Coming back from a brief hiatus, I want to follow up on my observations of these Korean pop stars. The K-pop fever doesn’t seem to be subsiding. If anything, its growth seems to be unstoppable and if you get to watch their performances, you’ll understand why. In comparison, I saw yesterday’s Star Search on channel 8 and it was… abysmal.

I’ve linked 2 videos of a girl Korean group called Orange Caramel. You’ll notice they dress up in cutesy outfits and ooze cuteness in their song and dance.

*Disclaimer: You might die of diabetes watching them so proceed with caution.*

So what can we learn?

1. If you commit to a style, go all out or don’t bother.

These girls successfully achieve the “cute till you puke” effect. If you check out their performances with the other group they belong to, you’ll realise that they are pretty normal performers. To make their performance convincing, they wear cute outfits, sing in a cutesy voice and have a dance with facial expressions to match. Imagine them without the outfits, the voice or dance… they suddenly become more dull and less convincing.

In school, we face the problem of trying to stand out from the many groups of presenters. Sometimes the best idea is to try a new style, maybe a skit or role playing the scenario. Often these require group members to play a role that seems silly and they get self conscious and end up ruining the entire presentation. Do it and do it well or just don’t bother.

2. Additional effects can be distracting.

It’s no doubt that these girls capture your attention. The problem is that you get too distracted by the costumes, dancing and the performance in general. If you listen carefully, you’ll realise that these 3 girls have immense talent and they all posses a vocal range and performance finesse that most other performers don’t have.

Sometimes presentation groups go overboard and add too many frills to their presentation. Some sing, some dance, some even get a live keyboardist to add sound effects to add a little drama. For the most part, these help you to stand out but when you go overboard, you cloud the message of the presentation and the audience loses focus. The last thing you want is for them to go “they were kind of entertaining but what were they trying to say?” after the presentation.

3. Image is an overall thing.

What makes Orange Caramel so successful – as can be heard from the hordes of deep voices screaming throughout the performance, is that they fit the look, voice and dance. Can you imagine any other performer in the same clothes and dance? Hm. probably not.

Know yourself, know what you can pull off and what you can’t. As I tell my students, if you’re funny, then be funny! But if you’re not, don’t try too hard.

To end off, becoming an effective communicator is a journey that doesn’t ever end. Your job is not to memorise all the “tools” available but to pick up lessons from people around you. Pick up the good habits and trash the bad.

-Terence

So I’m not the type who keeps up with the latest in popular culture or music but when Shara joined us and started playing videos of teenage korean boys and girls prancing around the stage and singing (or in some cases, attempting to sing) for the many hours she spent in the office, I got curious.

I started paying more attention to these videos and the singers and realised that we can learn a lot about communication from them and apply these lessons to our own presentations. I spent the next few weeks scrutinising several korean pop groups and came up with a couple of learning points we can apply. It was really tough work looking at pretty young stars dancing and singing but it was worth it

In part 1, I’ve chosen Girls Generation a.k.a SNSD with their chart topping song Gee.

9 arguably equally attractive girls fighting for the spotlight. Most music groups have way fewer and they can’t even stay together without wanting to go solo. So what can we learn from them in the context of our very own group presentations?

1. You can shine even if you aren’t speaking.

Each member in the group gets between 5 to 22 seconds worth of solo parts in a 3.5min song. Yet if you ask around, most SNSD fans have a favorite member whom they are fiercely loyal to. In the video, as the camera is focusing on one girl, notice that others in the background are always smiling, winking or doing a variation of some action. For example, in 2:28, you can’t help but notice the 3 girls in the background even though the spotlight isn’t on them.

So you are making an impression even if it isn’t your turn to speak. This is your chance to develop rapport and express your personality even before you speak to your audience. Smile, nod and make eye contact with your audience. They will be more likely to listen to you when its your turn. Which brings us to the next point.

2. People see you even if you aren’t speaking.

Many people think that when it isn’t their turn to speak in a presentation, they suddenly become invisible to the audience. This just isn’t true. Very often you see people who, after finishing their part in a presentation, walk to the side and start to sigh, giggle or chat with the rest of the team. What’s worse is most presenters start their parts with a huge smile but the moment they are done, the smile flies away and all that’s left is either a blank stare or a long (sian) face. Audiences react very easily to perceived emotions. If you seem enthusiastic and have a lot of energy, they are more likely to listen to you than if you seem bored yourself while talking to them.

