Effective Communication

Effective communication is a wellness event that was put on by Ashton Crabtree who
works for UCAE. During this event we learned about communicating professionally with others.
Ashton did a great job of explaining how talk or give presentations in front of big crowds and
how important it is to carry yourself. I had never thought about giving a presentation in front of
a corporate business before so to sit through this event gave me perspective on how most
business adults feel everyday. One of the coolest things I took away from this event was
different strategy to either avoid or strategies it is important to incorporate in your presentations.
Some of the strategies it is good to avoid would be looking directly at your power point or visual
aide. It is important to have small bullets with little facts that you expand on instead of having
full sentences on the power point that you read word for word. It is very important to keep eye
contact with your audience instead of looking at the floor or looking at the wall behind them.
Another important strategy to keep in mind is how much you move around during your
presentation. Often you either move way too much or stand in the same spot stiff as a board. It
is good to move around a little but you do not want to be a distraction to your audience. This
event was considered a social event because we were learning about different tactics in the social
environment. We not only learned how to be professional in presenting projects, but also in one
on one discussion with professional businessmen and women. When learning about this we
focused a lot on eye contact. If you are having a conversation with someone you want to show
them you are interested in what they have to say. People say if you look up while telling a story
you are making it up as you go, but if you look down you look uninterested and tired of talking
to the person. It is good to have solid eye contact and engage in conversation with small hand

gestures and arm movements. Overall this event helped me learn how to give presentation
professionally and how to talk to future employers or elders in a respectful and caring way.