Make up post

I've decided to write a "make up post" for the week I missed when my daughter was born. I will try to make this somewhat class-oriented, but I'm sure you guys are less interested in that than hearing about my beautiful little girl. She was born on January 30, 2014 at 5:14 at 6 lbs and 9 oz. She was (and is) EXTREMELY hairy, just like her... Mom, obviously. :) She is very alert and loves to: dance, grunt, and stare at very particular spot on the cealing (Seriously, she spends 90% of her awake time looking at this precise spot and will adjust her head to get the best view of the amazing scenery). Of course she loves to eat and sleep (and not let Mom and Dad sleep), but we've decided to keep her nonetheless.

 

 

As far as class goes, I think the day I missed was about public speaking. It's too bad I missed that day of class, because although I've been told I'm a great public speaker, I do not feel that way many times. Some ideas to improve public speaking:

• Avoid filler works
• Eye contact- 2-3 seconds with each person before changing to another person
• Do good gestures, not distracting ones
• Have fluxation in voice
• Utilize floor craft (walk with purpose)
• Avoid and eliminate opportunities for nervous crutches/habits/movements

Cheers!

Getting a Chance at Your Dream Job

Thursday's lecture was awesome! The communication skills that we've learned so far in the course have taught us how to be a successful communicator, after landing our dream job and/or career. What we learned this week will help us to get that dream job we're after.

Obviously landing that dream job requires first professional school, internships, or more "lowly" jobs. However, these give positions give us the opportunities to eventually do what we love. One thing is for sure; interviewing skills will be used time and time again leading up to that moment.

The quality of our resumes, cover letters, and interview skills are what give us the opportunities to further develop and utilize our communication skills. Arguably, I think good interview skills is the single most important skill for us students to have.

Our grades, academic success, and professional school exam scores allows us to get a foot into the door. However, once inside, the only thing helping us out to actually be offered the job position, internship, or into professional school acceptance is our communication skills. As  a previous medical school applicant, I can attest that I knew people with 4.0's and very high MCAT scores get plenty of interviews at medical schools, but were unable to matriculate anywhere. Why? Poor interview skills, or simply poor interpersonal and communication skills.

Sure, public speaking, presentations, writing an effective letter, learning to use power point, and all the things we've learned leading up to now in the semester are very important. I just have the opinion that what we talked about on Thursday is more important to us now as it allows us to further utilize these skills to a maximum after landing our dream job because of our kick-@ss interview skills.

Cheers!

Camera Shy

This Thursday in class was one of my favorite classes so far because it made me uncomfortable, which enabled me to learn. I usually don't have any big problems with public speaking, but this time, I did.

Maybe it was because I knew there was a camera and that I would soon see every mistake, or maybe it was because I haven't got much sleep recently due to my beautiful little daughter waking up multiple times each night. All I know is that I got pretty nervous and my thoughts became scrambled.

It was interesting because just last week we talked about things NOT to do when speaking. I remember thinking "I don't think I do any of those things" when Professor Middleton was telling us what to avoid. Boy was I surprised when I saw myself on the REACT website. The experience wasn't all bad, though. I defintely learned a lot about myself just by seeing how I present and reading the comments provided courtesy of Professor Middleton. I definitely feel like I have learned from some of my mistakes and will be able to more effectively present on the next ocassion that arises (and hopefully avoid the leg spasms). :) Thanks for reading.