Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Brief Guide on Briefing: And Why Soft Skills Are Not Soft!
    A Brief Guide on Briefing: And Why Soft Skills Are Not Soft!
    A Brief Guide on Briefing: And Why Soft Skills Are Not Soft!
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    A Brief Guide on Briefing: And Why Soft Skills Are Not Soft!

    By Paul Sylvester

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Briefing is often seen as an assumed art. But why? With recognition of how Soft Skills affect an individual's ability to provide present to an audience, the conduct of a brief, presentation or lesson can be professionally enhanced. Whether for individual or organisational development, the application of the techniques and methods provided here can assist at all levels.
    This book outlines how an individual's delivery style and techniques may be modified to suit audience requirements, learning styles, organisational standards and environmental conditions regardless of how modest or advanced current skills are. Recognising what the underpinning skills are and how they impact upon the conduct of any presentation is key to professional development - an essential component towards an organisation's effectiveness.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPaul Sylvester
    Release dateJan 22, 2016
    ISBN9781311365392
    A Brief Guide on Briefing: And Why Soft Skills Are Not Soft!
    Author

    Paul Sylvester

    In addition to his new found habit of referring to himself in the third person, Paul has been noted for his questionable wardrobe and taste in 80s music.Despite this, Paul has gathered a wealth of professional experience as an instructor and educator over the last 20 years which he employs daily. Coupled with several fancy bits of paper that bear his name, he has an active passion in supporting the professional development of others.A natural busybody, Paul demonstrates an absurb enthusiasm in supporting rugby union clubs. An habitual organiser, his support has been well tolerated.

    Read more from Paul Sylvester

    Related to A Brief Guide on Briefing

    Related ebooks

    Teaching Methods & Materials For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Educating The Einstein Way

      Feb 4, 2019

      Education is a lifelong process causing an inherent and permanent change in a person’s thinking and capacity to do things. Education is enabling a permanent adaptation to changing life circumstances. Education goes far beyond school and teaching.4 Al

      1 min read

    • Article

      Make Paying Women Less A Crime

      Aug 2, 2020

      Women constitute 51.2% of the South African population, but the labour market and business funding agencies still favour men over them. Newly formed pro-women advocacy group Women of SA (WoSA) wants government to take an unprecedented step and make i

      2 min read

    • Article

      Hunger In Africa: Problems And Solutions

      Jul 30, 2021

      The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer’s Weekly. This article is an edited excerpt from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ report titled ‘The State of Food Security and Nut

      5 min read

    • Article

      Applying To Grad School In International Affairs

      Oct 24, 2019

      Successful applicants to international affairs graduate programs follow the guidelines below, recommended by admissions directors and other experts at leading schools in this FP Guide. Requirements and strategies vary from school to school, as detail

      1 min read

    • Article

      Boost Your Resilience

      Oct 30, 2019

      Boost Your Resilience
      2 min read

    • Article

      Leading With Empathy

      Sep 1, 2020

      When some people hear the word empathy being used in a business context, they think ‘What does that have to do with business?’ How do you respond to that mindset? I would argue that empathy has everything to do with business. If you accept that innov

      6 min read

    • Article

      From the Editor

      May 3, 2021

      From the Editor
      1 min read

    • Article

      People Are Using Social Media To Improve Their Odds Of Finding Organ Donors: 'Doing It Can Save My Life'

      Jul 9, 2018

      CHICAGO - When Melanie Perry peers out the seventh-floor window of her Kenwood high-rise, she has a clear view of the helicopter pad at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "It's as if God is telling me your kidney is in your view," she said. "G

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Benefits Of Learning From Home

      Jan 26, 2023

      IN BRITAIN, A PRIME MOTIVATION for going to university is to go away to study, to up sticks and enjoy a “student experience” far from your family and roots. The experience is sold in Britain for £28,000 a pop, and to those from abroad at sums north o

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Bigger Picture

      Oct 14, 2021

      The Bigger Picture
      5 min read

    • Article

      'It's All About Culture'

      Dec 23, 2017

      'It's All About Culture'
      3 min read

    • Article

      How To Start Your Own Podcast

      Sep 26, 2022

      Everyone, they say, has a story to tell, and increasingly those stories are being told directly into the ears of podcast listeners – which, according to Ofcom, was about 25% of the adult population in the UK in 2021. If you have something to say, pod

      4 min read

    • Article

      By Their Side

      Feb 15, 2024

      By Their Side
      1 min read

    • Article

      How To Master Mindfulness

      May 5, 2020

      How To Master Mindfulness
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Brief Guide on Briefing

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Brief Guide on Briefing - Paul Sylvester

      A brief guide on Briefing: And why Soft Skills are not so soft!

