Personal Assessment, Essay Example

The purpose of doing a personal assessment is to have an opportunity to evaluate one self and look at ones performance in respect of the task carried out. The assessment also helps one to rank their performance against the best practice in the task as well as the accepted and standard way of executing the task. The measurement of personal characteristics and assessment is an end result of gathering information intended to advance psychological theory and research and to increase the probability that wise decisions will be made in applied settings. One makes an effort to define or get a definition of accepted traits, to measure them objectively, and relate them to socially acceptable aspects of human mannerisms.

People who have an outgoing behavior or overt character show  is a reflection of an interplay of a wide range of deep lying factors, which range from bodily state of the individual as well as the consequences of that person’s prior personal experiences. Using a narrowly planned approach cannot be used as an appropriate analysis of the human behavior and its complexities as well as the challenges, demands, pleasures and stresses that are quite variable on a daily basis. The process of measuring human characteristics though quite intricate depends on the usage of varied concepts to define traits as well as several evaluative studies (Johnstone 2005).

My personal analysis of my individual traits is based on an effort to unravel the abilities within me. Social interaction between groups acts as a breeding ground for the brainstorming for ideas at the work place. Communication can serve as a very effective tool for gaining relevant knowledge. Most important is the process of 360 degrees feedback as a tool of communication in passing forth information in an organization. This method ensures that information flows up and down the hierarchical ladder of the groups. Holding regular meetings with people from all cadres to learn from them helps in ensuring that all information is passed forth between the different levels of management as well as the implementing arm (McNamara 2008). This ensures that there is no feeling of exclusion among any members of the group and therefore forestalling the possibility that a wide philosophical gap will develop between the members. To develop any good presentation I need to learn from enough people and gain sufficient materials. This is the approach I adopted in developing my presentation, I realized I can be a good listener and as well answer peoples questions which are a vital trait for one to develop into a good presenter.

The second key aspect I noticed was the ability to fit in with my audience. A presenter is more likely to appeal to their audience if they know the style of the audience and try to fit in with them (Shiff 2008). This implies that we need to dress up to the standards of our audience. If the audience is made up of executives who are all formally dressed up, it is vital to dress in a manner that reflects their style which will make them feel at ease and therefore more receptive to your presentation. In my case I knew that I needed to dress down to the students standards to avoid getting too formal which might have made them close down and become less receptive to my ideas. I made efforts to ensure that the students knew well enough that I was part of them and was just sharing ideas and not trying to push ideas down their throats. I was therefore able to captivate my audience well and pass across the message effectively.

The other key attribute that deserves mention is that of pacing a presentation. For one to pass a message to the recipients effectively, one needs to pace the presentation such that they are not too hurried for the recipients to benefit while at the same time they are not too slow to a point of getting the audience bored. An example is where a person giving a presentation on marketing tactics to practicing marketing executives starts with a slow explanation on what marketing is. He therefore takes a lot of time explaining a concept that the audience is very familiar with. This wastes time and the concepts take very long to develop. To this end the listener are likely to get bored and lose interest. My presentation was well paced since the listeners kept up with me to the end and some even managed to ask questions. No listener complained of speed and therefore I was able to deliver the speech well and keep the time allocated. If I develop this skill well, I will be a better presenter and can easily captivate the attention of my audience as well as pass across my intended message with ease.

Use of visual aids in passing a message. On average 60 percentage of communicators understand and take in messages faster if passed using visual aids to complement the main message (Shiff). Accordingly one needs to try and make the audience visualize the message they are trying to pass across. By so doing the audience will grasp more easily the subject matter of the message being passed across. In my presentation I used power point slides with visual images that helped me demonstrate my points and therefore effectively pass the message. The different slides also helped combine both the written and the spoken word which together in a very efficient way to deliver the message. Marketing calls for such combination of the written and the spoken work to help deliver the message to the people involved and therefore assist in ensuring that the message is well received. That is the reason why many marketers use pictures as well as samples to pass messages to potential customers.

The first major weakness I noticed in my presentation was my poor projection of my voice. Many people use pictures to supplement the audio messages they get from the communicators. To many, mere pictures without images do not serve the purpose since the visual images on their own are subject to misinterpretation and biased reflections. This can highly change the message and also distort the intended meaning. To avoid this problem, the presenter should ensure that their delivery is as clear as possible and ensure that their voice projection is good enough.  Experts have explained that a good speech delivered without proper articulation, voice projection and tonality kills the quality of the presentation and makes it appear lackluster and without proper energy (Forest 1). My presentation therefore lacked the appropriate voice projection which was necessary for such an occasion and I therefore did not impress upon the audience the weight the message desired.

My failure to project the voice appropriately also impacted on the message I passed to the audience about my information on the subject. Due to the low tone I used for my presentation, my audience was left with the feeling that my information was not credible hence I did not have sufficient confidence in it. This therefore impairs communication and is a weakness that needs to be eliminated. To fight such a problem, one needs to rehearse appropriately to gain confidence hence ensure that the presentation is done in a good tone for the audience to appreciate what is being presented.  If these two weaknesses are dealt with, I will make an outstanding presenter and I will always leave an impression on my listeners which are very important for my career. Similarly I need to improve my research skills and therefore work hard to ensure that I have sufficient material to cover my topic and deliver it with clarity. It is only by doing this that I will have confidence to face my listeners without being critical of my own self.

Overall I would say that my presentation was well researched, and the slides well developed to ensure that I delivered the message that I had purposed to deliver to my listeners. I would also say that I made a decent effort to ensure that I connected with the audience and tried to be at the same psychic level with them. My only area of concern therefore should be the tonal projection during my presentation which if improved will see me become an excellent presenter

Works Cited

Forest C . Advanced presentation training manual. 28 October 2009 <http://www.fenman.co.uk/traineractive/training-activity/Voice-projection-presentations.html>

Shiff A. Good presentation skills. 29 October 2009. <http://www.sideroad.com/Public_Speaking/good-presentation-skills.html>

Susan M. Johnston. The career adventure: your guide to personal assessment, career exploration, and decision making. Pearson/Prentice Hall: New York.2005

McNamara, C. Basics in internal organizational communications. 7, November 2008 <http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm>