The Next Step

This past week, I had my first business symposium. It was a great opportunity to learn more about the Independent Study & Mentorship Program (ISM). Some challenges that I faced was getting over my fear of talking to professionals because it was had to organize my thoughts. However, before the symposium, I took time to practice with teachers as well as my ISM teacher. This allowed me to work on my hand gestures as well as eye contact. I also made lists of the questions I was going to ask as well as my elevator pitch. This allowed me to organize my thoughts and speak them clearly.

One of the ways that I was successful this week was that I was more confident about my research and expressing my thoughts on my research to the professional. I was even able to teach them a little bit more about my topic and they seemed to find it fascinating which allowed for deeper conversations. I was surprised with my communication skills because it improved so much through this class.

I need to grow professionally with my hand gestures. I think this will display my confidence more, and it will allow my proposals and my conversations to be more compelling.