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INTRODUCTION TO SOFT SKILLS
Prof(Dr) .K. P. MohandasDean (Electrical Sciences)
Professor EEE M E S College of Engineering, Kuttippuram
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Skills required by an
Engineer
Hard Skills Soft fSkills
Hard Skills
AnalyticalSkills
Design SkillsProgramming Skills
Logical Design
Algorithm Design System Analysis
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Mathematical Analysis
SOFT SKILLS
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Communication Skills
Verbal /Oral
Written
Interpersonal
Presentation Skills
SOFT SKILL CATEGORIES
• Corporate Skills
• Employability skills
• Life Skills
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Corporate skills:
These are required at executive levels
Awareness of these helps in helping your organization and assist your bosses.
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Corporate Skills• Political sensitivity• Business and commercial awareness• Strategic awareness• Understanding funding sources and schemes• Information Management• Organization and Control• Team building• Communication and persuasion• Networking and public relations• Leading change
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Employability Skills
• Essential for those who seek employment• To be mastered by every one who seeks
employment• These can be mastered only by constant
practice and effort• Mastering every new skill leads to another
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Employability skills
• Leadership qualities• Cooperation with others• Planning and organizing• Making decisions • Communication skills• Verbal skills• Writing skills• Presentation skills
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Life Skills
Related to head, heart, hands and health, These are highly personal and Are also called behavioural skills
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Head related
Keeping records, Making use of resources, Planning and organizing, Goal setting, Service learning, Problem solving, Learning to learn
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Heart Related SkillsRelated to people and caring,
How do we relate to people, relate people by accepting differences, Conflict resolutions, Social skills, Cooperation and Communication and caring through nurturing relations, Sharing, Empathy and concern for others
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Hands related
Community service, Volunteering, Leadership, Responsible citizenship, Contribution to group
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Health related
Healthy life styles, stress management, disease prevention and personal safety for better living : self esteem, self responsibility, character, managing emotions and self discipline share well, care well, and fare well
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THINGS TO DO DAILY• Greet your family members everyday• Greet your peers, subordinates and colleagues when you
enter the office• Greet your friends on the way, don’t ignore them• Continuously reciprocate to breed communication• Say ‘thanks’ when you get some help even if is trivial, make it
a habit even to subordinates• Be a proactive listener – don’t simply ‘pretend’ to hear• While talking to others your voice should be audible, clear
and soothing, never be aggressive or shout• Dress well to suit the profession and occasion• Avoid political comments at work place• Do not talk ill of others • Respect others, if you expect to be respected by others
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DEVELOPING LANGUAGE SKILLS
What is to be done to MASTER A LANGUAGE
• READ As much as possible
WRITE In your own language
• SPEAK Even if you make mistakes initially
HEAR carefully how others speak
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READ - HOW
Not just for time pass, But to understand, Learn new words, Use them when you get a chance, Summarize and Make notes for later use Reading an English newspaper everyday a
habit, preferably Hindu or Times of India
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SPEAK
• Try speaking the language you want to be proficient in,• Even if you make mistakes initially, • Be willing to correct it when some one points
out it to you• Be ever willing to learn
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WRITE
• Short and simple sentences,• Style makes a man or woman.• Use apt language for Personal or Official write ups Try your skill in translation from one language
to another
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Writing, the major tool for communication
• writing has two major roles: it clarifies – for both writer and reader it conveys information
Remember the following
ethig follow this simple procedure: 1.Establish the AIM 2.Consider the READER 3.Devise the STRUCTURE 4.DRAFT the text 5.EDIT and REVISE
A document tells somebody something
Three major considerations: • What they already know affects what you can
leave out. • What they need to know determines what
you include. • What they want to know suggests the order
and emphasis of your writing.