SNSD girls always look happy and like they are enjoying themselves. It definitely doesn’t hurt the audience either.

3. Be consistent, it shows off your personality.

If you watch other Gee live performances, you’ll realise that the most discernible differences between the performances would be the clothes they wear and their hairstyles. There isn’t much variation in the music, lyrics and dance. You just know it’s going to be a SNSD performance and each girl’s personality shines through the synchronised dance moves. Eventually you’ll realise that the song and dance moves don’t matter. You’ll watch them because you’re attracted to their on-stage personalities.

You want your audience to like you as a presenter regardless of the topic. You don’t always have a super interesting topic to talk about so sometimes it’s better to shift your audience’s attention to you as a presenter instead. If you are consistently good, you develop a presentation personality that people are attracted to and even with the most boring of topics, engage your audience.

4. If you can’t do it, rehearse and stage it.

Having good presentation skills is not like getting hero’s super power. You don’t get it after a special X gene in your DNA expresses itself and it definitely isn’t a side effect of radioactive exposure. Professionals get to where they are because they practice. Stand-up comedians aren’t funny because they go on stage and crack random jokes. Radio DJs aren’t fluent because they jump into the studio and start sprouting nonsense and motivational speakers definitely don’t stand in front of an audience and just “repeat their life stories”.

It isn’t easy to have 2 people synchronise a dance and even more so for 9 people. If you watch amateurs do covers of SNSD’s dances, you’ll realise what sets them apart from the real deal – practice. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that everything is rehearsed. Every move, wink and hand gesture is decided upon and practiced over and over again. This is why you’ll never see 2 girls do the same gesture at the same time because that’ll be weird. So if you have difficulty smiling without looking weird, look into the mirror and practice. If you don’t know where to put your hands when you speak, ask a friend to give you comments about the way you are currently doing it and find a position that doesn’t make you look like you want to chop off your own hands. Keep rehearsing every line and move until you realise that you become so natural that you don’t need to anymore.

Wooh. That’s a long one and my way to justify watching these girls over and over again I’ll do part 2 in a couple of days. In the mean time, here’s hoping you get your Epiphany.

-Terence

One huge part of public speaking involves regulating of your own emotions and the feelings experienced by your audience. The same script, as spoken and expressed by different people, can produce drastically different results. Scripts are not too different from songs. A very clear example is that of the immensely popular song – Poker Face. Redone or interpreted by three different artistes, it evokes different feelings in the audience.

Christopher Walker: Poker Face “poetry reading”

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When said, literally, with a poker face by Christopher Walker, the lyrics are made somewhat hilarious. The question here, is when would you want to put on a poker face and report information in an emotionless tone? Not all speeches have to be rah-rah and passionate. There is a time to be serious, a time to be enthusiastic and definitely a time to be nothing at all. Food for thought: When ?

Chris Daughtry, Poker Face acoustic version

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In the music sphere, the acoustic version of songs (this one is by Chris Daughtry) is often dubbed as raw, untampered and natural. Being no-frills during a speech can cause your audience let their guards down, but exposing too many truths can also make you vulnerable to later attack. Will there be a time when you need to remove the theatrics, throw away the fancy Powerpoint slides, and just speak plainly and honestly? You decide.

Lady Gaga, Poker Face

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Lastly, the original Poker Face as sung by Lady Gaga herself. As compared to the other two, this is a jazzed up, heavily packaged version of the song with lots of bells and trinkets thrown in. This sort of “fluff” is often used in persuasive speeches and for marketing purposes, where every detail plays an important role in changing or creating audience perceptions. Or if unfortunately, there are plenty of loopholes or half-truths that need to be covered with pretty graphics and sounds, then this would also be good. Like a birthday or celebratory present, gift-wrapping has to have a specific and special purpose. As Dumbledore said in the note accompanying the Invisibility Cloak in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, “Use It Well”.

To conclude, the main point is that words are really, merely words. It’s the body language, the tone, the setting and all the other details often overlooked that create an overall emotion and feel to your speech. In order to deliver your speech as you intended it to be, you need to take extra care to manage your emotions and that of the audience. Poker faced, acoustic or techno? You decide.

