Executive Presence and Communication Skills
Reflect on how your Executive Presence and communication skills have grown this term. Use the prompts below to organize your thoughts:
- Reflecting on your first video in the course, what changes did you make for Assignment 3, to improve your Executive Presence?
- What have you learned this term about how you communicate in the workplace? Include both positive and negative aspects of your communication style.
- In what ways have you improved your communication skills during this term?
- What will you do going forward, to continue to improve your communication skills and Executive Presence?
Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.
Class:
Take a deep breath and let it out. We are in Week 10, our last week, and all of your major assignments have hopefully been submitted. So let’s relax, reflect, and have fun.
This is an important week as you sum up what you have learned in this course, and how you can apply this information at your current job and in the future.
Please spend some time answering these questions. Just writing one sentence to complete the assignment is not what is intended for this week’s discussion. Please include references and in-text citations.
Please print the questions out separately within your post so you can be sure to address them all.
Read the four questions carefully and reflect on how your Executive Presence and Communication Skills have grown this term.
1. Reflecting on your first video in the course, what changes did you make for Assignment 3 to improve your Executive Presence?
Go back and read my suggestions from your first video recording and see if you included them in Assignment 3.
Do you feel your Executive Presence was elevated?
2. What have you learned this term about how you communicate in the workplace? Include both positive and negative aspects of your communication style.
Think about how you responded in the past to your colleagues during a normal workday. Now think about when things got tense or there was a crisis. What did you do before this course? What have you learned and applied now? What will you do in the future when these situations occur?
3. In what ways have you improved your communication skills during this term?
List specific improvements that you feel demonstrate that your communication skills have improved. Have any of your colleagues at work, boss or family members noticed a positive change?
4. What will you do going forward, to continue to improve your Communication Skills and Executive Presence?
This question requires thought. Will you continue to refer to what you learned here in your future journeys? Will you look deeper into any specific subjects?
I look forward to reading your answers and what changes your colleagues have noticed and identified that have taken place in your “persona” through your writings this semester.
Response
55 minutes ago
Hello Professor Paulson and Classmates,
Comparing My Videos
My Assignment 3 video provided an opportunity for adjustments to some of the technical aspects of my presentation as well as executive presence overall.
Learnings
The first technical change was the position of the camera. Instead of looking down into the camera, it was placed at my same height. Additional adjustments were made in order to stand during the video presentation, another great recommendation in my feedback and the reading assignments (Paulson, 1). The final adjustment was the lighting and background for the video which improved the glare from the original assignment.
The Positive and the Negatives
One negative aspect regarding my communication at work that has definitely been improved is the ability to hold back and truly listen. Due to my Di personality style, getting right to the point of my presentation has always been my workplace communication style. Learning about storytelling tactics and examples was a huge benefit and growth opportunity in this course. Conversely, positive aspects include the clarity of my voice and the fact that over the years, my experiences are of great interest to others and can be shared to help develop and grow my team.
Improved Communication Skills
Storytelling and increased listening skills would be the biggest areas of improvement. Understanding the importance of the “jaw-dropping” moment (JWMI, 2) is the best improvement. Through these exercises, recalling stories of the past are appropriate for both the Business Communications and Leadership MBA courses. Sharing these skills with my team has improved business relationships and provided a feeling of trust in places that did not exist previously. Taking the listening to the next level by referring back to a statement or recommendation made by a team member has encouraged others to share more ideas and openly communicate with the entire team.
Going Forward
Referring back to my learnings will be utilized throughout my MBA program. At work, the executive sponsorship opportunities are abundant with my team, my peers, business leaders, and community events throughout the year. Taking advantage of these opportunities and properly preparing for them will be the biggest take away to continue improving my skills. There’s also a note of laziness during internal leadership meetings where sitting has become the norm. My preference lately is to stand and there is a better quality of voice and reaction from the audience as a result. This will remain a practice going forward.
Normal Workdays of the Past
When a crisis happened in the past, my adrenaline would kick into high gear. Time for listening was a challenge. Remembering to make sure there was a focus on the bigger “Why” is always a challenge in these situations. At GE, we tend to go right to the solution or fix it mode of thinking. My learnings have reminded me to ask “why” and “what did we learn from the crisis” and “how do we make sure this doesn’t happen again” when these situations occur. My readings of Simon Senik in the past had taught me this but the culture quickly pulled me back into the “fix it” mode (3). Asking the right questions must increase in my communications.
Demonstrations of Improvement
My team has been most impacted by my communication skills work in this course. That was intentional due to the number of opportunities in any given workweek. The dynamics on the team continue to improve and the benefits of team performance and openness are definitely noticed with a positive reaction. No one has specifically asked if I’m taking a world-class MBA course in Business Communications but the increased feedback and dialogue from my team are evident.
Future Communications Journeys
There are often compliments with regards to my speaking capabilities and when the proper preparation is utilized, the response is abundant. To that end, there are many speaking engagements on my path forward, and honing these skills coupled with the areas of career expertise will open the door to refer back and improve my skills in the future. The storytelling, the succinct, and clear thinking in my message, and the body language will be my points to excel and grow.
- Paulson, E. 2020. JWMI505 Business Communications Assignment Feedback.
- JWMI. 2020. Week 10 Lecture Notes.
- Sinek, S. 2009. Start With Why