Express Yourself! ~ All About Your Presentation Skills

The normal day-to-day routine was broken for the last two days. But, it was all for good. I attended a training for corporate called 'Express Yourself'. Basically, it is all about tips and tricks of good presentation skills. Good experience, great exposure :-)

First, overcome your nervousness!

How do you do this? Calm yourself down by taking few deep breaths. Or you can opt to do 'Brain Gym' techniques. Try out one of this activity. This activity will stimulate your left and right brain. 

What if you are still nervous? Try below points:

1. Turn your nervousness (negative energy) to positive

2. Engage into exercise to ease tension

3. Refrain your negative thoughts

4. Think of positive events in your life

5. Organise and rehearse

6. Use anchoring (for eg. pat your shoulder)

7. Powerful act - SMILE

There are 2 parts of delivering successful presentation - the way you present and your slide deck.

Presentation slides (tips & tricks)

1. Use maximum of 4 colors

2. Use font size of 30 or 32, colors should not be too bright (remember any color on white will make eyes tired)

3. Data should be in point forms (highlight & explain as you go thru the points)

4. Use visual aids appropriately (make sure it is relevant to your content)

5. Limit text on visual

6. Use statistics, graphs, comparisons, findings, blow out texts or pictures

You as a presenter :

1. Know your audience

2. Start with opening, body and closing. Opening is powerful when you involve your audience with multimedia presentation aids, props or questions, counter tension/ice breakers, tell popular quotes, use impactful statements, metaphors. Capture your audience.

3. Show confidence, avoid clasping hands, avoid touching your hair, keep your hands to your side. Use gestures, body language

4. Engage your audience. Ask questions. 

5. Avoid saying "Sorry","I think..", "But..", "However.."

6. Include humor

7. Must include - purpose, objective, strategies, action

8. Use tonality, high & low pitch

9. Eye Contact with audience

10. Use props (flipcharts). Remember, write, turn to audience and talk.

11. Response positively to audience's questions. (Say thanks, acknowledge). Avoid negative comments.

There are many CEOs out there has given remarkable and memorable presentation, one of it is Steve Job's product launch.

Practice makes perfect - very true in delivering an impactful presentation :-)

The wholesome of WHOLEGRAINS!

Grains, grains and grains. This is what the whole world is talking about. Eating healthy and staying healthy. So, it has to be wholesome grains! Now, I learn something today. As usual, when we talk about grains, what comes to mind are items such as rice, pasta, bread and noodles etc.

But, do you understand when people talk about polished and refined products? In summary, whole grain is the most nutritious because it is not 'processed' and wholegrain contains minerals, vitamins and rich in dietary fiber. 'Processed' grains may not contain the 'kernels' whereby components of 'kernel' are defined as 'bran', 'germ' and 'endosperm'. 

Now, the interesting facts are :
Whole grains - contains 'bran', 'germ' and 'endosperm'
Whole meal - 'bran', 'germ' and 'endosperm' and refined into a finer texture

To reap the benefits, go for whole grains!
There are many health benefits associated with whole grains such as reducing cardiovascular diseases, improves bowel health and reduces diabetes.


Get more details at NutriWEB! 

LO's Journey at Smart Reader Kids

LO was in Smart Reader Kids, Bt 3, Jln Ipoh for 4 years (2010-2014). When she was 2.5 years, I knew that I need to go on preschool hunting very soon. It was not my plan to enroll her in preschool at such a tender age. But, situation was not at my side. I was not in favor our shop lot preschools, but I thought why not just give a try. I met the principle, she appeared very outspoken, passionate and able to explain very well. In my opinion, we as parents must look for a good principle. I always believe a good school's management lies in their principle's hand.

I checked out another branch of Smart Reader Kids too, this was nearer to home, but I was not convinced after talking to the principal. There goes my lo's preschool started at the age of 3. Too young, some would say, but I guess it depends on their parents as they know the best. The first year was very easy going, lots of fun activities, teachers were good, passionate about kids. This is very important to develop strong bond with young children. Being a preschool teacher is not an easy task. I observed the teachers in this center, they are trained to handle any situations with kids. I was quite worried at first, but my lo blended well after first few days. 

This center runs their own day care programme with additional classes for English, Maths and Bahasa Malaysia. On Saturdays, they also have tutorials for various subjects. My lo happily graduated from Smart Reader in November 2014. I would say experience and exposure matters for young kids. Apart from having yearly concert and sports day, this center is very active in extra curricular for kids. This involves field trips to places such as Kidszania, Zoo Negara, KL Bird Park, Animal Park at Sri Kembangan, National Science Center and many more. At every special occasions such as Mother's Day, the kids get to perform for their parents. When they are 5 or 6 years old, they are encouraged to participate in events such as Story Telling and Talent Show Competition. In 2013, this center's kids made their principal proud by becoming first runner up in the Talent Competition. They also clinched second place in Champs Champion Pre-School Talent in 2014. I feel this kind of involvement is vital for kids to express themselves, build their confidence and courage. 

