bad presentations.......aaaaaaaggghhhhhh!!!!!!

the last 3 days have been tiring....lots of work....presentations and no result at the end of all of it.

i look upon Steve Jobs on how to give presentations....to learn from him the intricacies and things to be kept in mind while making the presentations. of course you cant be charismatic....its inborn (though my OB book argues it). but the way he presents there's a lot to learn...

i used to think i know a lot....i have learnt everything from watching his videos...imitating him in my close room and ALONE! but when it comes to presenting in front of an audience..that too comprising of all the people i know since 8 months now...i still don't deliver. my last presentations were as bad as they could get...in the first one i just could not speak due to some physical problems....and the second i took the safe way out by presenting two vague slides which were not at all important to the topic....and as it can be guessed..i dd not get marks for the "effort"...
feeling dejected and still tired of the work that has been assigned....i was going through seth godin's blog..(a new way to vent out my frustration.....reading blogs and trying to find mistakes in them..haha)...he writes that 'great presentations can be made when the presenter is respected by the audience and when s/he gives love to the audience in the form of teaching, learning, help and use of other forms'...and i totally agree with it..

but then what struck me was...when i try to justify myself (to me)...i thought....seth's right...i should get the respect (i don't know for what but i should get it) and i am giving my love to the audience by "trying" to make them understand something they know or simply don't want to listen to.


though there are some classmates who have got great body language, great speech and great convincing power (and some have great impression...an impression that forces people to listen and praise them even if they speak s**t)...they are the one people respect but they don't give "love" to the audience...something seth calls as "a self promotional talk"... :)

the problem all of us face in the class is that nobody bothers to listen to the other. everyone here wants to have his or her share of fun and enjoyment. nobody cares about the other (though we call each other friends) and will do nothing to encourage the presenter during the presentation, but will have hundreds and thousandes of motivational and consoling words after the presentation has gone bad. i have seen some people (not necessarily from my class) trying to console the others but end up irritating the person.

but that doesn't mean i am justifying my bad presentations...i was under-prepared, not well and of course just not in the mood to give the presentations......not my fault...haha!

though i know that the presentations can be improved by lots of preparations and pratice...but there's only one thing i got from the whole thing is that i don't call for respect from my own classmates (still don't know if that's important) and which is something i ll have to work upon.......
any suggestions ????

adios
regards
kunal

impression management - the need of the day

the most important course to be learned in management studies is impression management. taking a few lines from the new age knowledge base for the globe(wikipedia) i put a few lines about impression management -
"In sociology and social psychology, impression management is the process through which people try to control the impressions other people form of them. It is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction. It is usually synonymous with self-presentation, if a person tries to influence the perception of their image."


why do i say this is important in management studies - because what i have observed in the last few days is that however smart you are (i am not talking about me), however sincere you are(ummm...i ll take that), however good you are(no comments) - you cannot succeed unless until people have all THESE impressions about you. in the age of internet where the information is available to everyone at one click - anyone can act to be smart, sincere, hard-working (collecting information) and get good marks. but the art is to "show" that you are all these. if you can't - then sorry people it will take ages for your peers and superiors to know you. i do agree that some of them are recognized and worshiped for their knowledge in their groups - but this is not the case with majority of the people(including me. The art lies in showing - projecting yourself especially in front of your 'professors'. come on, so many people in class (72...yeah that too in a management course...haha) and 5 sections...how can u expect him to remember you...ummm..then what can you do ? Come out...speak up...ask stupid questions...get into a mindless debate...go outside his room - morning, noon, evening and even nights...tell him you know nothing, ask for books, sit in his rooms for hours (discussing devil knows what)...only then s/he'll remember you...only then will s/he give you those marks you 'deserve'. not by writing in papers or presenting well. you should 'share' knowledge - the knowledge( YOUR knowledge) that will used by the "impressioners" to create an impact...if you wanna succeed, start impressing...

by the way...did i forget, "look good" ? cos, looking good is the primary step of impression management.. go to the saloon/beauty parlor, get a makeover and create that impact....

adios
regards,
Kunal