at best, and while I wouldn't say I had a fear of public speaking, I certainly wasn't fond of it. I also viewed it as something that you are either naturally good at or not and that improvements in it could only be marginal. I was surprised; however, by just how much I saw myself improve in the area of public speaking and presenting, just over the course of the semester. I also saw myself become much more comfortable with it and more willing to stand in front of a crowd and speak. I was able to experience one of the most obvious pieces of evidence of this a few weeks ago. My fraternity recently held elections for our executive council positions, which require giving a five minute speech followed by a five minute question and answer session. I was nominated for the position of treasurer and chose to run. Before taking this course I would've formatted and presented my speech in a very different manner, which likely would not have been as successful. I would've likely gone up and given a generic speech in which I outlined what I intended to do and how I was qualified for the position and then answered questions on the spot. Having taken the course I followed Ira's advice about having a better tomorrow message and repeating it in the beginning and end of the speech and relating back to it whenever possible. I also knew that my competitors would likely be giving boring speeches that said basically the same thing and that if I wanted to be elected I would have to somehow make my speech stand out. In order to do this I made the focus more on what I have done for the chapter so far and how those actions would correlate with me being the best candidate for treasurer. I also made sure to bring up points that I knew my competitors were unlikely to have brought up. Finally, I took care to write my speech in such a way that I would know some of the questions that people would have at the end, as well as brainstorm some others that I though might be asked, and made sure that I would have answers prepared for them. In my opinion, these things, in addition to my improved level of comfort with presenting, helped me greatly. Additionally, they were all strategic decisions that I most likely would not have made had I not taken this course. Fortunately, this strategy allowed me to win the election for treasurer, despite likely not being the most qualified candidate for the job. Afterwards, I was complimented by a number of people about how good my speech and question and answer sessions were compared to the other candidates.
Furthermore, this course helped me become much more nuanced as a speaker. Whether it was Ira's instructions on how to address a crowd, the presenter from Dale Carnegie's tips on how to give a better speech, watching TED Talks about how to present, or just simply a result of the practice over the course of the semester, I became a lot better at the small things that make a public speaker effective. For example, before taking this CPBE225 I had a tendency to stand behind a podium while presenting, essentially shielding myself from the audience without even knowing that it was a bad thing. I also was unaware of how to effectively use silence as a tool when presenting, something which I now see as one of the most important aspects of formulating a speech. Finally, I learned a number of techniques for using body language, and hand motions in particular, to emphasize points in a speech without making the audience feel uncomfortable. I now use all of these skills and many more that I learned throughout the course of this semester whenever I am presenting, be it a speech outlining why I should be treasurer of my fraternity or a group presentation in class.
Another major change that I was able to see in myself as a result of this course is how I now prepare for a speech or presentation versus how I did before taking the class. Whenever I had to give a presentation in the past I would do my best to memorize the whole entire thing and attempt to choreograph any hand motions that I would make. From this course I learned that this is far from the best way to prepare for a presentation. Now whenever I give a speech I write it out beforehand and read it over a few times, paying attention to the overarching themes and major points as opposed to memorizing each word. I have found that this makes my speeches sound a lot more natural and in turn, more interesting to the audience.
Finally, this course, and the IOCSR in particular, have changed me in that I now have a better conscious understanding of my strengths and weaknesses in the area of public speaking, and that I now know how to use my strengths to my advantage and how to put action plans in place to work on improving my weaknesses. Additionally, I also have more insight into how I can use these strengths to my advantage specifically in the career search process. I will walk away from this course with a much better understanding of how to really market myself as a job candidate and give myself the best chance of being selected for a job.
One of the most obvious ways that I have changed as a result of the IOCSR can be seen in my REFLECT action plans. In my opinion the changes that arose as a result of my implementation of the REFLECT action plans were clearly observable and undoubtedly beneficial. The strides that I was able to make in the categories of drive, collaboration, and strategic planning were massive and will help me not only in group work in school, but also in my career search and future career. As a result of the plans I put into place to improve on my REFLECT skills I am now more comfortable with operating with little to no instruction and both determining what needs to be done and actually doing it without instruction from my boss. I am also much more willing to work with others either in a study group or a group-work situation, and better able to manage the different kinds of people and personalities associated with different groups. Additionally, I have improved leaps and bounds in the area of strategic planning, which has in turn improved my ability to focus more on balancing long-term and short-term goals as opposed to having the majority of my focus be on day-to-day things. Finally, as a direct result of my implementation of REFLECT action plans, I am now better prepared for a future in business, both in terms of planning and in terms of having the skills necessary to succeed.
