The last week of MCOM

Well ... Mcom 320 has come to an abrupt halt.  With all the craziness of the end of the semester I didn't realize that this was our last class.  It has been fun.

Luckily, I immediately got some practical use for my Mcom knowledge after it was over.  I asked for a letter of recommendation from one of my science professors, and he wanted me to send him my resume.  I'll admit I used the feedback from my resume in class to make an awesome revision to it.  Letter head and all.  My brother asked me to look at his resume and I was able to give him some solid advice because of what i have learned.

While this class was quite a battle for me the last few weeks, I will be grateful the next time I have to give a presentation for the experiences I've had here.  Thank you all for a great semester.

-Parker

Professional Presentations

Wow.  The personal presentations we gave as a class this week were awesome.  This was a great experience, and I learned a ton.  The beauty of this assignment was that we got to practice a few times before the real deal.  I honestly feel like I could present in almost any setting now as a result of going through this class.

I was freaking out on Tuesday and Wednesday about how I was going to do this, which made the pay-off of successfully completing this assignment so much sweeter.  It was great to use the flip charts, even though I don't know if I will ever use one again.  There will surely be other events and situations where power point isn't available and I will have to know how to work with other media forms. The take away lesson from this week is that I need to practice presenting and get as much feedback as possible.  I have always been told that, but this made that concept so much more real and tangible for me.  I am excited to see everyone else's next week!

Remote Meeting Blog Post

Meeting online is an interesting experience.  The simplest way I can think to describe it would be a watered down version of speaking face to face.  My team and I used Face time after failing to use Facebook video.  We took turns meeting with each other and delegating team assignments.  Face time makes using hand gestures difficult unless you have a place to set your phone down, but other than that it works extremely well.

Almost our entire project was done using Google docs and power points. This made accessing the project and adding information easier at times that we couldn't meet as a group.  Everything for our power point slides surprisingly turned out well; we didn't have to reformat anything.  Luckily, Jeff in our group is an expert on using the Google drive tools, so that was a great resource for us.  

Consulting Project--What a Rush

That was easily the most business-esque thing I've ever done.  In the past I would see this as a nerve-racking experience, but now it's a rush.  I love it.  It was great to go through the process of having to prepare a report and presentation.  If I were to do this in real life now I actually feel like I could do a decent job.  I was made aware of the pitfalls that this type of work introduces.  The question & answer session was the hardest part for me.  If we weren't familiar enough with the content of our presentation we would not have been able to answer the questions that we asked.  This brings me to my "what now?" for this week.  With reports or presentations in the future I will be certain to prepare above and beyond what is required so that I can be a reliable source of information and earn the trust of peers and bosses.

Stunning Facts

The most memorable part of class was when Professor Middleton threw out the statistic about one in four girls and one in six boys being sexually abused by the time they are adolescents.  That really got my attention.  That five minute presentation was really something else.  She is scary good at speaking publicly.

Anyway, the point is that the stunning facts and they way we present them show that we care enough about what we are saying that we will make an effort to get the audience's attention.  I'll probably remember RIKSMAR for at least another month or so--hopefully longer--as a result of her presentation and energy.  The details in RIKSMAR have led to me to the conclusion that I must make an extra effort to care about the content of my presentation if I am going to succeed as a presenter.  If I'm bored, everyone else will be too.

Just a Small Epiphany

We recently received our grades on the resume and cover letter assignment.  I don't want to go into too much detail, but I'll just say that I was a little disappointed in my score. Obviously the points I lost were due to mistakes I made, so I was only upset with myself; however, I began to think about mistakes and how they relate to the learning process.

Avoiding all mistakes in life is impossible, but I should make an effort to avoid them when it is possible.  With a class like this it is impossible not to make some mistakes, but everyone will make different kinds of mistakes based on their past.  Even though we can learn from these mistakes and from being corrected, we also have to get a grade based on those mistakes.  The person that learns the most in the class could thus be the person who receives the lowest grade.

These thoughts led to others about our current education system in general and whether or not it is the best way to teach students.  It is definitely practical, but it could be better tailored to the learning process rather than just the outcome of a grade if students and teachers were willing to work on a more personal level.  There is a lot more detail I could go into, but I'll leave it at that.  What do you think?

Research is fun, right?

This week we started research for our briefing article.  This may be the first time that I am sincerely interested in the topic I am writing about.  Most other classes haven't quite given me the liberty to choose exactly what I want to write about.  Because business relates to essentially every professional field, there are  a lot of options.  I am working towards medical school, so I chose to write about how Obamacare will effect primary care in the United States. Not only does this information help me as a potential patient, but also as a future doctor.
Sadly, I haven't felt the same desire in the past as I do now to be involved in what is happening in our country.  Education that we can gain from classes is excellent, but knowing how it applies and relates to a changing society is crucial as well.  I plan to read more articles relating to business and current events to better prepare for my career.