-stella

Who knows what miracles you can achieve, when you believe, somehow you will

This was a line in the song popularized by the movie “The Prince of Egypt”. I believe it holds great motivation for some, when the going gets tough and they, who believed themselves as tough people, wavered in their conviction and self-confidence.

Public speaking and presentations in general, is one of these adversities that have the potential to render jelly legs to grown men, to make people doubt their abilities and discredit their past work and successes. In the face of an audience of bored individuals, to simply have that trusting faith in one’s abilities – could, to some, be akin to eating fugu (poisonous puffer-fish sashimi) from a dodgy restaurant.

Paul Potts, in the video below, is an unassuming member of society in his day-to-day activities. Yet, it is his belief in his abilities, that has led him to win the hearts of many all over the world. While we may not be able to boast of outstanding talents as Paul has, the message is clear: when you believe, somehow you will. Not all triumphs need to be impressive . In life, the only person you have to impress, is, really, yourself.

So, how do you rid yourself of overwhelming expectations during presentations or in any task, in general? Simply by remembering that there are no expectations you need to fulfill, other than your own. This may sound strange, but you are your greatest and most terrifying judge. No positive comments, no favorable feedback will satisfy if you do not feel that you have done your best and achieved your goals.

How is this done? Please allow me to share how I do it:

1. Evaluate your personal abilities, strengths and weaknesses very honestly

2. Set a reasonable target for yourself – taking into consideration your strengths and weaknesses

3. Do not let anybody else alter your personal target – people may often urge you to ‘push past your limits’. Always remember that these are merely perceived targets that others have set for you – there is no one who understands you better than yourself!

4. Do your best for your presentation.

5. After that, critically evaluate how you have performed – both qualitatively and quantitatively, if possible.

6. If it has been a success, great! Think of how you succeeded (the process is more important than the outcome) and how you can improve.

7. If it was not successful, always keep in mind that the absence of a success does not amount to a failure, and start thinking of how you can improve next time round.

As the nun Maria sings in the Sound of Music, have confidence in confidence alone!

-stella

This has been a popular video and an immensely hot topic amongst many Singaporeans. But rather than just treat it as a source of amusement, there are many lessons we can draw from this, with the biggest takeaway being that of discipline in speech.

Discipline in pronunciation
A lot of the general unhappiness toward Ris’ speech is related to pronunciation. For a good or even acceptable speech, much discipline and effort is needed to pronounce each syllable carefully, intonating at the correct syllable and vocalizing the Ts (spenT), Ds (spenT), THs (THird), etc. Practice makes perfect, and the best way to perfect one’s enunciation and pronunciation is rehearsal.

Discipline in revelation
It is not easy to connect with your audience without revealing too much about yourself. Again, discipline is key in controlling the amount of personal information revealed – to self-censor before your life story begins spilling out. One way in which this could be done is by anticipation – making rational assumptions about the audience, and formulating possible questions that could be asked. In this way, one could give answers and share experiences that the audience can relate to, without putting oneself at liability.

Discipline in content
When speaking, many ‘say what comes to mind’. Some christen this phenomenon as the positive absence of self-consciousness, quick thinking or even frankness. However, in front of an audience, this could be one’s very downfall. When we ‘say what comes to mind’, more often than not, our thoughts appear in a haphazard manner which fails to support logical argument.

In conclusion, to put to use the first C of effective communication (the 5Cs: to be concise, complete, considerate, clear, correct) a good speaker is a disciplined speaker.

Humanitarian videos like these are a dime of a dozen, but the message is clear and simple: that we should strive to be better stewards of the money and resource we have been so blessed with, as well as appreciate what we do have.

Are we maximizing the allowances, the income and the monetary gifts that we have been given? Could the $50 we spent on a new dress (with high potential to be sent to the Zouk flea market in a month) be better invested in improving the lives of others? In a less noble sense, could the money we are spending today, be put to better use for the benefit of our own future? In the video, the word ‘need’ is emphasized greatly. The impoverished children need food, medicine and water. These are indicative of the material goods that humans really, truly need for survival. That $30 bag you believed was a “steal”, to these children, is wastage, harsh as it may sound.

