Hello everyone! My last post was a recap on all the things that have happened on this blog. But with 200+ posts, I thought of making this quick reference guide to the content here. Although the search tab at the end of the home page works great too. Still I decided to pick up the most popular and important posts in useful categories like presentation, coaching, communication, speaking, reading, vocabulary building etc. So spending 10 minutes on this blog post can help you learn a great deal about improving your soft skills and communication.
EMAIL WRITING
Let’s begin with the most common thing that we do in our every day work lives – write emails. To internal and external customers. And yet there are so many different ways in which miscommunication can happen on email. It has nothing to do with our intention but the way we write emails. Following simple principles of good writing skills can solve all these problems:
8 principles of good writing you should master
Writing skills are critical to any career in today’s times
This is also one of the most viewed post on my blog which only goes to show that we all want to write better.
You can also check out how to improve your email etiquette here.
PRESENTATION SKILLS
This follows very close behind writing emails, right? There are so many presentations we need to deliver at all levels. And yet most of them turn out to be such snooze fests. The same boring replay again and again. But if you take care to avoid these blunders, you can easily shine as a master presenter:
7 common presentation blunders and how to fix them
Make sure that you keep these points in mind right from the prep phase.
SPEAKING SKILLS
I made a series on improving your speaking skills for this blog. It has posts and videos on each topic. I broke down working on speaking skills into 5 steps that cover all phases from prep to delivery. You can pick up the one you want to improve and work on that skill. In fact, I offer one-to-one coaching exclusively on your areas of improvement. I want to share a post that can help you become a more effective speakers – the post on speaking tools
8 simple speaking tools to wow your audience
Photo by Ilyass SEDDOUG on Unsplash
Choose a couple of these tools that you are most comfortable with and start using them in your speeches and presentations.
I also want to share the amazing speeches by the World Champions of Public Speaking – contest held every year by Toastmasters. You can watch and learn form some of their speeches here.
COACHING
While training is an ubiquitous term in the corporate circles, coaching is comparatively shrouded in mystery. Some people confuse it with mentoring, others just think it’s not their job as a manager. But you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that 10 minutes and the right questions can make you a great coach to your team.
3 quick questions to turn a manager into a coach
Here is a post that covers all the 7 coaching questions from the book The Coaching Habit by by Michael Bungay Stanier.
TRAINING
I have also written posts for people who want to become trainers and don’t know how and where to start from. I started with one post on how to become a corporate trainer and recently added another one on selecting the right training certification to become a trainer.
How To Choose The Best Training Certification For You
A certificate is a great way to add to your credentials especially if you are just starting out. The post helps you with various parameters you should consider before choosing what is right for you.
INTERVIEW SKILLS
Your communication skills can make or break your career, and quite literally if it is an interview. And this topic is close to my heart since I started my career mentoring students for MBA selection process. I have written many posts covering various aspects of the interview process. I’ll share one here and you’ll find a lot more at the end of it.
11 Sure Shot Ways To Mar Your Chances In An Interview
You can also follow my series on Placement skills on Linkedin – which covers tips on resume, cover letters, commonly asked questions, do’s and don’ts and how to answer some tricky questions.
READING
An important part of my life is reading books. Books have helped me learn new things, hone existing skills and keep my mind agile. I have reviewed and written about so many books that I loved and shared my learnings on this blog. Some of my favourite books have been Brag! by Peggy Klaus which has valuable lessons on branding yourself in the right manner. Presence by Amy Cuddy about how power pose can make a huge difference to our lives. The post I want to share here is about the 3 best books I have read so far this year.
3 Must Read Books From My Reading List
Read more about how to develop a reading habit here
Which of the posts did you like in this recap? You can find a lot of related posts on the blog. And I assure you that spending even 2 minutes reading one of these posts can add something to your skills. I am waiting to hear about your favourite one. So click on the comments and tell me.