Surrounded by love and care

There I was yesterday trying to carry five heavy shopping bags across a busy street. as I was about to cross, a nice lady walked up to me and pointed out that there was a hawk- eyed fellow following me. She thought he was eyeing my handbag and that I should get a trolley to help with the load so I can mind my handbag. Before I could answer, she motioned to a young man with a trolley to come over. She swiftly loaded my bags into the trolley, negotiated the price and told me to pay him upfront. Afterwards, she sent us off and went her way. Assuming the woman was my mother, the trolley fellow pointed that she must love me a lot to worry about me being followed by thieves.

Later on I thought to myself how, in going about our business, we tend to lose sight of what is happening around us. If the nice lady had not pointed out that I was being followed, I probably would have lost my handbag. I was suprised by the fact that she felt compelled to ensure that I was safe. She was a reminder that people still care about others and are willing to help. one does not have to go through life feeling like they are alone and no one will help them. If a total stranger can care enough to volunteer help, imagine how much help one can get from people if they simply ask from those who love them.

Interviews: my experience so far.

Last week I attended three interviews in one day. It was not as traumatic as a I had imagined and I must say I felt very good at the end of the day. The most important thing about these interviews for me is they provided me with a platform to learn more about myself and how I cope in different situations. Looking back, I think there were a few things I got wrong and some I got right that I hope will be of use to everyone.

The interviews were very different experiences for me. Firstly,with all three organisations, I did not know what they were looking for and the kind of work they had in mind for an intern. This required calmness and quick thinking because I had a few seconds to scan the memory and pick experiences that would be relevant to the kind of work they had in mind. Secondly, I had to show how my studies relate to the particular fields. Thirdly, I had to say why I thought I would fit into the organisation. I forgot to mention some very useful experiences in one interview.I suppose it was because I had not anticipated the question or that experience of the kind they were looking for would be of relevance.

One of the interviews was unexpected, I was told at 3pm that I have an Interview at 4pm. I quickly googled the organisation and identified several things that interested me about their work. The interviewer pointed out that they would require the intern to propose their own project and then asked if I had any areas of interest. It helps to do this; you might not know much about an organisation but at least have an idea why you are interested in them.

One interviewer asked a question that I responded to with what I thought was enough detail. After I responded he asked something else relating to the same question and this was an indicator that my initial response was not sufficient. I gave more detail when he asked the second time. Be as detailed as possible the first time.

Know yourself and what you have to offer. The idea here is to look at one's transcript and see how the courses appearing on it can be used out there. Be able to point out what you learnt and how this knowledge can be used in an organisation.

Ask if you want more information. Later on when we were dicussing the interviews, we discovered we knew different things about the same organisations. Others had more detail than others about the project and things such as were the intern will be placed, the duration of the project and so on. Such information is necessary and helps one to come up with a response.

All interviews are unique so one has to be prepared for all kinds of experiences. Nothing beats a clear understanding of one's self, preparation, calmness and a good dose of confidence.I intend to use my experience to my advantage in future interviews. Hopefully, no one will call at 3.30pm to schedule a meeting for 4pm.

Who needs presentation skills?

I am confident about having to stand in front of a group and deliver a speech. I love talking and I love audiences so for me, presenting is something I actually look forward to. Up until two days ago, I was convinced I knew all there is to know about presenting. Des Patel, a renowned presentation specialist, gave a seminar on Thursday that widened my view about the art of presenting. According to her, presenting is a learned skill that requires a lot of practice and planning. She shared with us a technique that she has been using in her practice and has worked well for her. Her technique is a structured step- by- step formular on what to do covering content as well as the presenter's actions. Although her technique appeared too rigid, I liked it for one thing; it highlighted important aspects that are esential for successful presentations such as eye contact, voice projection, content synthesis and body language.

The more I listened to Des, the more I realised that the only problem I was having with the technique was its very structured nature. I believe in flexibility, fun and creativity in presentation skills because I get bored easily. That is why I liked Roy Blumenthal; the fact that he believes in working around structures and set rules. I must emphasise that it is not that I do not like rules and structure; I do, but as guidelines and starting points for creativity. In future when I do my presentations, I intend to create my own techniques based on what I learned in the WOW and my own creativity.

Humbled indeed!

