There is No Box!

February can be noted as the month of love but I prefer Black History Month; makes it so much better and empowering especially since I am a February born. And speaking of empowering, I was nervous and ecstatic to be giving my presentation about KlipXtreme. Yup my Presentation is finished and was presented on 2012/02/08 and the conclusion was that it was an overall Good Effort  but I’ll take that praise wholeheartedly for a first time approach and take the constructive criticism as positively building self and public speaking techniques. The constructive criticisms were:  My powerpoint presentation could have done with some fine tuning although the content was good and I was told my confidence just came out when I was presenting. Other crucial improvement I could have made was to be aware of my body language as mentioned above  I portrayed confidence and according to Ms. Mapp-Watson “I have a good forte' ”. During my presentation I looked up at the ceiling instead of maintaining eye contact. I was also fidgeting with a piece of paper in my hand the fidgeting could have been avoided by having cue cards. Good old cue cards… the basic of every presentation.  Thank you Mr. Watson and Ms.Mapp-Watson very much for that encouragement.Now its time execute the launch and I am so excited to be apart of promoting KlipXtreme.

The brunch chat with Mr. Jason Francis was eye opening as it relates to the youth. Young people such as myself have to self examine themselves and learn to give their time freely, volunteering is sometimes boring with no payment but think of volunteering in terms of building your skill set, even learning a new skill and market yourself. Note to everyone your volunteer experience can be used in the experience section in your CV and you get practice in public speaking and interacting with different people of different walks of life thus networking so volunteering is really you helping yourself in addition to helping others. Mr. Francis and Ms. Mapp- Watson who are both inspirational with Ms. Mapp- Watson being natural bubbly I had to find the secrets of networking:

• Don’t be intimidated by anyone, they do not bite let your personality shine through.
• Smile be open which translates to being approachable.
• Learn the persons’ interest and try to reach a mutual ground or understanding.
• Don’t be aggressive and too straightforward have a meaningful conversation think of it like courting, your getting to know the person…be cool…be confident.
• Ms. Mapp-Watson says practice in the mirror what you are going to say also the added benefit of improving your non verbal communication.
• Be memorable which goes back to the point about smiling and marketing yourself.
• Remember it is all about how you present yourself and being confident and beautiful.
• Ask for your potential contact's details and if you say you will call or email them about gathering information or even providing information then follow through. This shows you are reliable and can open the door to opportunities.

 The one reoccurring point that was raised is young people don’t take advantage of opportunities presented whether it is Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC), Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM), CYEN, Global Emerging Leaders now United Youth Leaders of Barbados and there are many more organisations that need youth who are creative and want to make a difference. Don’t be nervous…join a group today. What Jason also made clear was that setting goals is a priority and knowing where you are going can help you to achieve more always keep in mind that no one can keep you in a box because there is no box.