Effective communication style

We all communicate in our own style and manner. We even communicate when we are silent in a group! verbal communication styles along with nonverbal expressions make our communication meaningful.  Communication styles/patterns are broadly categorized into the following - 

 Passive -  

      In passive communication, an individual agrees to go inline with the flow of the conversation, without putting any different view.  

     This style works in conflict resolution but in a passive communication style,  There would be nothing 'unique' about you simply because you would agree in each and everything they say and sing in a tune of unison always being too afraid or shy t6o keep your own view!   

      Other than some specific situations, people with the passive mode of communication are considered to be low in confidence. They speak in a very low tone and are shy and feel uncomfortable to eye-to-eye contact during a conversation.

Aggressive - 

      When an individual communicates with a lot of aggression. In most cases, this can be situational, but certain individuals get habituated to use an aggressive style of communication in general circumstances. This can simply create unnecessary misunderstandings and slowly people might start disliking the aggressive communicator.

       Aggressive communication is not just expressed through words, but also through body language and high voice tone. People with aggressive style speak in a high tone over others and generally doesn't let other people speak. They are impatient and not good listeners. 

       Aggressive communicators love to control the situation and thus they don't allow anyone else to express their opinion or views. "It's my way or the highway" this phrase suits perfectly for them.

Assertive - 

         Assertive Communication style is considered to be the most useful and successful mode of communication.

         All communication Mastery programs around the world try to inculcate this style in you.

        It's interesting to know that styles can be acquired, learned obviously through continuous conscious practice.

        

         So, how to be an assertive communicator?

       To understand that, you need to understand what it means to be Assertive.

What we mean by Assertive is that the message should be  Clear, Composed, Simple, and straight (Obviously without a condemning tone).

                            - Clear-There should be Clarity in your message. What you want to communicate'.Why you want to convey the message. The purpose and message should be very clear and easily understandable.

                            -  Composed- That means, your expressions /emotions should be under control. The same calmness should reflect in your body language and voice tone. This is the primary component of assertive communication. The subtle Nonverbal cue is the secret to the success of the Assertive style!

                       - Simple - The language and words used to communicate a view, an opinion should be simple so that the other party involved can easily decode the meaning in the right perspective. It has nothing to do with ornamental language or exhibit your knowledge of vocabulary! This can rather become a communication barrier.

                         - Straight - As the purpose of communication is to make the other person understand. It should be straightforward without any twist of sarcasm. It shouldn't sound impolite or rude but communicate the meaning of your words.

Please Note the Tone of your voice (vocal nonverbal cues) is very important mainly when you want to demonstrate yourself as an assertive communicator. You need to choose both your words and the tone of your voice very cautiously.

The tone shouldn't be on a high pitch as a high pitch tone would show that you are agitated. It should be on a middle tone which is neither low nor high but audible enough for the other individual to understand what you are saying. Voice modulation is important. This requires lots of practice

   - High tone shows aggression

   - A very low tonation signifies a lack of confidence. Which would be detrimental to any communication.

   Thus you should follow practicing normal tone. You shouldn't sound like you are too eager for something, or in an aggressive mood, or rude. 

The secret is that the person you are communicating with shouldn't be able to judge your mental/emotional state of mind. The best way to acquire this skill is through self-communication. Look into the mirror and start speaking! Observe the change in a few days. It really works!

     Whatever I have written is an outcome of my experiential learning. and definitely not a copy-paste material. Yaa, the styles are all explained the same everywhere, even somewhere there might be a few more styles included. But our primary focus should on the 'Assertive' style, as it's truly the secret to success through Communication.

Why would People Love YOU?

Let's be honest. We love getting attention, Don't we?

We all love to be noticed and acknowledged in a gathering. 

So How do we achieve that? 

Using some age-old principles and practices used by great leaders, businessmen, orators, and stars.

 So what are they? 

 SMILE - A simple smile says a lot even without speaking a word!

One of Dale Carnegie's "must do's" in his book "How to win friends and influence people" is "Smile".

A smile enhances your face value. 

A natural spontaneous, honest, soft, short sile can do wonders.

Think of the million-dollar effervescent smiling face of a toddler. 

Just notice how your eyes brighten up when you put on a genuine smile. It shows your confidence and increases your acceptability with a new bunch of people.

Use your Magical smile to attract the love of your life. It works miracles in building Love Relationships. 

Sometimes an ego-less smile can wash away all misunderstandings between you and your girlfriend/spouse. It is one of the secret ingredients to a happy everlasting relationship

So Smile even before you utter a word.

 Even you can click selfies with a smile for posting on social media :-)

Just a line of caution -

 -   A Smile should remain a smile and never be converted to laughter and should be original! 

 -  You should always have a proper understanding of the mood of the occasion in which you are getting before casting a smile. 

Aha! Those sparkling  beautiful EYES

 The eyes are the most expressive part of an individual's non-verbal communication. Using those GOd gifted beauties can work as a miracle in building a rapport.

Direct eye-to-eye contact is very important and if it complements your smile, then nothing like it. But never extend it more than a few seconds.

You can understand a person's personality by looking into his eyes!

Thus if you directly look into the eyes while smiling at someone in a new environment, You have really struck the right chord! There's almost a surety that the individual would respond back in the same way with a smile sometimes even unknowingly! 

Eye contact radiates confidence. 

This should be used as a tool during job interviews and professional meetings or sales calls.  As it's said that you can't lie by looking into the eye. 

Never approx. make it more than 10 seconds to make the other person feel uncomfortable.

You shouldn't stare at someone directly for too long at one go. but should make direct eye contact at regular intervals. 

From personal experiences, I can say that it's easier said than done. Mainly for introverts and shy people, it's truly difficult to develop eye contact. But by keeping direct eye contact while speaking with your family and friends, you tend to create a Heart to Heart connection. Look into your Girl Friend's eyes directly to create a Magical moment!!

 

These are two simple yet important hacks that can bring in a  real change in your personality. It would increase your confidence. 

The world loves a confident person with a smile on his face and who can directly look into the eyes while speaking.

 

 

HIRING started in Banking Sector after LockDown!

Dear Job Seekers,

I hope you all are in Good Health

Here’s some Good News!

 RECRUITMENT  HAS STARTED AFTER LOCKDOWN - 

 So Hurry Up and apply -

 We are hiring for IDFC Bank. Below are the details about the job

     Company - IDFC First bank

     Position -Sales Officer ( multiple) on Bank's Payroll

     Function- CASA.  – Acquiring clients for Current Account, Savings Account

      Job Location – PUNE and GOA 

      (People from these two places should apply)

      No Consultation charges.

     Attractive salary (plus Incentive) package and growth

     Online Interview (phone/video call)

JOB OBJECTIVE: Providing support to branch profitability by selling bank product – CASA through different acquisition channels in the catchment area.

KEY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES -

1) Quality acquisition of casa. 2) Ensure quality sourcing of new customer 3) Penetration of Fixed Deposit to existing & new customers 4) Generate leads of a customer through referral, meeting branch walk-ins customer, associates, e-mailing, direct mailing, ATMs & cold calls in the catchment area. 5) Ensure quality customer service is delivered 6) Meeting productivity norms as defined through the support of channels & own efforts 7) Strictly adhere & maintain KYC norms compliance 8) Adhere the norms, regulation & practices of banks religiously   Eligibility Criteria:- Who can apply? ·         Candidate should be a Graduate with 1 – 4 years of  Sales job experience. -         Must be good in communication ·         Age should be 30 years maximum. ·         He /She should have relieving /experience proof of previous employment. -           It is preferable to have a two-wheeler as you would require to visit clients.    Candidates from Insurance sectors are welcome to apply.          Please share your CV on - kunaal.sengupta@gmail.com

What does Bollywood Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death indicate?

Today I feel that I am bound to write on this topic

Guys we really need to ponder upon something. Something that demands deep introspection.

He was Young(just 34), handsome, successful as an actor, and obviously didn't have financial problems (  he was quite good at his craft). 

Just a day before he was there and today he is no more!

 What went wrong? 

Well, guys, don't get me wrong, I am not writing an investigative article about his unfortunate sudden death.

My point is that this is a real problem among the youth of our Nation and it seems the famous actor isn't a difference. DEPRESSION is in fact a serious issue which a majority of our youth are being caught into in modern society. Why? Why and only why these young fresh bright minds with so much potential and are getting so frustrated that they are getting desperate to take their own life!

Just think about the families of these young people, what gets through their minds.

It's also a question for the youth. What forces them to end-up their most valuable life with their own hands. What makes our youth so depressed. If there is a problem, then it needs to be discussed and solved. Because keeping it secret can be disastrous. We the young people of India should try knowing ourselves for the better so that whenever there's an alarm of depressing thought, we can take immediate action.

PLEASE SPEAK UP! - You have to trust and rely on that close friend of yours (obviously whom you think is trustworthy and would understand your feelings) and share your intimate thoughts. Speaking up to someone really helps. Don't try to act fake in front of these people, express your true self.

Give time on making some Real FRIENDS - It's not about the number but quality. make Two to three real friends. 1000 friends on social media might not be available during a crisis and if you can find a few good friends on social media, you would be lucky. Friends are treasures, with whom you can share the deepest thought of your heart, your feelings, sorrows, and happiness.

TAKE  PROFESSIONAL ADVICE -  This is a must. We shouldn't feel shy and always should take the professional help of a medical counselor. An expert in the field can guide us in the right direction. So we shouldn't delay it. SELF MEDICATION IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE.

CONNECT WITH THE SOCIETY - This is very important. We face a lot of problems today because we live a cocooned life. We love to live in our own comfort space and get agitated with a bit of disturbance in our zone. The truth is if we actually can see the problem that many of people in the society are dealing with today, then our own problems would really look so unimportant and silly. There are millions who are struggling to get both ends meet. There are millions around the world who can't even have two times meal! Let's think about them and try to do something to eradicate their plight. Once we engage in the elimination of someone else's sorrow by any means, then our own sorrow would vanish subsequently!

Get Into SPIRITUALISM -  It gives soothing experiences and provides answers to our life's questions. listen to the talks of great spiritual leaders. Start practising Yoga and meditation Get associated with any of the spiritual movements. Problems come in our lives to teach us something, we need to learn the lesson and move forward, never to repeat it again.

Do whatever you can, but friends never think of.. ending your life. We are all here to put in our best in life and live for the world and the people around us. Let's take a vow to do our level best towards the society at large in whatever way we can.  

May God help Us All.

May All Their Souls Rest in Peace.

Secret to bring in a positive change in your Attitude

Attitude is the 'Mental Picture', feeling, point of view towards something, somebody, i.e. the attitude object. 

 Our belief system determines our attitude. The way we are brought up, our value system develops our attitude towards the attitude object. Thus our parents, teachers, peers, and the environment play a pivotal role in shaping our attitude. Experiences that we gather during the early days of our life also impact our attitude.

Our Attitude towards life affects every aspect of life, be it a relationship, career, job, profession,  health, and even our body language!

Now here comes the million-dollar question - Can our attitude be changed? Can we change our attitude for Good?

The answer is YES! So we can change our attitude from negative to positive. 

Obviously, here I am not talking about changing positive attitudes to negative, which anyway is not desirable.

So, How do you bring in the required change?

You will have to Recondition your self i.e your belief system through positive input in a very disciplined and systematic manner. 

Definitely, it won't be a cake-walk, neither it would change overnight. That's a reason systematic positive reinforcement is required.  You will have to clean your window of self-belief and self-image regularly. 

So here are some practical ways for you to try out - 

 - Analyze yourself with 100% honesty -Take a note of the negative traits which require change. To bring in the change in your attitude, you need to change your old belief system. 

Don't rush in to change all at one go. That would never help you, but rather increase your frustration and chances of failure.

 - Bring down your interaction to a bare minimum if not zero with all those negative stuff around you. Negative People, News, books, articles, TV programs, negative series on apps has to be avoided. Most Importantly Negative People However close he or she might be (even if the closest relation), if it is only negative that they radiate, stay away from them. Politely maintain a safe distance. 

