WEBVTT

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Welcome back, everybody. This is Food for Thought,

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Thoughts for You by Neogentrics. How are you guys

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doing this morning? It is currently 5 o 'clock

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in the morning, and we are going to hit a nail

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on the head here with something that I found

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to be fairly... Well, it's... How do I put this?

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It should be understood, but it's often disregarded

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as... It's often a disregarded part of communication

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and presentation. Okay, and I want to go ahead

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and cover it as well. So, you remember we covered

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the Hell series a couple weeks back, and I figured

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I'd go ahead and move on with that and talk about

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some communication skills. That's what we're

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going to work on this week. We're going to go

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ahead and cover some communication skills. I'm

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going to start with one of the ones that a lot

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of people don't seem to care about or think is

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a... communication, or part of communication

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skills, or presentation skills, for that matter.

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And that is your personal appearance. Okay? Personal

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appearance is often disregarded part of communication

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and presentation skills, and when you're speaking

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in public, you may want to be, how do I put it?

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Let me phrase it like this. When you speak in

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public, You may be representing your organization

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or just yourself, but it's still you in the front

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lines. And it is you that the other people in

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the group and the audience see before you have

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a time to actually open your mouth or give an

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account of yourself, certain assumptions, both

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consciously or subconsciously, whether they've

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been made or not. You're the first thing they

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see. Now, I know the first thing a lot of people

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tell everybody is first impressions are verily.

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Very important. And, you know, they can be about

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attitude as well as dressing as well. So, I mean,

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visual impact is at least as important as your

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verbal impact. People will very quickly make

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assumptions based on your facial expressions,

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the clothes you wear, and how well you groom

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yourself and your body language as well. And

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these are things that a lot of people don't consider

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when they get ready to do things. All right?

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You can talk about whatever you want. You can

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present whatever you want, but how you present

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yourself physically is just as important as what

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you say verbally. Alright? Let's talk about something

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related to the same topic. Your facial expressions,

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okay? First off, little can be done to alter

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your face, but a lot can be done about the expression

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that's on it. So let's go ahead and start with

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that. However the day started, and whatever minor

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crisis has occurred along the way, people have

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not come to see you with a dark expression on

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your face. So, it is your duty, to yourself as

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well as the organization that you represent,

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to convey a claim. Sorry, calm. Yeah, well, claim

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too, yeah. Claim a calm... Friendly and professional

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exterior, despite how you may feel on the inside.

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You try to smile and be optimistic, and appear

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that way as well, regardless of how you feel.

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Okay? Your personal image is what we're working

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on here. The reflection that stares back at you

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from a mirror is not necessarily a true likeness

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of the face known to family, friends, and colleagues,

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because they will see you off guard, in repose,

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concentrated on a task, or listening to them.

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How many people can honestly admit to looking

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in a mirror without altering their expression?

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Think about that one for a minute. It's not possible.

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It's quite natural to play to a mirror, possibly

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by raising an eyebrow, pulling a face, or smiling

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at the reflection. This is why people often feel

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self -conscious when they see a bad photograph

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of themselves. Because in a mirror, you can fix

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it. and a photograph. It's permanent. The real

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you, alright, it is human nature to make compromises.

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All individuals change their approach depending

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on the people they meet and what they feel is

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expected from them. Your on -duty self, the one

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who functions in public, is different from your

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off -duty self, the one concerned with family,

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friends, home, so on and so forth. Everyone has

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many and varied roles in life, so you can be

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one person and be a parent, son, daughter, brother,

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sister, friend, advisor, patient, client, customer,

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all in one day. You can be all those things simultaneously.

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These differing roles all require that a particular

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quality and skill in personal communication and

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can also come upon different requirements of

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attitude and or appearance. as far as your visual

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image is concerned. So your external image or

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appearance is how you are seen by the world,

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whereas the real you, not a role model of the

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person you would like to be, is someone who is

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honest with themselves, okay? And don't worry,

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I'll go more into that in detail when I cover

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nonverbal communication, okay? Next, let's cover

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your clothes and the way you groom yourself.

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So, ask yourself this question. What sort of

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external image is appropriate to the organization

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that you represent? Let's just think about that

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one for a minute. Only you can answer this question.

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Due to the nature of the work, some organizations

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are happy for people to be casually dressed,

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whilst others may expect a smarter attire, more

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professional, if you will. It's important to

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be suitably dressed within expected limits, okay?

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Nobody expects you to be packaged into something

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you are not, but your appearance is a reflection

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of your own self -esteem, and you should aim

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to present yourself to the best possible advantage.

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Whilst you might be casually dressed when working

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within your organization, a more formal approach

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may well be preferable when representing your

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organization outside or in externing... I'm sorry.

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external meetings. So good grooming and a tidy

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appearance is preferable, whether casual or formally

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dressed. On that note, your body language. Understanding

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your body language is one of the most important

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aspects of personal presentation. The image conveyed

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by the physical self should support and enhance

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what is being communicated verbally. If the visual

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image differs widely from the spoken message,

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is often the nonverbal account that's believed.

