Thursday 31st March 2010

Finally, the big day, the day of our presentations!

We were divided into 2 groups due to the excessive amount of trainees. This was rather sad as we could not enjoy everybody's presentation. Many presentations that were done today caught my attention. To name a few:

• Imran on Biotechnology - truly an in-depth look into the field.
• Adrian on 'MuscleMan' - a fictional energy product.
• Lun on Family Guy - an American cartoon that touches on ethical, political, and key issues in the world; the comical way of course.
• Dinie on high-heels - An introduction and the benefits of wearing killer heels.
• Tun on Viola - Her passion and also to clarify the difference between the violin and the viola.

Halfway throughout the presentation sessions, the instructor gave us a breather by asking us to perform to a Beatles' song. Each group had to either dance/act/sing. Truly entertaining and embarrassing I have to admit.

That concludes our communication module!

Tuesday 30th March 2010

As the end of the communication module draws near, we were given 1 final task; which is to prepare a presentation on a topic we were passionate about. The whole day was used to conduct research and to prepare materials for the presentation.

Mr Najmi gave us some important pointers such as an eye-catching introduction and a breath-taking conclusion.

The topic I chose was rather special; Lolita Fashion!

If you would like to know more about it, kindly leave a comment and your email and I will email you my presentation slides :)

Monday 29th March 2010

A new week yet again!

We were given a lecture on more effective presentations and some rather important points, which are the 4P's:

1. Prepare
2. Practice
3. Pause
4. Pamper

Later on in the day, we were given instructions to for a presentation and our group chose a topic on air pollution.

Friday 26th March 2010

Today we were taught on main communication concepts and skills by Mr Najmi. In the beginning of the lecture, he gave each group the opportunity to come up and tell the rest of the class what they had learned from yesterday's talk; NLP. The main idea was not the content of what we were about to present, but for Mr Najmi to gather our confidence level and whether we have put what we had taught into practice.

Other than that, we were given various activities which further required participation and presentation. He even showed us clips of people communicating effectively through feelings and body language.

Thursday 25th March 2010

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)!

Does that ring a bell or does that sound really foreign?

Well, I had no idea what that was until the speaker gave us a thorough insight into the topic. Basically, it's the power of the mind and like how they say, "mind over matter." The mind is a very dangerous tool!

The lecture was really interesting as most of the time we had to explore our sub-conscious mind and giving it instructions to perform our daily activities. This included thinking positive and the power of belief. We even had to go through some kind of trance-like-hypnotizing state which many of us had the privilege to experience the extraordinaire. An example is where he asked us to imagine someone tying our hands really tight while keeping our eyes closed. At the end he asked us to open our eyes and try to release our clasped hands. Amazing! many of them could not do it. Unbelievable? Better believe it!

He also taught us how to observe people through their actions and words. This included the introduction of 3 different types of people; those that rely heavily on visuals, hearing, and feelings. This would apply greatly to us that might venture into sales!

At the end of the day, we performed an amazing feat which involved the power of belief. We had to drop a bulb onto a flat panel of glass and break the glass instead of the bulb.

So NLP, the power of the mind/emotion... the ability to be a "superman" it's all in the head!

Tuesday 23rd - Wednesday 24th March 2010

For these 2 days, we had a very special speaker who is an experienced writer. She taught us ways to write professional articles for publication purposes. Not only that, she also stressed on the difference of scientific writing and other writing methods.

In all my university life, I have only been trained on how to write scientifically. She however, revived my writing skills that have long been in slumber. It was a great experience as she also gave us activities which included analyzing articles in magazines and later presenting the key points. We were also asked to prepare an article that involves our field of study. My group touched on "Respiration - so simple yet so complicated."

Her stories and heartwarming experiences touched our hearts and with all due respect, I wish her all the best in her future endeavors!

Cheers.

Monday 22nd March 2010

The art of negotiation, so simple yet so complicated.

Today we were given a talk on how to perfect our negotiation skills by our speaker, Mr Hisyam. We were taught on the various forms of negotiation such as those that benefit both parties or those that victimises the other. Negotiating is something that we have all practised since we were young. We negotiated with our parents to get the toys we want, and later on to get our allowances.

This applies to office and everyday life where we negotiate for almost everything, at everytime. To make the talk all the more fun, our speaker divided us into groups and gave us instructions to put up an act, given a scenario. My group and D8 were given the task where a hardworking employee had to negotiate with her boss for a 3month leave due to personal reasons. The other groups worked on 2 other scenarios:

• A son who wants to study in a prestigious university with his girlfriend. The son has to negotiate with his unwilling parents.
• A landlord who has increased the monthly rental fees of his apartment. The landlord has to negotiate with one of the tenants on the willingness of the tenant to continue staying there.

The short skits were hilarious and all of us had a great time.