  - Be surrounded by Positivity - Let yourself be surrounded by all that is positive - Positive people, positive, quotes, Stick positive Quotes in your room so that you can see them always. Watch positive movies, motivational videos, Read self-changing, self-development books, there are plenty of them. 

    

 - Reduce your Mental luggage - 'Let go' of your old baggage, old failures, old memories that hurt. Laugh them off. No one knows you better than your self. So brush off all criticism. Take lessons from your failures and work on them. Don't be obsessed about something or somebody. Don't hold onto something for too long, if you think it's not working for you.

 - Don't get into an argument -  Please don't get into an argument or debate, It's just a waste of time. If anyone says anything about you, which you don't like or you think is wrong, don't get into a verbal confrontation. Start forgiving people and forgetting bitter incidents of the past. Rather work on self development.

 - Take life as a challenge - Start every day as a new gift. I may have been a loser yesterday, but  I know, I firmly believe that today I would go one step forward towards success. Face life on a day to day basis.  

 - Be honestly grateful for what you already have -  We all have something in our lives to be grateful for. Our home, our family, our loved ones, the food that we eat, and above all be thankful for our life. Make your own list of "blessings" and offer your gratitude to them.

 - Start something new in Life - A New hobby, Learn some new skills, Learn swimming, cycling, start going to new places, New friends! Pat your self even for the smallest of achievement. Please remember that Success improves our self-esteem. It creates a positive self-image and provides us with an impetus

 - Choose someone as your Idol - Follow his actions and reactions. Read about him, See how he talks, observe his body language. It would really be helpful. Try modeling him/

 

So, Let's accept the challenge and get going.

              

 The Biggest attitude is to keep your 'Hope' alive in all adversities.

                 If you can do it, then it means that you have won the game.

How to utilize the self isolation period for your benefit

We are all fighting the Coronavirus by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and staying at home.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?!

Watch monotonous, disturbing news continuously! , and ache our finger in liking and commenting on Social media!

To have an update on Coronavirus, a news bite (for 5 to 10 mins) is enough. The more you overdose your brain with news, the more mindnumbing it would be.

And anyways WILL IT HELP??

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

To get away from the monotony and boredom of lock-down and do something constructive for ourselves.

INVEST  IN OURSELVES. DON'T WORRY. I AM NOT ASKING TO INVEST YOUR MONEY (NO HARM IF YOU ACTUALLY CAN DO THAT!), BUT HERE I AM ASKING TO INVEST YOUR TIME AND ENERGY. OUR AIM SHOULD BE TO KEEP OUESELF UPDATED AND CONFIDENT.

Simply put. Grab this opportunity to hone your skills and acquire new ones if possible in this FREE TIME  

I have listed FIVE simple steps for you and would request you to ponder upon - 

  1) Read books. (Read more if you are already reading) -  ( Romantic novels, Bestsellers are okay but I would ask you to focus more on books of your subject of study or your domain of work and self-help books or Motivational books) Many a time we forget what we have read in the last few years  This is a good time to pick up some of our own old collection from the shelf and browse over a cup of coffee. I am addicted to the smell of old books. You might love it too!

   2) Analyze yourself! Yes, you heard it right. Change a 'Habit' if you want to, which you feel is n't that good. Nobody can understand you better than yourself. See where you can bring in improvement in your life and work on that. For example, you can slowly change to an early riser from a late riser. You can start incorporating freehand exercise into your daily routine. You can start speaking in English with any of your family members or even friends over the phone to improve your verbal communication etc. You can also start working on building your own Image. Start exercising or a new diet to increase your Immunity.

  3)Youtube Videos - It's a Treasure Trove. Search for videos on the topic you want to work on or learn about and I bet you would find a good number of videos with excellent quality content. Subscribe to some of the popular training channels to start learning. For example, If you are a Hindi speaker and want to learn English, then,'Learn English with Zita' channel would be really helpful. Youtube can play an important role in improving communication.