 
This is slightly unrelated, but if we aren't paying attention life will do this to us.  Until next time folks.

Parker

Practice Makes Perfect - Online Interviews

Beware of the "spinny" chair.

My first experience with an online interview was great, except for one small detail; I was swaying in my spinny chair. When my interviewer saw me rocking back and forth, it must have been very distracting. I did, however, answer the questions that were asked to me confidently.  I will stand by what I said last week; PAR stories are crucial. I was prepared with a few but the questions I was asked weren't conducive to me sharing them. Having even more PAR stories would ave helped.

It was more of a challenge to let my personality show during the online interview.  Gestures are not as easily perceived and suddenly the impression I think I am giving of myself is not the same as it would be in real life. One potential advantage to the online interview is that both parties may not want to spend as much time on the interview as they normally would.  This would obviously depend on the circumstances, but because it isn't real life interaction and you don't know the person, this could cut the time for the interview down a bit. From now on (needless to say) I will be more aware of the chair I am sitting in during interviews.  I plan to prepare more PAR stories and cater the answers to questions to the job description.

5/5 Josh Quist

Practice Like it's the Real Thing

 Oh, mock interviews, how I have missed you.  It reminds me of role playing as a missionary when my companion and I would practice teaching.  The more real I make it, the better prepared I am for the lesson or interview.  This time, however, I wasn't as mentally prepared as I should have been.  My performance lacked strength in that I didn't have solid answers prepared for certain questions that I was asked; Arlen and Monica had some good ones for me.  Having a PAR story or ten wouldn't hurt in an interview situation; that was my biggest weakness.  

The most fun part of class was being able to interview other students.  It gave a me a good sense of what interviewers are looking for.  I probably would have asked some more critical-thinking questions to the people who were applying for science and laboratory positions, but other than that it went well.  I plan to go over PAR stories thoroughly before my next job interview.  

  

Hopefully no one has to deal with an interview this intense in the future!

The "Nitty Gritty" of Business Relationships

          Class was intense this week.  Had I known how important this lesson was going to be, I would have prepared more for it. Networking, resume building, and interview skills are all so common; yet knowing how to use them effectively can have just the impact it needs to to get us the job we've always wanted.  The take-away message from today was that it doesn't take much to stand out, but it can go a long way in helping people remember who you are.
   
          Knowing what we can do to stand out from the crowd is crucial when interviewing or networking.  Having a business card?  That idea never crossed my mind, but that would certainly make someone stand out.  Telling potential employers something unique that they will remember when I contact them? Awesome.  If we can find out what the employers enjoy doing and what they have accomplished with their work, we will have a more  solid line of conversation ready when opportunities come. No more of the lazy way. When we engage ourselves in these professional situations with a mindset of professionalism, our potential skyrockets. It is amazing how applicable these skills are to everyday interactions with peers and co-workers; it would be wise to work on them now.

Group Presentations

For not meeting with the whole group once before we gave our presentation, it went surprisingly well.  I was nervous to watch the video on react, but after watching it I don't feel like I did terribly during our presentation.  We got to see two groups go before us, which was nice.  Everything they did helped us realize what we had to perform to the best of our abilities.  Class engagement was a plus.  I may have been long-winded with my part of the presentation, but overall I was proud of our team.  I rocked back and forth a bit and relied too much on my slide.  I wish I had prepared more exactly what I was going to say while i was presenting the slides about graphs; I stumbled and used several filler words during this part of the presentation.  Overall, I am pleased with how things went and I feel that we didn't fall into any major pitfalls, though there are several things we can work on collectively to improve our public speaking skills.

Knowing your Audience

It is easy to spot what others are doing wrong when you're not the first one to present.  Count your blessings, right?  The presentations and our discussion about agendas taught me about the importance of being aware of the audience when speaking in public.  The purpose of this blog post is then to (a) explain what I learned from watching our classmates' presentations and (b) explain why agendas are so important.  Now you know exactly what I'm going to talk about--isn't that great? 

    

       I learned from the presentations that it is difficult to teach to your audience.  The main complaint that one student had (forgive me I don't know his name) was that the presentations were not teaching him anything he didn't already know.  The groups may have presented the information well, but it was not presented in the best form for the class.  I felt most engaged when asked a question or when the presenter applied the info to something more tangible for me (like baseball).  