In our current context, a dollar saved today is not just a dollar to be spent tomorrow. In fact, if you take into account interest rates, a dollar saved today is essentially $1(1+r) proudly sitting in your bank tomorrow! That is, assuming that the rate of inflation does not overtake interest rate. The message? Every dollar counts. If there exists a probability that the money is not going to yield maximum utility in current times, why not save it for later?

In conclusion, the humbling message today is to consider our savings and our expenditures, because these two avenues exhaust our budgets. Are we saving enough, and are we spending right?

-Stella

We have more in common with the humble pencil than we think. Before we start whining and pondering why we are not likened to the more glamorous fountain pen, here’s a video that tells us why.

Some lessons I’ve learnt from this video:

You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

Everyone has their own strengths and weakness. No man is an island, even though some may claim to be a “Jack of all trades”. The point of this piece of advice, is that for success, one needs to be willing to receive help, training and guidance.

You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.

This will unfortunately link us back to the much over-used saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. The road to success is not an easy journey. Many successful entrepreneurs, for example, would have roughed out periods of financial, emotional and physical trials and tribulations. What is most important, is not the aftermath, but instead the wisdom and experience gleaned from these periods of sandpapering.

You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

There are two lessons we can draw from this. Firstly, other than, perhaps, manslaughter where the death penalty will be awarded, any mistakes done in good faith will have a solution to it. Secondly, this encourages us to take risks, because many successes have been obtained by those who have taken the road less travelled (cross reference: Blue Ocean Strategy).

The most important part of you will always be what’s inside

To me, this is simply to be true to ourselves. We will honestly never regard a success as one, if on the path to achieving it, we have lost ourselves and betrayed our personal beliefs and values. 

On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition you must continue to write.

Regardless of the situation we are stuck in, the key to success is to persevere, and to make a difference in the lives of others, in the workings of an organization, etc. To me, success and solitude are completely disjoint sets. One can never enjoy success without others recognize, enjoy and endorse it. Be remembered – for the right reasons.

-stella

 Nick was born without limbs.

 Watching his video, I was pleasantly surprised. General stereotyping dictates that Nick would tell a sorrowful tear-jerker about his fight and struggle to cope without limbs. However, the optimism and enthusiasm Nick has for life, in particular, his life without limbs transformed to a life without limits, is inspiring.

 In the video, he shares anecdotes on how he finds small joy in using his lack of limbs to scare fellow swimmers at the pool, to scare children into staying away from cigarettes and basically shocking people. Laughing at one’s own shortcomings is already a difficult enough feat for most people. But for Nick, him finding amusement and gleaning entertainment from his physical disabilities is an attitude we should all strive to adopt.

 Nick also mentions the joy he experiences, in being able to perform the simple task of enjoying a waer slide. When was the last time you enjoyed a small and simple happiness? After removing your laptop, handphone, iPod  and other electronics that appear to be a regular body organ for some, would we still be able to survive? Currently, are we able to just stop to smell the flowers, or even find happiness in the humble things in life?

 The challenge for us today, is will we be able to smile at the storm? Will we, like Nick, be able to see our personal impediments, limitations as mere speed-bumps to achieving our goals and coloring in our big picture for life?

 <Homerun>, Jack Neo’s remake of the movie <Children of Heaven>  has a theme song that goes like this:

 我们什么都没有,也没有轻易地低头。

我们什么都没有,也没有放弃的念头。

不管路要怎么走,不管是谁牵着谁的手。

只要我的心紧紧相扣。我们就什么都拥有

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We have nothing, and we also do not have a spirit of surrendering.

We have nothing, and we also do not have the temptation to give up.

No matter how we are going to trudge through life, no matter who holds our hand

As long as our hearts are tightly knitted, we have everything.

__

This song, I feel, is extremely relevant to us or even Nick. When the going gets tough, are the tough always able to get going? Often, we find ourselves in despair, or even on the brink of giving up when left hopeless with (a perceived) nothing. The message here, is that hope is everything. The things on earth will pass and fade – iPod will launch a new version just as you’ve saved up for one; your designer threads will be outdated in no time. But one thing that will never change is the hope and drive you personally have for your life. Find a helping hand to guide you along, if you can. But most importantly, discover your motivation and it will carry you through.

-Stella