Hemos, the Frontrunner and Instagram

So I rode the Frontrunner this morning for the second time in my life. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was taking instagram pictures the whole time on the way up. I successfully made it to the Discovery Kids Museum in Downtown SLC where I helped out with an activity for the Utah Hemophilia Foundation. It was great! And also a larger dose of Utah culture than I usually get on campus. It was cool because this was my first time meeting with this organization, so I wanted to make a good impression. As I was getting ready I kept thinking about what I had learned in MCOM about making a good impression and communicating in the way you dress, talk, act, and how you present yourself. I ended up making a very positive impression and am excited to keep working with them!

Presentation Reflection

So we had our presentation this week for chapter 8 and I felt like overall it was very successful. It was useful to watch the recording and see what went well and what can be improved. I enjoyed our approach and coordination as a team and I feel like we all presented well. I thought it was cool to get feedback about my posture as well as what worked and what didn't work with our audience. As we prepared I was really looking forward to the presentation, however I didn't realize how nervous I would get. I'm hoping I can get better at that through practice.

Mock Online Interview

To be honest, as I went into this interview I felt inadequate. I was worried about my hair, my voice, the camera angle, my cover letter, my qualifications, my "presence". It almost felt worse than a regular interview. This person was in my house! On my couch. As I went through the interview I was surprised by a few questions, but the more I treated it like a normal interview the more comfortable and confident I felt. I had prepared. I dressed my best. I made sure I was somewhere quiet and well-lit. And I was qualified. Who wouldn't want to hire me?

I felt that this mock interview was successful in helping me gain confidence for online interviews, and also in helping me prepare for the unexpected and what could go wrong (I realized the night before that my microphone on my computer wasn't picking up my voice, so I had to use my smart phone instead).

My interviewer was Kat and I would give her a 5 for helpfulnes - among other reasons, because she gave me good feedback.

Kenneth Branagh

I am a big fan of the work of Kenneth Branagh, especially his films about Shakespeare. Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing are my recommendations. Last night I was watching Love's Labour's Lost late enough at night to realize that it wasn't a movie you could fall asleep to because you have to listen to what's being said. What stuck out to me in the movie though was despite some cheesiness and a somewhat low-budget set as well as a challenging dialogue, the presentation really held the movie together. Plus it's Shakespeare. Shakespeare's ingenuity, humor and human appeal combined with the music, colors, and acting really made this movie enjoyable. What does this all have to do with communication? By appropriately catching your audience's interest through whatever medium you are using to communicate - music, dance, film, writing, verbally - and having a good presentation, you can achieve your purpose. I feel like this can apply to my writing for this class as well as presentations. Also it can help build relationships that will be beneficial in the future.

A Night of "Mex"stasy

I have a confession. I am OBsessed with Mexican food. During my mission in Florida, I was only able to eat Mexican food a few times, since there were very few Mexicans where I served and therefore a lower demand in quality Mexican food. So I just got back from a fantastic evening in Salt Lake with a bunch of friends. The occasion was to say good bye to my friend Josh who will be going into basic training tomorrow. We went to a Catholic Mass in the St. Madeleine Cathedral, toured on Temple Square, and then went to the Red Iguana, a Mexican Restaurant with very delicious authentic Mexican food. Let me just say they had over 6 types of mole. Now as I sit here watching Les Miserables and write this blog post, I am thinking about communication. I have always understood that repetition aids in communicating a point because your brain automatically recognizes what's more familiar and is more likely to retain it longer. It's a mnemonic device, to attach something familiar to a thing you want to remember. That's why car commercials make sure to repeat key information like the name of their company and their "unbelievable" APR. Basically, people will attach more significance to things that are repeated.