All entries for Monday 14 July 2014

Update to Action point 1 on Delivering effective presentations

Follow-up to First entry on Delivering effective presentations from David's blog

My first action point from the WSPA workshop on Delivering Effective Presentations was to improve my posture over four weeks.

For years, people had always commented that I had bad body posture. This in turn had hindered my ability to come accross as a confident person towards friends, family and strangers.

However, over the last few years, as I have matured and my confidence as boosted, I feel I have made steady improvements to my overall body posture. That said, it has always been far from perfect and I almost always inadvertently slouch or hunch over whether it be when I am sat at a table or desk or even walking around. Over the last four weeks I have tried to rectify these problems by remaining in the ‘neutral stance’.

Over the last few weeks I feel I have done well in returning to a neutral stance after walking or gesticulating. As someone who has always liked to communicate using hands and gestures, over the past few weeks I have almost always tried to return to a neutral positon. I have also tried to keep my head up and as straight as possible when walking around.

As I have been on holiday for the last week and a half, I have been able to look at friends’ photos of me and see if I have improved my posture or not. Likewise whenever a photo was taken of me I tried my best not to slouch and in stead posed with a straight back and with my head firmly staring at the camera. Of course there were times I could not have done this due to my lack of awareness to the camera. However, I feel that on the whole I have remained in a good neutral posture whenever possible which has improved my overall posture over the last few weeks.

Even when talking to people during my travels, whether they were the mates I was traveling with or complete strangers, I felt that I came across a lot more confident and happier than in previous encounters. I have learned that a good posture can help you come across as a confident and happy person which in turn should make you feel like one.

David Walker : 14 Jul 2014 20:58 |  Tags: Actions P4 Portfolio Wspa |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Update to Action point 2 on Becoming more Assertive

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My second action point from the workshop on Becoming more assertive, was to remain in the ‘ego-state of the adult’ during discussions, arguments or deliberations over the last five weeks.

Over the last month or so I have not found myself in many environments prone to arguments or discussions. However, when I have been dragged into potential confrontations, I have found that I have effectively remained in the adult ego-state. Remembering what I had learned from the workshop, I have tried to remain calm and composed when someone has tried to put me, deliberately or otherwise, in the ‘child’ or ‘parent ego-state’.

However, there have been occasions as there always are, when I have found myself slip out of the ‘adult ego-state’ and I have found it hard to rectify my spirited and emotional reactions. As unfortunate as this is, these kinds of mistakes are inevitable when you are trying to improve yourself and I am prepared to learn from both successful and failed experiences.

That said, I feel that even the knowledge of the three ego-states of Transactional Analysis has put me in good stead for the future. I will always try to remember to remain in the ‘adult ego-state’ no matter what others do or say. I am a lot more controled than I used to be in heated debates or discussions, however I know there is always room for improvement.

David Walker : 14 Jul 2014 20:56 |  Tags: Actions P2 Portfolio Wspa |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Update to Action point 1 on Becoming more Assertive

Writing about web page /walkerdavid/entry/first_entry_on_1_2_3_4/

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My first Action point from the workshop on Becoming more assertive, was to stick to a work and exercise plan before going on holiday on June 28th.

This was a work and exercise routine which maximised the amount of dissertation work and exercise I did before going away to Germany and Czech Republic (as I knew I would be neither working nor living healthily during my travels).

However, exercising during my routine did not go exactly to plan. I found it hard to go to the gym as many times as I had planned to. That said, instead of going to the gym regularly, I spent most of my time playing football or doing room exercises. The latter allowed me more time to work, as I did not need to leave my flat. On reflection I could have balanced out football, the gym and home exercises more evenly. However, my exercise routine still functioned relatively effectively which helped my overall work routine.

My thesis for dissertation writing was particularly effective, as I completed nearly 8,000 words of my 20,000 word dissertation. For the three weeks leading up to my holiday I made sure I was in the library every day researching and writing for the first section of my dissertation. With this routine and the use of word quotas to reach for each working day, I found I could write quite lengthily on my dissertation topic without much trouble. Although I will now have to thoroughly look over my work having returned to university, the psychological effect of completing a large part of my dissertation before going away was extremely satisfying for me.

All in all my work and exercise routine, allowed me to act more assertivenly than I had done in the past. I found that by acting more assertively I could complete complicated or long tasks quite quickly and even enjoyably. I will try to remain just as assertive in the future in order to complete my dissertation and remain fit and healthy as I do it.

David Walker : 14 Jul 2014 20:55 |  Tags: Actions P2 Portfolio Wspa |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem