A Feel-Good Ending

You know when you applaud to the teacher on the last day of class because it was so good? Yeah, let's do that for this class.

I wrote one of my thoughts on the board on our last day of presentations that I really summed up how I felt:

"I learned things in this class that I would have learned in no other. Things such as: presentation skills, business terms, tips and tricks, useful software, correct grammar and a host of other things ." 

Deep, I know.

Also, yes, I know I didn't use the oxford in that quote, but it's a habit I'm going to keep, because AP style does that (#communicationsmajorproblems). Also, whether or not I can keep this grammar going well or not is another question. But I'm going to try!

Either way, I'm really glad I took this class. It has given me tools that I need to be successful in my career. I think everyone who has taken it can see that and will be successful in their fields too. Especially if their field is tricking their families into thinking they're engaged. Wait, just kidding, that sounded mean. I loved that story. Here's a more feel-good ending: "They will be successful in their fields too, especially if their field is being amazing communicinators." Dats it. Y'all done good. Peace out

Lulz,

<3 COleMaN

PS Totally kidding, you guys rock. Thanks for understanding my sarcasm.

PRSSA Event - What I already knew and What I learned

Free pizza is really nice. Especially when it's paid for by someone else. Making it free.

Oh, and guest speakers to listen to while eating your pizza is cool too I guess.

I had free pizza last month while attending the PRSA's event at the Pizza Factory where Pete Codella, my supervisor at my job, spoke to a group of public relations professionals and students. He discussed social media marketing, specifically explaining 10 tools that he uses to leverage social media marketing to make it worthwhile.

Well, being as I work for him, I already knew about most of the tools he was talking about, as we used them for our clients. But I learned though the importance of networking while I was there. I met some other PRSSA members there who were attending UVU studying PR. As we discussed what we were working on, wheels started turning as to how we could help each other in our individual projects. They were doing a project about speakers and could use a band and/or musicians to promote it, and we were looking for more people to know about our band at UVU. We exchanged information and some good conversations came from it. I need to keep networking at future events, because you never know how you can help someone.

-Coleman

Go React Blog Post

Wow. Go React is so freakin' cool. Watching myself and my group present live, with comments was invaluable. I learned some things I should keep doing, stop and start doing. 

First off, things I did well:

• When presenting the statistic about UTA's pricing, Cameron said, "Great way to illustrate the problem," when I had two volunteers stand up. Sweet.

• Professor Middleton said that I had a, "clear suggestion for [a] solution," during my part of the recommendations section. Also sweet.

• The GANTT chart. Seth Chatterly was like, "GANTT chart. Well played. Professor Middleton is going to love that." I hope she did, but mostly I'm just happy people could read it and that it made sense in the context.

Secondly, things I needed to better that I didn't see coming:

• From Nathan Harbison: "iron your shirt before a presentation, a wrinkled shirt is distracting."

• From Prof. Middleton: "Coleman- short-sleeves are not typically considered business professional (acceptable when under a suit jacket. Okay in the office, but not when in mtgs. etc.)" Good to know.

• From Felicia Bunting: "so far coleman has answered 2 questions without letting the girls answer. are all knowledgable?" I think this points out that I need to be more trusting of team members. They do know tons even if I'm worried that they don't. 

Lastly, what I'm going to do about it: 

1. Dress better. I think the time has come for me to iron my shirts. Yes, I know how, I've done it before. I just... get lazy. But it really makes all the difference. And yes, no more short sleeves on presentation days.
2. Trust. I need to remember that my team researched all the things that I did, and they are just as competent to answer the questions that I am. 
3. Show clear solutions to problems. It's too easy to blabber on without making a connection with what you're talking about to a real issue. 

Overall, it was an awesome experience. It was inspiring to be able to read other peoples' comments and learn from them. What a cool experience.

-Coleman

Other notes:

Not to be narcissistic, but my mullet was (is) pretty sweet, I'm stoked on it

Personal Presentations - What to do, not do, and what you need to start doing

To everyone who presented this week:

You were awesome. The preparation was great, you were timely, and you made really good points. Here are a couple ideas I had for you to do:

Keep:

• Prepare: It makes a huge difference when you have all visuals planned, your talking points written out, and it's been rehearsed. Everyone did a really good job at that, I could tell.
• Acronyms/lists: Pretty much everyone had one, and for good reason. They work, and they keep the subject easy for the audience to digest.