     Agendas are awesome.  I realized in class that almost every interaction and plan I have with people, whether in writing or in person, can be enhanced if I have a clear agenda.  From spending time with friends and family to giving a talk in sacrament meeting, taking a few seconds to explain where I am going will let people know what to expect, rather than zone out from not knowing how long I am going to take!

Saying it without saying it - Body language

I almost couldn't handle the activity we did this last week in class.  It was hard not to be very self-conscious.  We were asked to have a classmate tell us about their weekend plans while imitating their body language.  I did become much more aware of myself when it was my turn to speak.  Looking back now I wish I had just been confident in myself despite being imitated.  Body language isn't wrong in itself, but it can be distracting if used incorrectly by the person speaking.   I was impressed with Professor Middleton; it is apparent that she has practiced and perfected many aspects of public speaking.  The difference between her and other professors is her ability to keep the class engaged.  I am always at the edge of my seat because she brings energy and spontaneity to her lectures.  Honestly, I am scared that at any moment she will ask me to participate or answer a direct question, which is probably what keeps me attentive more than anything. It is highly effective.

Public Speaking ... We Meet Again ...

     I am not an artist, but I do know how to appreciate art.  The ability to speak in public is certainly a noteworthy art, and is among those skills that every person should possess. Most people, however, don't realize how important public speaking skills can be when trying to communicate effectively.  Although we were drastically unprepared to give an effective presentation in class on Thursday, it was a sneaky way of Professor Middleton (yes, sneaky) to teach us about our presence in front of a group of people.  I was instantly reminded of the many presentations that I gave in a public speaking class I took here at BYU two years ago.  I was also reminded of the hundreds of poorly given sacrament meeting talks and testimonies that I have heard in church over the years.  The point is, you have to earn someone's attention, and it should not be treated disrespectfully.  I need to feel like a person cares about what they are talking about otherwise they are wasting my time along with everyone else's!

       I am no great speaker myself, but my goal in the past (and the present) has been to effectively use silence when speaking in public.  Even a short pause, accompanied by a meaningful gaze into the eyes of an audience can draw them in and make them feel as though I am about to tell them a great secret -- and I should tell them secrets!  My time spent speaking in front of people should be used to teach or improve the lives of those who I am addressing, even if it is in just a small way.  

What You Say and How You Say it, The Quickest Way That Other People Judge You

Since our last MCOM 320 class on Thursday, I have been paying more attention to the way I speak and how that affects the way people think about me.  I use a few words that I could eliminate from my vocabulary.  If I plan to communicate effectively on a professional level in the future it would be smart to avoid using the words dude and bro, for starters.

     More importantly, levity and laziness in speech are noticeable in my speech. My natural demeanor leads me to joke around in order to put people at ease, however,  it often leads to them seeing me with less credibility.  My laziness in speech, or failure to speak clearly leads to people asking me to repeat myself quite often.  My voice can be a bit monotone at times.  While these issues don't tie directly to grammar (which is what we talked about most in class), they do tie into communication.  I have set a personal goal to enunciate words better, and maintain a credible demeanor throughout the day no matter what circumstances I am in.  It will take a bit of training to change old habits but they will ultimately change both how I feel about myself as well as how others view me.   

Thoughts on a new semester

     This new semester has started out with a bang.  There is an energy in the air that I can feel more-so than last semester. I am excited to begin what should be the one of the most interesting times for me at BYU thus far.

      To start, I have med school applications and the MCAT on the horizon as I prepare for med school and work to improve my resume. MCOM 320 is going to be a great addition to my preparation and an interesting chance to learn from the experiences of my classmates and professor.  

      Communication is such a fundamental part of success.  I realized while in class on Thursday how much we can learn about others through the way they dress and speak.  Clarity and a desire to communicate clearly can motivate others to do the same. I was motivated and comforted to hear about the expectations and level of knowledge of our other classmates during the first lecture. In other classes I would have sat there, not gotten to know anyone very well and been bored at the prospect of just doing the work that would be placed in front of me in MCOM.  I was grateful to get to know everyone and feel that open discussion in the classroom is promoted.  

    What can I learn from this?  That people who communicate with people and work together can have a much more productive and enjoyable experience with their work than those who don't.  Hearing from the experiences of Professor Middleton and her knowledge helped me realize how much one person can do when they are motivated to make a difference in the lives of other people.  I have it in mind now to speak more with my classmates during lectures in other classes.  I also want to be the person who motivates others by his determination and effort.  To sum it all up, seemingly small things can make a big difference for people even when they seem insignificant to others. 

-Parker