Structure
• a development of the idea • an explanation or analogy • an illustration • support with evidence • contextual links to reinforce the structure
Draft, Revise and Edit
• Style• The Beginning • Punctuation• Spelling • Simple Errors -proof reading• Sentence Length • Word Length • Jargon
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HEAR GOOD ENGLISH
• On Radio • On Television• BBC News , English channels like NDTV etc• National Geographic• Discovery channel• History Channel• Good English Movies on HBO,
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PRESENTATION SKILLS
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Oral Visual Written
PRESENTATIONS
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Only 30-40% of what is HEARD is remembered
Just over 50%of what is READ is remembered
More than 70% of what is SEEN is remembered
More than 70% of what is SEEN is remembered
VISUAL PRESENTATION IS MOST EFFECTIVE
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REMEMBER
• Tell me I will forget• Show me I will remember • Involve me, I will learn
• This applies to teaching and even for presentations
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Why Presentations
• Presentations and reports are ways of communicating ideas and information to a group
• Presentation carries the speakers personality better and
• Allows immediate interaction between the audience and speaker (presenter)
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A good presentation has • Content : contains information that can be
absorbed by the audience in one sitting• Structure: It has a logical beginning, middle and
end. Should be sequenced such that the audience can understand
• Packaging: It must be well prepared. A report can be read later, but the audience haring a presentation is at the mercy of the presenter.
• Human element: a god presentation will be remembered because a person is attached to it
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Check Availability of equipment
• Only Over head projectors(OHP) : prepare transparencies on OHP films using OHP pens
• LCD Projectors and PC/Laptop available. Use Power point slides Save paper or slide films Give handouts 6 slides per page,if necessary
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How Many slides?
• Difficult to say, as many as required • But one slide on the average 2 minutes to 2.5
minutes.• Figures and charts can take less time
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Slides when manually made
• Use big enough letters• Use colour pens with deep colours• Never use photocopies of printed pages as slides
directly• Never overcrowd the slides with too much of
material – not more 7-8 lines per slide• Use minimum number of equations – give qualitative
interpretations• Never give complete derivations
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DO THESE• Write neatly and legibly• Use big enough letters• Use dark colours not light• Use a pointer to indicate• Never read directly from the slides• Number the films in the sequence order• Do not be totally be dependent on the slides• Use presentation software like Power point
wherever possible
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VOICE
• Four main items that define the voice quality• Volume: How loud ? Enough to be heard by all
members in the audience• Tone : A voice that carries fear can frighten the
audience and one that carries laughter can get the audience into smile
• Pitch : How high or low a note is• Pace: How long a sound lasts
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How to improve your voice?
• Listen to it! Practice listening to your voice while at home, driving, walking, working to see if you are using it the way you want to
• To really listen to your voice, cup your right hand around your right ear and gently pull the ear forward. Next, cup your left hand around your mouth and direct the sound straight into your ear.
• Now practice moderating your voice.
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Body Language
• The posture and your movements can greatly help in your presentation
• Displaying good posture tells your audience that you know what you are doing and you care deeply about it.
• Also, a good posture helps you to speak more clearly and effective.
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Throughout your display
o Eye contact:Speakers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth, and credibility.
o Facial Expressions: Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits happiness, friendliness, warmth, and liking favorably. The listeners will be more comfortable around you and will want to listen to you more.
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Body Language – continued
o Gestures: If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring and stiff.
• Posture and body orientation: You communicate numerous messages by the way you talk and move. Standing erect and leaning forward communicates that you are approachable, receptive, and friendly. Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it communicates disinterest
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Body Language (continued)
Proximity: Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with others. Increasing the proximity enables you to make better eye contact and increases the opportunities for others to speak.
• Voice. One of the major criticisms of speakers is that they speak in a monotone voice. Listeners perceive this type of speaker as boring and dull. People report that they learn less and lose interest more quickly when listening to those who have not learned to modulate their voices.
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Active ListeningListening can be one of our most powerful tools, Be
sure to use it o Spend more time listening than talking (but of course, as a
presenter, you will be doing most of the talking). o Do not finish the sentence of others. o Do not answer questions with questions. o Aware of biases. We all have them. We need to control
them. o Never daydream or become preoccupied with their own
thoughts when others talk. o Let the other speaker talk. Do not dominate the
conversation. • Plan responses after others have finished speaking...NOT
while they are speaking. Their full concentration is on what others are saying, not on what they are going to respond with.
