Self-reflective essay after the course
When I first learned about personal branding, I was very excited. This course made me rethink about my personal brand and how I want to present myself in the future of my career. I learned how it's important to stand out in a group, not only using my knowledge but also my personality. It can be very difficult to optimize my brand without realizing what my strengths are. To help with this, I will explore my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for improvement, and threats using SWOT analysis that you give me.
After a clear developing SWOT analysis in which I recognized my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats not only in academics but also in social life, extracurricular activities, and any other activities that I have participated in. With this plan, I worked hard to boost my strengths, corrected my weaknesses and turned them into my strengths, utilized the opportunities I have, and finally realized and avoided any negative impact due to threats in the SWOT analysis.
I was able to be more enthusiastic in class activities and made many good friends. I also met up with old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time and I had very memorable conversations. I realize that as long as I open up more, the world is responding to me with warm greetings. I knew that I was missing out on so many things, both in academic and in relationships, just because of my shyness.
The second lesson I learned was about effective presentation preparation delivery. Honestly, my personality is a big problem with my presentation skills. During my 12 years of studying, I have never dared to volunteer to give a presentation. And if I have to give a presentation, I will always be nervous, and faltering. However, the lesson you gave me helped me gain a lot of great tips for delivering an effective presentation. I was very impressed with your short presentation about Australia country, which you showed your excellent ability to give a presentation right after listening to the topic. This is the first time I learned about good tips like eye contact, use of visual aids, use of fact/data... And it would be a big omission not to mention the wonderful ESF templete that you gave me. Templates have helped me improve my presentation skills a lot. Recently, I gave a presentation for Mathematics for data science and I applied the skills you taught like using strong voice, use of visual aids,... Although I was still a bit of nervous, I try to present confidently and finished the presentation with a satisfaction that I had never had before. And guess what, the teacher complimented me: "Good presentation". It was the first time I heard compliment about my presentations and I felt like I was over the moon that whole day. Presentation skills are one of the most important skills in anyone's career and I know in the future I will have many more important presentations on bigger topics, but this is a good start for me.
The lesson on effective meetings has brought me a whole new knowledge. Before that, I thought a meeting was just about coming, meeting people and discussing problems. Howerver after your lesson, I was very surprised and amazed. I could not have imagined that a meeting could be so meticulously and effectively planned. I was taught about the steps to how to Run an Effective Meeting . As the saying goes: 'Effective meetings don't happen by accident. They happen by design”. I know that I should determine the purpose and objective of the meeting in advance thus reducing time wastage. In order to contribute to the team discussion, I should always prepare by having a basic understanding of the topic at hand. Although I have not had the opportunity to apply my knowledge of organizing an effective meeting yet, I believe this knowledge will be useful and will greatly assist me in my career path ahead.
My most favorite lesson is about conflict resolution. Because this has always been my weakness. To be honest, I am a rational and straightforward person. I sometimes hurt others’ feeling with my words, especially during arguments. I know it and always try to improve it but it is still my big weakness, but your lesson opened up a new world for me. I learned about five strategies to handle a conflict .In my opinion, collaborating is the best way although I know in some cases we have to use these strategies flexibly. I've applied strategies to group conflict in college. For example, two of my five statistics team members were quite lazy and did their assignments in a sloppy way. If in the past, I would definitely have told them straightly with sharp words, but through your lesson, I know I shouldn't do it. Instead, I advised them with sincerity and in a gentle tone about asking them to cooperate and help me complete the task. Honestly, I gave them the easier tasks and I did the harder ones. But I feel pretty good and got the job done perfectly.
Another lesson that I also love very much is about Negotiation skills and Art of persuasion. I know these skills is one of the most important skills in my journey to a successful career. Negotiation and persuation not only exist in work but also in daily life. During the lesson, I learned about almost every negotiating technique there is. I learned about 10 tips for negotiating such as not a contest, having a plan, facts, deadlock, and many more. I didn't know anything about negotiation before this lession. I used to believe that negotiation was all about trading or persuading someone to give you what you want while ignoring the opposing side, resulting in a win-lose situation. I now understand that negotiating is not just about getting what you want, but also about giving the other party what they want in order to achieve a win-win situation. In my opinion, the most important skills when negotiating are 'having a plan' and 'talk less, listen more'. Actually, 'talk less, listen more' is one of my inherent skills because I am interested in listening and observing people around me. Howerver, I had absolutely no idea about the negotiation plan, but you gave me a detailed plan of what to do. I find this plan very useful and definitely will follow me on my long journey ahead. Moreover, thanks to the 10 tips in negotiating, I realized that I still have a lot of shortcomings such as lack of strength, easily nervous, and too competitive. Based on that, I can focus on improving my weakness to improve my negotiation skill.
The next lesson is about Networking for success. I really like the saying: 'How can I help, not what can I get'. I have always kept in mind that it is a correct thought. Life is about giving and talking. People only help me when they have been helped by me. And I really love these great tips for starting small talk. Like I said, I'm a terrible person at starting a conversation with strangers, and after your lesson, I've applied those tips and improved a lot. Last month, I was able to start a conversation with seniors to ask about academy and career friendly without being awkard. That way I can both expand my network as well as make more many good friends. This is actually a huge improvement for me. I also learned how to introduce myself confidently and fluently after the class. If it was in the past, I would probably be embarrassed when someone asked me to introduce myself.