Another area that I have improved a great deal in this semester as a result of this course is my public speaking skills. Before this semester I would classify my public speaking ability as average at best, and while I wouldn't say I had a fear of public speaking, I certainly wasn't fond of it. I also viewed it as something that you are either naturally good at or not and that improvements in it could only be marginal. I was surprised; however, by just how much I saw myself improve in the area of public speaking and presenting, just over the course of the semester. I also saw myself become much more comfortable with it and more willing to stand in front of a crowd and speak. I was able to experience one of the most obvious pieces of evidence of this a few weeks ago. My fraternity recently held elections for our executive council positions, which require giving a five minute speech followed by a five minute question and answer session. I was nominated for the position of treasurer and chose to run. Before taking this course I would've formatted and presented my speech in a very different manner, which likely would not have been as successful. I would've likely gone up and given a generic speech in which I outlined what I intended to do and how I was qualified for the position and then answered questions on the spot. Having taken the course I followed Ira's advice about having a better tomorrow message and repeating it in the beginning and end of the speech and relating back to it whenever possible. I also knew that my competitors would likely be giving boring speeches that said basically the same thing and that if I wanted to be elected I would have to somehow make my speech stand out. In order to do this I made the focus more on what I have done for the chapter so far and how those actions would correlate with me being the best candidate for treasurer. I also made sure to bring up points that I knew my competitors were unlikely to have brought up. Finally, I took care to write my speech in such a way that I would know some of the questions that people would have at the end, as well as brainstorm some others that I though might be asked, and made sure that I would have answers prepared for them. In my opinion, these things, in addition to my improved level of comfort with presenting, helped me greatly. Additionally, they were all strategic decisions that I most likely would not have made had I not taken this course. Fortunately, this strategy allowed me to win the election for treasurer, despite likely not being the most qualified candidate for the job. Afterwards, I was complimented by a number of people about how good my speech and question and answer sessions were compared to the other candidates.
Furthermore, this course helped me become much more nuanced as a speaker. Whether it was Ira's instructions on how to address a crowd, the presenter from Dale Carnegie's tips on how to give a better speech, watching TED Talks about how to present, or just simply a result of the practice over the course of the semester, I became a lot better at the small things that make a public speaker effective. For example, before taking this CPBE225 I had a tendency to stand behind a podium while presenting, essentially shielding myself from the audience without even knowing that it was a bad thing. I also was unaware of how to effectively use silence as a tool when presenting, something which I now see as one of the most important aspects of formulating a speech. Finally, I learned a number of techniques for using body language, and hand motions in particular, to emphasize points in a speech without making the audience feel uncomfortable. I now use all of these skills and many more that I learned throughout the course of this semester whenever I am presenting, be it a speech outlining why I should be treasurer of my fraternity or a group presentation in class.
Another major change that I was able to see in myself as a result of this course is how I now prepare for a speech or presentation versus how I did before taking the class. Whenever I had to give a presentation in the past I would do my best to memorize the whole entire thing and attempt to choreograph any hand motions that I would make. From this course I learned that this is far from the best way to prepare for a presentation. Now whenever I give a speech I write it out beforehand and read it over a few times, paying attention to the overarching themes and major points as opposed to memorizing each word. I have found that this makes my speeches sound a lot more natural and in turn, more interesting to the audience.
Finally, this course, and the IOCSR in particular, have changed me in that I now have a better conscious understanding of my strengths and weaknesses in the area of public speaking, and that I now know how to use my strengths to my advantage and how to put action plans in place to work on improving my weaknesses. Additionally, I also have more insight into how I can use these strengths to my advantage specifically in the career search process. I will walk away from this course with a much better understanding of how to really market myself as a job candidate and give myself the best chance of being selected for a job.