Few more SR Bt 3 Kids performances can be viewed here (courtesy by an unknown who uploaded the videos) :
Rasa Sayang Dance
Roar by Katy Perry 
Sports Day 2013
SR Bt 3 Kids On News

Last year, this center was featured in The Star's Higher Education newspaper section. The article was about their IEP (Intensive English Programme). 
Below is the article :

*Note: The picture is intentionally removed to protect privacy of kids & principal

Overall, I didn't regret my LO spent her precious years in this center. She made many friends. She still enjoys going to their School Holiday Programs. The child's happiness matters most!

Book Review #5 - Three Good Things

3 Good Things by Wendy Francis. Bought this book during the BBW sale. Only RM8. I expected this book to be good but it was a boring read. First half of the story was less interesting as the author spins thru 3 important characters in this book - Ellen,  Lanie and Rob.  In 40s, Ellen runs a pastry shop specialising in selling Kringle (I learnt something new). Definition of "Kringle" says this. It's basically called pretzels.

Lanie, younger sister of Ellen,  married with a young son and Rob Lanie's husband. As the author explains the feelings of 3 different characters of the story, we can basically relate to our lives as well. Relationship among sisters, life after marriage and bonds between mother and daughters. It was an easy read. No mind boggling suspense and thrills. Although towards the end there was a twist when Ellen was unexpectedly got herself pregnant. Then, came the urge to know the ending of the story as what decision would Ellen undertake. That kept me turning the pages till its completion. Each of new chapter comes with a quote which I thought was quite interesting. There are 2 particular quotes which I liked.

"The mother's day is not an eight-hour day. It is twenty-four-hour day. She is never free. No wonder she is tired and impatient sometimes - Talk to Mothers (1920)

"Be glad that your children have enterprise and invention...Do not say, 'You must keep still.  I can't hear so much noise. Can't you ever be quiet?' Rejoice that your children are alive and well - Talk to Mothers (1920)

The last quote is so powerful which every parent should remind themselves over and over. It is the hardest time in parenting when you cannot control your emotions when you are mentally and physically tired while on the other hand your children are demanding for your attention. Nevertheless, we should make an attempt or try not to be carried away by emotions. Parenting is one tough job.

Feeling little curious, I googled about the author of the above quotes and found out that it is actually a book by Lucy Wheelock (1922). Amazingly such an old book. Almost 100 years! I must explore more on this when time permits!

~ End of review

It Was Sharkie's Time!

So, this week's art time we decided to give a try for a craft from Easy, Peasy and Fun. I like this website. As the title says it has lots of easy activities for kids. We decided to make a shark cootie catcher. It is an origami art. Super easy!

Good thing they have a downloadable template for this activity but we modified the steps so my little one will have some fun with paints. So, rather than using the provided template, we used a paper, drew the lines as per instructions and we colored it with paints.

Of course with paints, we expected some mess. Waited for some time for the paint to dry. And the little one wanted to do a scary, ferocious shark, so why not just let her do what she wished for. It seems it is a female shark so she added a bow too on top of the two big, round eyes.

And..here is the result, after folding the paper...I think it turned out to be a really scary one!

With the jagged uneven teeth, this shark might scare off other fishes too. We also tried another craft, an accordion paper snake. Easy to make. Kids can do it on their own too.

2 accordion snakes which my little said, the long one is mama snake and the short one is baby snake. And she asked where is papa snake. I said that one ran away (ooppss!).

A Rare Act Of Kindness Captured

There is a story which I wish to tell. It happened quite some time ago. It was real though. I think it is worth to be penned down. It was night time. Around 8 o'clock. Then, came the distress call from someone dear to me. Any calls received at night is enough to bring shivers, so I listened attentively. Okay, this person who called was stranded at the road side. His car could not be started. Battery died. End of it.

So we rushed to the place, good thing it was not so far from the house (lucky day for him!). We tried to somehow try to 'troubleshoot' and 'fix' it but we were not so lucky. With no jumpers we could not anything either. We were at wits end and about to give up to make decision to call the tow truck or mechanic, then this happenend...you may call it as 'miracle'.

A guy on bike approached us out of nowhere. He inquired what was the problem, so we told him the issue. Without hesitating, he summoned us to stay put and hang on. He said he would be back. What was he up to? So many questions lingered in our mind. Could he be genuine? Would he want to rob us? We didn't know. Nevertheless, we waited as though we knew the answer would be good.

Then he re-appeared with jumper cables. He told us he went back home to get it. He helped us to fix it. We offered him some cash for helping us. But he profusely declined. He said his 'God' do not allow him to accept money as he was just helping us. 

I'm just thinking, this world is not that bad as we perceive. There are bunch of good people around us. We need to find them. How? By doing good things towards others. As famous saying : What goes around, comes around...

---> Reminder to myself.