A few hours ago, we had a presentation for prospective employers by Lesley Emanuel. She is a WOW co-ordinator. The idea was that she would give the prospective employers an idea about the programme and what its meant to archieve. She gave the visitors a brief overview of the topics covered and brief descriptions of the students attending the course. She also pointed out that what the programme had to offer employers was a crop of well- trained, highly competent and skilled students. As I listened to Lesley describing the calibre of the students in the programme, I thought to myself that I have never heard anyone describe me in such terms. I felt humbled by the fact that she feels she can speak about her students so highly without blinking, that she has that much faith in me. It seemed as if she was challenging me to rise up and be what she was describing. I think that when someone expects the best of you because they believe that is what you can be, you can only only be the best.

New look Africa

Last week's presentation by Mr Kuseni Dlamini raised important issues concerning the role of Africa in global trade. Businesses that plan to make it these days need to have a global outlook and the ability to keep up with global bussiness trends. African businesses are doing well so far and have the potential to do even better. The seminar was aimed at identifying the ways through which this potential could be realised.

Mr Dlamini argued that in the current global trade arena, Africa is lagging behind. Some of the keys reasons he sited for this was lack of leadership and the desire in Africans to move beyond mediocrity. I could not agree more . Often people always look for external factors to blame and fail to take responsibility for the problems they face. I felt however, that Mr Dlamini was downplaying a very important factor; that of institutionalised hurdles. I for one feel that if the continent is to become a major player in the global trade arena, there is a need to identify all the challenges and hurdles that stand in the path of development. While I totally agree with Mr Dlamini that the continent can do more to try to solve governance issues, i feel that these challenges are complex and can not be simplified to a basic problem of laziness.

The Roy bug

Last week was very interesting in that I met a man whom i will probably remember for a great many years to come. I have met many inspiring presenters in the WOW programme but none who stood out as Mr Roy Blumenthal. Firstly, he started communicating,threatening to be precise,a week in advance. Through a long list of instructions to be accomplished by the group before his presentation day. I will not go into the details of the list except to say that it got me so worried, i developed serious stomach cramps. On the day of the presentation, I literally dragged myself out of bed and into the seminar room. I figured that if I was to learn, he was probably going to be the best teacher on the subject of blogging. I was glad I had showed up for presentation because the man turned out to be quite the opposite of the monster he had made himself out to be in his e-mail. He explained why he had chosen the approach he did (scaring us) and what he hoped to achieve. I initially found blogging to be challenging seeing as I was not sure what to write or how to write it. Having pointed out that this was not uncommon, he took time to explain how blogs work, what they are meant for and how they can expand our networks. He urged us to write whatever we felt like sharing and not to worry too much about subject issues.

As I sat there listening to Roy, I could not help but be amazed at how much we learn through experience. I had just spent days trying to meet Roy's requirements and I resented him for it yet if I had not, I would not have learnt about blogging. Later on he showed us some of his work he did as a visual facilitator. They were the most colourful and liveliest powerpoint presentations I had ever come across. His creativity I must add, showed in his dress (I loved the hairstyle) as well. In short, Roy made me want to blog. Below are a list of things I learnt from Roy:

-listening to instruction saves a lot of time
-be prepared for anything ,you never who or what you might have to work with.
-remember to carry out one's duties to the best of one's ability
-an open mind helps one to work better with others
-communication is the best place to start with any challenge
-worrying can be very painful
-do not judge a man by his e-mail
-creativity pays (very well in his case).

visit to The Business Place

On Tuesday we went to The Business Place to get a feel of what happens in a work environment. The Bussiness Place is an organisation that helps small to medium business entrepreneurs establish themselves by providing training and bussiness knowledge. I was impressed by the fact that the place is a walk in centre so one can just walk in anytime knowing there will be someone to help them. A very cheerful lady, Delsy Dludlu, did a wonderful job informing us of the activities of the centre. I was pleased to hear that the centre gives prospectives a wholistic approach to bussiness instead of just focusing on the financial aspect only. This is a way of empowering people and providing them with skills for sustaining their bussinesses. I believe that the knowledge that the centre foregrounds in all the initiatives they help with ensures the success they have had so far. At the end of the day, I was convinced that a lot of empowerment initiatives in the country could learn thing or two about trully empowering people from The Business Place.

first day blogging

This, good people, is my first day at blogging and I am excited that I can now blog like many people out there. I recently started training under the World of Work Programme and this blogspot will form an essential medium of communication with the rest of the group. I intend to share my experiences and concerns on this site and hope to receive valuable comments from fellow bloggers. So far the programme has been phenominal. The guest speakers have been an inspiration, sharing their experiences of their journeys through life. Right now I feel so energised and I can not wait to meet the rest of our speakers.