      By Paul Sylvester

      Copyright 2016 Paul Sylvester

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Discover other titles by Paul Sylvester at Smashwords.com:

      A very brief guide to English grammar and punctuation

      How to organise a rugby tour without going insane

      Essay writing by numbers

      Contents

      The Introduction – What is a Soft Skill?

      1. Verbal Communication as a Soft Skill

      1.1 Formats

      2. Delivery considerations

      2.1 Cultural awareness

      2.2 Relevance

      2.3 Eye contact

      2.4 Facial expression

      2.5 Posture

      2.6 Movement

      2.7 Gestures

      2.8 Use of voice

      2.8.1 Speed

      2.8.2 Clarity

      2.8.3 Repetition

      2.8.4 Examples

      2.8.5 Emphasis

      2.9 Nerves

      2.10 Answering questions

      2.11 Personality profile

      2.12 Learning styles

      2.13 Style/level/tone

      3. Tools

      3.1 Palm cards

      3.2 Slide shows

      3.3 Notes

      3.4 Lectern

      4. How you can introduce yourself

      5. Preparation

      6. Briefs

      6.1 Purpose of a brief

      6.2 Use of a brief

      6.3 Types of briefs

      6.4 What makes a good brief?

      6.5 Features of a brief

      6.6 Format of a brief

      6.6.1 Introduction

      6.6.2 Body/Middle Section

      6.6.3 Conclusion

      6.6.4 Recommendations

      6.7 Delivering a brief

      7. Presentation considerations

      8. Lesson considerations

      9. Syndicate activity considerations

      10. Written support

      10.1 Writing a brief

      The Conclusion

      The Introduction – What is a Soft Skill (and why it is not so soft!)

      Soft Skills, whether realised or not, are intrinsically linked to the ability to communicate. Communication, in this instance, is the ability to convey a concept effectively to an individual or audience. Often unrealised, Soft Skills are usually assumed or not recognised due to how closely they are related to personality. Wikipedia provides a fairly good definition of what Soft Skills are. Linked to a person’s emotional intelligence, Soft Skills are the personality traits and habits that can aid or hinder communication. Soft Skills may be expressed within briefings (written and spoken), consultations, instruction, lectures, presentations and the conduct of lessons.

      Despite the reliance upon personality and difficulty in quantifying Soft Skills, there are ways in which individuals may fine tune how they effectively communicate. This pamphlet (I’m too realistic to think of it as a book…) is designed to assist anyone in how to improve their communication style or technique. Regardless of personality type and ability, there are ways in which all individuals may improve in the use and delivery of these Soft Skills.

      For those who are bit more cynical or pessimistic, I provide myself as a prime example. Long story short – I was an extremely shy youth which has not changed in the least as an adult. Using profiling tools on several occasions, this shyness is demonstrated in a defined introverted personality. And when I say introverted, I mean Introverted! Despite this, years of practice, determination (insert stubbornness) and study to compensate for this shyness, has shown that I can be an effective presenter. So much so that I have delivered effective presentations to very senior personnel (within my work’s organisation); provided individual tutoring; skills-based instruction to small groups (up to 24 trainees); facilitated syndicate-based activities for peers (with equal or more knowledge on the delivered topic); provided theory lessons to support skills-based activities to medium sized groups (24-100 people); delivered academic and theory-based lessons to large groups (up to 170 people); and presented to audiences of up to 350 individuals at one time.

      Regardless of the delivered information or audience size, the information provided here can support you in improving how to deal with doubts, nerves and any reservations you may hold. Largely, this is achieved through the application to associated requirements used with Soft Skills. While not all the provided information may be applicable to you every time you employ Soft Skills, many of them are transferable between the different formats which they may be expressed as part of.

      The importance of this pamphlet is the recognition of Soft Skills and their implications on the success of communication. While it may appear obvious to you and me, this is often an overlooked component of organisational professional development programs and the world of academia. I reason that this occurs for two reasons.

      Initially, many organisations that require these skills to be effectively employed will attract naturally suited individuals (through their recruitment process) to apply for these types of roles. As such, a sense of professional Darwinistic selection is already employed.

      Secondly, these types of organisations (as well as educational institutions) provide opportunities for these individuals to develop greater experience. This experience provides some broad development of presentation delivery but does so without clear guidance on how to do so – or limited in some instances (a trail and error process as opposed to a developing product). In these cases the delivered product

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1