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You can say, I row boats up and down a hill because

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it's fun, but then your body is saying, you know,

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I wouldn't do that even if you paid me. Well,

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which do you think the people is going to believe?

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It's true what they say when they say actions

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speak louder than words. You can say whatever

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you want, but if your body is doing the opposite

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and you're unaware of this, you're basically

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telling them that you're saying one thing and

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those who can't see you will believe it, but

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the ones who can won't. Keep that in mind. The

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way you sit, stand, your gestures, your mannerisms,

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your facial expressions will say more about you.

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and how you are feeling at any given time than

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the words you are using. When individuals are

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nervous or uneasy, their behavioral bad habits

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become more pronounced. That's why when your

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parents tell you what you do at home you will

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do in the real world, they're not kidding. It's

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because you've become comfortable doing it, and

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you don't realize you're doing it anymore. Awareness

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of your body language, of how you behave under

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pressure, what signals you are unconsciously

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giving, how nerves and stress affect you physically.

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Can you help understand? how you come across

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to others, okay? It can also explain how the

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wrong impression is sometimes given and how confusion

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can occur, okay? I have to admit, I am guilty

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of this myself, okay? You need to work on your

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body language. There's different ways of doing

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this where you can improve your personal presentation,

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okay, as well. Let me give an example. When concentrating

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on something rather hard, your expression may

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look troubled, when in reality you're not anxious

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at all, just absorbed in what you're doing. This

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does not mean that you should go around with

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a fixed smile on your face, but just be aware

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that your physical self might send one set of

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signals when your mind is involved elsewhere.

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Body language can also be used as a mask to convey

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contrary feelings. How often you nodded firmly

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when you... Did not understand a word. Smiled

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when your instinct was to scowl or clap enthusiastically

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at the end of a talk. That nearly puts you to

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sleep. These are things to keep in mind. In these

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cases, you're not being hypocritical, but you're

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using body language positively as the mechanism

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of good manners. And it doesn't happen overnight,

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I assure you. It takes work. Our gestures are

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part of our personalities, a part of how we express

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ourselves. Hand -arm movements can add emphasis,

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aid explanation, convey enthusiasm. They only

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become a negative signal when repeated so often

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that they become irritating to the observer.

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However, listeners can become so sidetracked

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by the sight of someone constantly playing with

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their hair, tapping on the table with a pen,

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that they no longer listen to the spoken words.

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These negative signals can break down the communication

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process very quickly. Okay? One of the last things

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I want to go ahead and cover here is positive

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and negative body language, okay? Now, I would

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go more in -depth into body language, but seeing

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how this is basically just... I'm basically just

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covering your physical appearance on this one.

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I'm only going to cover a little bit about it.

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Positive things that your body language can include

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that will help improve what you're doing or what

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you're talking about as well, okay? Maintaining

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eye contact with people you are speaking to.

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Smiling if appropriate. That doesn't mean you

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smile at something creepy. But especially at

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greetings and at the end of a conversation. Sitting

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squarely on a chair, as uncomfortable as it may

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sound. Leaning slightly forward. This indicates

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you are actually paying attention. Even if you

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aren't. Nodding in agreement. A firm handshake.

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Presenting a calm exterior, even when you're

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pissed. And looking interested, even if you aren't.

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Things to avoid. Okay, and we're going to close

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out with this. Negative body language that you

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do not want. Not looking at the person when speaking.

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Tapping a foot or finger or a pen on the table.

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Or period. Rocking back and forth. That is actually

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really irritating. Scratching. Constantly clearing

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your throat without a reason. Fiddling your hair,

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earlobe, jewelry, jackets, glasses. You know,

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you get the picture. Picking at fingers or fingernails.

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This one's not as bad, but it can be irritating

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depending on the person. Yawning. Repeatedly

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yawning. Repeatedly looking at your watch or

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the clock in the room. Believe me, that is actually

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really irritating. Standing too close to each

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other. Don't do that, okay? And inattention to

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a person who is speaking, okay? Not even paying

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attention. These are things just to keep in mind.

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It's mostly about how you present yourself that

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other people will basically see this and then

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know for a fact that what you're trying to say

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or do is not what you're really... Into. Okay.

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So keep that in mind. Next time we will talk

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about nonverbal communication. And your body

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language. As well. I'm actually going to go over

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that. In its entirety. And have a great rest

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of your day. Thank you for listening to my podcast.

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I know it's been a while since I've released

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one. And I'm sorry about that. Look forward to

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another one later on today. And we'll get ourselves

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caught up. To the standard that I have about.

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three or four a week okay also uh gloria tp5

00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:56.960
a good close friend of mine uh she is really

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really excited because her next book is coming

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out so go ahead and pre -order that and show

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your support and enjoy the rest of your day okay