TM: Social Etiquette and Speaking Skills

Secret War Journal[12 February 2011][TM Session 2 & 3]
Hmm, ahhh I didn't had the time to talk about the previous session last week. My sincere apologies. Perhaps I should start by talking briefly about the previous session.

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Session 2: Speaking Skills

Basically, last week, we received advice from Mr Max on how to say or present.

I won't be talking in detail (though most should be self-explanatory) because the purpose of this series is to give you a clear idea of what Talent Management entails. Of course, it also helps to serve as a lasting mental note for myself. ;)

Alright, for Speech and Presentation, we can categorise them into 4 stages. Namely,

1. Pre-Speaking (Preparation)
2. Speaking - Fluency
1. Volume
2. Pacing
3. Pauses
4. Signposting
3. Speaking - Clarity
1. Vocabulary
2. Pronunciation
3. Stress & Intonation
4. Post-Speaking (Reviewing)

There are also non-verbal features in a presentation.

• Posture
• Eye Contact
• Facial Expressions
• Gestures
• References to slides - Do no read from slides
• Use of Statistics - Use sparingly

Other speaking devices include

• Rhetorical Questions - to stimulate audience to think
• Quotations - for effect
• Audience Interaction - for relating to audience

These skills would be really useful especially for JC1s who are having their Project Work where they need to present in Oral Presentations (OP). :)


For more info: go http://eslgold.com/speaking/simple_presentation.html and http://eslgold.com/speaking/elaborating.html

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Session 3: Social Etiquette

For this session, we have an external vendor, Suzenne Zheng, Founder of First Impressions Image International to come educate us on the aspects to take note of for job interviews.

In summary, she taught:

• Top 10 list of what employers dislike during job interviews for males and females
• Dress code for job interviews - including shoes and ties
• How to tie a tie (which I hadn't done so for a year)
• How to walk properly (in the business world)
• Colour Theory (Cool and Warm and their definitions) - Colour Harmony
• Appropriate Sitting Postures for Job Interviews (2 for males, 5 for females)
• Appropriate hairstyles for males and females
• Face shapes and how to identify them and apply styles accordingly
• Appropriate eye brows
• Appropriate Sock length for males
• Need for punctuality for job interviews
• Brisk walking
• Avoid "bedroom face" (and long or spiky hair for males)

One interesting thing to note would be how your height affects your hairstyle (for females):

• If you're >1.66m, you can keep long hair
• If you're >1.40m but <1.66m, you can keep shoulder-length hair
• If you're <1.40m, you should keep your hair short.

Alright, that should be all. =]