 

Watch them for free and take down notes of important points. Three to four quality videos ( you can watch more )on a topic would enhance your knowledge proving a good grip on the topic. You can download the videos for watching them again later.

  4) Free ebooks -Explore free e-books on various topics available on these five websites and start reading, online or offline ( by downloading)

Here are five famous free e-book sites - 

Please note I am not endorsing them but these are sites which as I am using. You yourself can find more of such sites on the net. Please do help me by providing their names if you can in the comment section.

 - https://manybooks.net/
  

 - https://www.overdrive.com/search -  It's worth a visit. Got a huge collection of e-books on various subjects.

 - https://bookboon.com/ - A great hub of free textbooks from top universities.

 - https://www.gutenberg.org/  -  A library of 60000 free e-books

 - https://openlibrary.org/ 

  5) Online Courses - Many of the E-Learning courses are available for free till May31st.You can try to acquire new skills. Subscribe to any of the courses as per your liking on the available platforms.

 

Here are the five e-learning sites that are trending - 

 - https://www.coursera.org - Coursera is a leading learning website that has tie-ups with Universities across the globe. and offers MOOCs  - Massive online Open Courses along with degrees, certificates to upgrade your career graph.

 - https://alison.com/ - Alison offers diploma and certificate courses in various streams of Management, Language, Science, Math, Marketing, Lifestyle, Health, etc.

 - https://www.mercurysolutions.co/ - A Basket full of  IT (Information Technology) courses are available on this site. So if you want to enhance your IT skills, you can definitely check this out.

 - https://www.edx.org/ - edX is another great platform for learners offering free courses. It provides 2500+ online courses. It has an association with top universities in the world like Harvard and Boston. It is worth value for your time and effort.

 - https://www.udemy.com/ - In Udemy, there are a lot of free courses available and many of the paid courses are now being offered at a highly discounted rate of  Rs. 360 per course till the 14th of May 2020.  It's a real big deal.

 Post-Coronavirus Lock-down days, courses from any of the above-mentioned sites may help you in your current job or while trying your luck in some other job. An additional skill always helps you to be noticed. It can also increase the value of your CV.  As an HR professional, I can guarantee you that a very common job interview question after the Coronavirus pandemic would be - " How have you spent your time during the Lock-down". I hope that the above suggestions would surely help you in providing an appropriate answer to that question. :-).

I am positive that the above information would be beneficial for you in the same way it has been to me.

Stay Safe, Keep your Immunity strong. Goodbye.

Discover how to enhance your Skill-sets during Corona Lock-Down

 Online courses available to enhance our knowledge to utilize the lock-down available during the free time available in Lock-down

Some good courses are available for free.  This is the best time to work on our skills -

 Let's check out a few of them - 

Let's consider the courses available for free in 2020 on the Linked Learning platform.

 -  Excel 2016 essential training - (LinkedIn Learning  previously Lynda.com)

 - It's a beginner level course with a total duration of 8 hours 53 mins.

 - This course teaches you to manage data in a spreadsheet, using simple formulas, different ways to access formatting features, approach to creating charts, and many more things.

 - MS Excel is an important tool Having a thorough knowledge in your daily of excel would definitely help you in your daily work or preparing a report. Having good excel skills definitely gives you an edge over others.

This is offered with a "one month Free  Trial"  package, which then would be 1400/p.m subscription and 900 for an annual subscription. You can anytime opt-out from the program.

Please do check out the other programs they are offering. There are multiple  skill development programs as

Website - https://www.linkedin.com/learning

 -  Tata Steel is also running an online Advanced  MS Excel course @Rs.1! The last date for enrolment is 30th April 2020! Please hurry.

There are also courses available in different fields. Another related program is in MS Office. Quite an important tool.
Check website - www.capacitydevelopment.org for details.
https://www.capabilitydevelopment.org/


This is high time for skill enhancement, as we are in Lockdown and even once we open up, We would prefer to be at home during most of our free time.


 - There are multiple short term courses in Udemy related to various fields like programming and others
In this blog, I would refer to two English courses. 

