Peculiar People

Quick shout-out to the LDS faith. It's awesome. I'm not even talking about the gospel aspects, but the culture that makes for these little drones who will spend entire Saturdays cleaning beaches or mowing widow's lawns. Who at the ripe, ol' age of (awkward) 12 have the guts to stand in front of 200 some odd people and give a 10-minute, self-prepared speech. Who somehow (Utah and Idaho excluded, you pansies) raises teenagers who will attend early-morning, scripture-study class before school every day.

This faith teaches its youth the etiquette that is appropriate in business society. That etiquette and being a good citizen goes hand-in-hand with the gospel and that is why it is taught. Thankfully, little ol’ me, BIC (born in the covenant…), gets to reap the benefits of having had some of those primary and Young Women’s lessons rub off on me. Thank you letters? I’m on it. Interviews? I had one every time I went to the temple. Business cards? OK, you got me on that one, Kathleen Fueston … But point being, we all have a great foundation from the church that will aid us in our future business endeavors. 

Ex. 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.

Oh, A Baby Cheetah?

Group Presentation #2--Check! 
Wow, I think our group's preparation payed off! It was by no means perfect, but it went well. We had good response from our teacher and Mikey as well as from you, our fellow classmates. (As I write this, I am thinking that Mikey and Prof. Middleton probably view our blogs as well... shout out to you two!) 
I am becoming more and more conscientious of my body movements and the response they will evoke out of the viewer where before I used to think so much more about myself during the presentation (conceited much?) and how my movements affected me during my presentation. When giving a presentation, it truly is all  about the person/people you are presenting to and that should be the focus, not just with your words but also with your movements.
Why such an emphasis on kinetics?, you may ask. Well, the sound on our recording didn't work so that is what I have to focus on and review. But also it is a very important part of presenting and an area that I can have great improvement in.

• At the beginning of the presentation, each team member was folding their arms... so unnecessary! Just because the focus was on the video and none of us were talking, it doesn't mean we can forget how we ought to be holding ourselves! Oi...
• Because my group wanted to keep good flow and dynamism, we decided to trade off between presenters often as opposed to just given each of us a section and calling it good. A great idea and the transitions were smooth and we all knew the material well. The only problem was I kept looking back at the screen to see when it would be changed. I realize now I had no reason for me to keep looking back at the slides especially when all the information I had was in my head and not even on the slides but I unfortunately used it as my crutch several times in the presentation, detracting from it. Practice makes perfect!
• One last note from the video was a compliment to the others that I did not get: I was NOT dressed professionally. I was clad in my usual jeans and I wore a regular shirt. I may have lost credibility, perhaps for my whole team, because I did no decide to upscale my apparel choices. Of course in the real world this is more important but it is good to start paying attention to these things as I practice today.

Well, very embarrassing to watch oneself recorded giving the presentation. I know all the mistakes I made and I so wish I could go back in time, press pause on that moment and unfold my arms or unpop my hip. But, all things done, I am happy with the way things went and I am so grateful to be in a class where we are able to give each other such honest and useful feedback so we can all learn right away from our own successes and...less-than successes as well as each others. 

Playin' Cupid

Today, 9:32 a.m., a complete stranger knocked on my door and asked me if I would deliver flowers to his fiancée at noon for him. Never has a more exhilarating request been made of me. Promptly, 4 minutes past the hour, cupid flew over to the address which he left with me and helped to keep a relationship alive. 
Why was I, a single gal, not knowing either party, willing to change my plans for the afternoon to make sure I was around at 12 to make the delivery? (A) I love a sappy, cheesy, romantic gesture. Especially on February 14th. (B) He made a compelling argument and had good presentation skills. MCOM 320 graduate? Most likely. 
Now, before I continue, and you readers are thinking I am the lamest, most cliché ever and you can't even read the rest of the post because you are rolling your eyes too much, just know that I know that St. Valentine is also the patron saint of plague. 
Now I can finish.
Learning convincing presentation skills, whether it be physical/verbal or in creating a document or PowerPoint, can truly change how we interact with the world. We want what we say to match what people look at on a slide to also match how we are dressed. When all of these are at the highest quality, we will be treated in response at an equal level and if we are eliciting a response from people, such as "hire me" or "give me a good grade in this class, Prof. Middleton", then we can expect results, often times, on the same level of our effort and input. 
So, go have a wonderful V-day celebrating with the one you love. Or in my case, have a wonderful late Galentine's Day. No, it is NOT Single Awareness Day. 
You can all work on you presentation skills starting bright and early tomorrow. 

So that's what I've been doing wrong...

I don't know about any of you, but starting February 4, 2014, I don't think I will ever be able to only listen to anybodies talk ever again. I will constantly be checking to see are their arms folded? Crossed? Heaven forbid, the fig leaf? Are they fiddling with their jewelry (finger rings, earrings, bellybutton rings)? I know that am often guilty of either crossing my arms or spinning the rings on my hands.
The entire presentation of presentations, I was just blown away by our teacher's presentation skills. As she would discuss voice quality, she would perfectly change her pitch, tone, rate, and volume. As she would discuss gestures, she would again perfectly demonstrate that which we were trying to understand or learn.
As I progress in school, give more talks in church, or need to give important interviews or presentations with companies, I know I will remember the lesson we had on Tuesday. I will especially remember it when I see others explicitly doing things she pointed out as wrong. OK, now you all know one of my character flaws. I can now check off "baring my soul" from my blog bucket list.

Here is a really good song by Ra Ra Riot. My excuse for including it is maybe we can learn about group presentations from the music video. Naaaaaaaaah.