Stop:

• One-way conversation: Make sure your presentation is two-sided. Asking questions and getting to know the people you're presenting to makes a huge difference in the relevancy of your content. Maybe ask yourself, "Did I ask any questions? Who did I present to? How was this relevant to them?" at the end of your presentations to make sure you did some sort of interacting with them.

Start:

• On-the-spot innovation: It was really cool to see the presenters make quick changes to their presentations after getting feedback to streamline their presentations. Jake started wearing a watch, Seth kept his photos on his presentation, and Kim even added in a whole exercise at the end of her presentation to get her audience more involved. If you left feeling like you wished you'd implemented more ideas you had, just do it next time!

All in all, the presentations were great. I'm scared but excited to do mine.

-Coleman

PS thanks to Seth and Taylor for coming out to my band's show this weekend! They were a vital part of the energetic crowd, starting and maintaining the dancing and moshing throughout. Seth even shredded some drums with me. Here's a pic of the crowd, pretty sure you can see them on the right side,  ladies all around them (get it ladies):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=714653145252171&set=pb.253994167984740.-2207520000.1396756482.&type=3&theater

Remote Meetings are Actually... Really Convenient.

Yes, there's a lot of issues with conference calls. We've all seen the video. There's people coming and going, there's static, there are dogs barking, there are people cleaning the carpet in a circle around you (seriously, that happened to us), but even still, they are really useful.

Our group needed to meet quickly and discuss what needed to get done before we turned in the project. One of our members was at work, another at her home in Orem, and myself and @bridgetbanks in the HBLL. Well technology brought us all together. All I had to do was make a free account on freeconferencecalls.com. It totally worked and it was amazing!

It was another instance of my gratitude for technology. There is so much good that we can accomplish in this world now because of the advances in communication, science, medicine, and other technologies in recent years. What a beautiful time to be alive.

Here's the obligatory link to the conference call youtube video, just in case you missed it last time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ

-Coleman

Sometimes, when you're a man, you wear... stretchy pants in your room. Just for fun.

The title has something to do with this post. I promise on the honor of the magic eagle egg.

Go ahead and start here (watch the .gifs):

http://imgur.com/gallery/jRrUK

OK. Notice how Nacho goes through a lot of hard work before his big fight. He plans, gathers materials, collaborates with his only-believing-in-science ring-mate, and then works hard to achieve his goal. Yeah, that's what research is all about, as I learned this week; Research leads to solutions. Just like Nacho's amazing uniform gave him credibility, motivation, and ideas, so does our research.

You see, as we were brainstorming ideas for our group project, it occurred to me that you really have to have a reason to create something. You can't just sit down, "be creative", and invent something that will make you tons of moo-lah. Rather, you have to really understand a problem well enough to see the real pain points are that people are going through. Then you figure out how to solve it. Our group did that this week, and we did it well. Look forward to some awesome ideas in our presentation. Ca-chow.

-Coleman

The Do's and Do-Not's of Skype Interviews

In the professional world, it's rare to find the career and opportunity that is best for you in the place you want to live in. When applying for ideal jobs in faraway lands, an employer will often ask to meet with your for an interview on the phone or via Skype. 

I'd like to review a few key points that I've learned while doing these types of interviews.

1. Be yourself. Just because you're on a computer screen doesn't mean your interviewer won't see your personality. If they see that you can be personal online, they'll trust you'll be able to in real life as well.

2. Put yourself somewhere free from distraction. The difference between online interviews and in-person ones is place. You ultimately decide where you are when you make the call. If you're in your house, understand that your family member, friend, or cat could walk in at any time and become a distraction from your conversation. 

3. Make sure you have a good connection. This doesn't just mean a personal connection, but a physical internet connection too. If your wifi cuts out part way through your interview, you might have lost your chance. Some interviewers have so many people to talk to that they cannot afford to reschedule with you if your call is dropped. Find a place with good, reliable service and go there.

4. Look the Part. Dress as if the interview were taking place in real life. Just because you're in your house doesn't mean you can just throw on your PJ's and try to only aim your webcam at your face. If you have to move around, your plan will be soiled and you probably won't get a call back. Protip: if you're a glasses wearer, consider removing your glasses, as computer screens often cause glares that make it impossible to see your eyes. It's very distracting to the other party, and hey, you really don't want to be confused with a robot.

-Coleman

PS the struggle for us glasses people is real:

Glare 1

Glare 2

Glare 3