Why English? Because both you and I require English in our day-to-day corporate life even if not at our home and knowing English definitely gives you an advantage.

So here are the following - 

Udemy - English Launch. Learn English for free - upgrade all areas. free course. (Ranking - 4.5)

https://www.udemy.com/course/english-launch-learn-english-for-free-upgrade-all-areas/

(Please check out  the preview of the course video first)

There's also a  Beginners English Speaking course available for free.

https://www.udemy.com/course/freeenglishspeakingcourse/

This is a very basic level course for all those whose native language is not English (like me) and they want to learn to speak from the basics. This would add to their confidence level and help in communicating in English in general.

There is huge number of paid courses on Udemy. As of today most of their rates are showing Rs. 420. You can buy them if you feel the need. The feedbacks are good and according to me, the rates are nominal.

Friends, I am personally taking the first three courses and thus recommending them to you. If it helps you in any way, I would be truly happy.

 I am researching other courses and would post them in my upcoming blog. Please do check them out.

Till then take care and be safe.

Please share these courses with your friends even if you don't take them. Maybe it can help them some way.

Goodbye.

How to convert your Passion into Profession

How to go about your  Career to transform your life.

We All have a career whether we know it or not. We may consider some as successful in their career and others as not so successful. The problem is that we quantify success with money. We have a mentality of comparing individual success stories.  Our success story is our own and it has nothing to do with our peers or friends' success. Stop comparing yourself with your friends or people you know. Make your career in what you are passionate about and just don't venture into something which is very hot in the market. Remember the character Farhaan from 3 Idiots. He had to choose between his passion or engineering. He chose the first and carved out a successful career out of It. So if you can pursue your passion or dream chances of being successful are automatically high.

In India, in middle-class families, you require to fulfill your parent's dream to acquire a degree to get a good job. to achieve that in most cases you keep aside your passion or just forget about it. There's nothing wrong with it as long as you yourself are contented with what you are doing and if you love your work. But what if you feel frustrated and burdened with your job and above that, you have family responsibilities. What do you do then? You need to think of doing something to bring alive your passion.

 Today we have a vast pool of live information regarding any field on the internet. We have various online training courses available through various sites like Udemy, Upgrad, Coursera, Open Culture Online Courses, EdX, Open Yale Courses, Stanford Online and many more 
You can find out a topic of your choice to start learning from these platforms at your own pace.
You can also enroll in some of the courses offered by IGNOU.  These are cheap and offer good quality education. It won't take away a lot of your savings. These are for self-paced learners and you can do so without hampering much of your current schedule. ou just need to stay focussed and put in your best foot forward

Please remember the purpose, you are doing the course not to get your job but to do something about your passion. So your focus should be on learning and not on the degree. Once you acquire knowledge, start searching for avenues to practically apply or work on it even at free of cost for the initial days if required. Your aim should be to showcase your skill. Let your colleagues in your current company know about your newly acquired skills. Let people around you know about it, like friends, family, neighbors, etc. You never know from which way a new avenue would open! Maybe your current company is looking for someone with the same skillset and they might approach you or even you may officially apply for it. Keep in mind that you wouldn't have to leave your current job or profession for this. You would be just trying to shift into something that you love doing. Doesn't that feel Awesome? Converting your passion into your profession! To me, seems the best thing that can happen to me, because I would never get tired working on it and LOVE MY JOB!

I never say that all this would happen at the flick of a second. Yes, of course, it would require time and energy and maybe a bit of money. But you DESERVE a Chance to Shine in your life, Right? You've got a single life to prove yourself to yourself. Please note I would never recommend you do these to collect praise from others, but just for You. THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN YOUR LIFE. IS YOU AND YOU DESERVE SUCCESS AND SELF FULFILLMENT.

SO BUILD YOUR OWN CAREER PATH IRRESPECTIVE OF ALL NEGATIVE SITUATIONS OF YOUR LIFE. LIGHT UP THE FIRE IN YOUR LIFE. LEAD TOWARDS FULFILLING YOUR DREAM.

Take care. Let 2020 Shine for you.