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GETTING FEED BACK 1. Evaluative: Makes a judgment about the worth,
goodness, or appropriateness of the other person's statement.
2. Interpretive: Paraphrasing - attempt to explain what the other persons statement mean.
3. Supportive: Attempt to assist or bolster the other communicator
4. Probing: Attempt to gain additional information, continue the discussion, or clarify a point.
5. Understanding: Attempt to discover completely what the other communicator means by her statements.
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Feedback (continued)
o Provide feedback but do not interrupt incessantly.
o Analyze by looking at all the relevant factors and asking open-ended questions. Walk the person through analysis (summarize).
o Keep the conversation on what the speaker says...NOT on what interest them.
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Are you nervous?
• Tension can be reduced by performing some relaxation exercises.
o Before the presentation: Lie on the floor. Your back should be flat on the floor. Pull your feet towards you so that your knees are up in the air. Relax. Close your eyes. Fell your back spreading out and supporting your weight. Feel your neck lengthening. Work your way through your body, relaxing one section at a time - your toes, feet, legs, torso, etc. When finished, stand up slowly and try to
maintain the relaxed feeling in a standing position. o clockwise, and then counter-clockwise.
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Technique to reduce tension -
• If you cannot lie down: Stand with you feet about 6 inches apart, arms hanging by your sides, and fingers unclenched. Gently shake each part of your body, starting with your hands, then arms, shoulders, torso, and legs. Concentrate on shaking out the tension. Then slowly rotate your shoulders forwards and the backwards. Move on to your head. Rotate it slowly
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Are you nervous?o Mental Visualization: Before the presentation,
visualize the room, audience, and you giving the presentation. Mentally go over what you are going to do from the moment you start to the end of the presentation.
o During the presentation: Take a moment to yourself by getting a drink of water, take a deep breath, concentrate on relaxing the most tense part of your body, and then return to the presentation saying to your self, "I can do it!"
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At least pretend not to be nervous
o You do NOT need to get rid of anxiety and tension! Channel the energy into concentration and expressiveness.
o Know that anxiety and tension is not as noticeable to the audience as it is to you.
o Know that even the best presenters make mistakes. The key is to continue on after the mistake. If you pick up and continue, so will the audience. Winners continue! Losers stop!
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Questions
• Keep cool if a questioner disagrees with you. You are a professional! No matter how hard you try, not everyone in the world will agree with you!
• Although some people get a perverse pleasure from putting others on the spot, and some try to look good in front of the boss, most people ask questions from a genuine interest. Questions do not mean you did not explain the topic good enough, but that their interest is deeper than the average audience.
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Questions – troubles??
• Always allow time at the end of the presentation for questions. After inviting questions, do not rush ahead if no one asks a question. Pause for about 6 seconds to allow the audience to gather their thoughts. When a question is asked, repeat the question to ensure that everyone heard it (and that you heard it correctly). When answering, direct your remarks to the entire audience. That way, you keep everyone focused, not just the questioner. To reinforce your presentation, try to relate the question back to the main
points.
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Listen carefully to Questions • Make sure you listen to the question being asked.
If you do not understand it, ask them to clarify. Pause to think about the question as the answer you give may be correct, but ignore the main issue. If you do not know the answer, be honest, do not waffle. Tell them you will get back to them...and make sure you do!
• Answers that last 10 to 40 seconds work best. If they are too short, they seem abrupt; while longer answers appear too elaborate. Also, be sure to keep on track. Do not let off-the-wall questions sidetrack you into areas that are not relevant to the presentation.
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REMEMBER
• SOFT SKILLS• LANGUAGE SKILLS &• PRESENTATION SKILLS• CAN BE ACQUIRED AND MASTERED• ONLY BY CNSTANT PRACTICE • SO• PRACTICE !!! PRACTICE !!! PRACTICE !!!
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