It's All About the Ethos Baby

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are a way to persuade people in an argument. Aristotle coined these terms and I wish to speak about ethos. Ethos has to deal with your credibility and how people perceive you. So the question is, how do people perceive you? Where does your credibility come from? It can be broken down into three categories: how you spend your time, how you treat others, and how you treat yourself.

How you spend your time: 24 hours in a day, 8 of which should be taken up by sleeping. That leaves you 16 hours to make a difference. What do you do with your time? There is always that struggle between personal development and service to others. For college students, it seems like most of the time is taken up by studying, working, and trying to have some type of social life. Very little time goes to serving others. And why? Shouldn't that be a higher priority? So the next time you go to watch Netflix for hours or want to play video games, think of all the productive things you could be doing. Read a book, watch a TED talk, go play a sport.

How you treat others: Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great." People notice how you treat others. Be kind, refrain from judging quickly, and always have a smile on, even to those that wrong you. It is something I am trying to work on and need to do better. 

How you treat yourself: You are your biggest fan. Sound narcissistic? Probably. But really, think about it, the way you view yourself and the confidence you have to achieve and to change the world, however small it may be will greatly affect how others view you, how credible they think you are.

Ethos. Develop it through these three things and you will be viewed as a more credible source of information. Cheers! 

Be You. But Better.

This week was a fulfilling and energizing one. We had a final group presentation and individual presentations, which, were awesome. There is nothing like working together as a group and feeling like you crushed your project. 

It was my personal presentation about business dress that got me thinking about how we see ourselves and how people see us. That tied with the thoughts from conference about not living a double life inspired the following thoughts. 

Of course, there is much more to a person than the way they dress, but that is the first thing people see. And I strongly believe that people dress the way that they are. Their clothes express their personality. So if you feel tempted to wear a pair of sweats to school everyday, look yourself in the mirror and say, "I am not in a Tae-bo workout video, put on some pants, and go have a killer day." That right there will change your mood and your lookout on life. Have confidence. Say hi to people, compliment random people, give someone a hug because hugs are the perfect remedy for any school day blues. 

As I have thought about this, employers will be attracted to those that are charismatic. I have been obsessed about traits of charismatic people lately. Being a ray of sunshine in someone's day sounds like a good gig, why not try it. Doing this will spread to other areas of your life. That is something I have realized this week and it is making me want to be better in my studies, relationships with friends and family, the whole kit and caboodle.

So try it, be that contagious happiness that you're looking for. 

There is no "I" in Team

This past week when we were preparing for our group project I learned about some things that I can improve on. I was grateful to my team members that expressed to me things that I could do better and how we could better work as a team. Communication is key in any team setting.

Here are some things I learned this week:

- Don't take others reactions personally. There is always a reason behind what is said, take the time to figure it out and come to a conclusion about what moves to make next. 

- If you don't have the answers, it is okay to say "I don't know." Then go and find the answers and tell the team what you have come up with for the findings, or better yet come out to a solution together. 

- People want to feel heard more than they care about you agreeing with them. Don't just nod in affirmation. Ask questions such as:

       - tell me more about your concern

       - I see where you are coming from, what led you to that belief? 

I am not a master communicator, I clearly have a lot more to work on. Baby steps. 

 

The Google Hangout

Technology is a two edge sword. The fact that I can video conference people from all over the world is a phenomenal thing to think about. But all of my joy and saying "hey this is neat" stops when I have problems with whatever software I am using. We encountered this in our Google Hangout just a few days ago. A few members of our team were not able to access the video for lack of network connection. Nathan and I had good reception from home. It just goes to show that you cannot rely solely on PowerPoints and Google Docs and Excel sheets to get things done for you. 

During the entire project we have been using a Google Doc that has been very helpful in helping receive real time feedback with regards to the material that we researched and our material that we wrote for the report. 

I love being able to interact with people and find a balance in a group setting. There will always be a need to set aside differences for the good of the team and it is fulfilling to see the final product when all is said and done. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ

Group Presentation Part I

So I may be biased but I think our group killed it at our presentation! Now of course there was room for improvement. There always is. When you stop learning, you stop progressing. Here is my takeaway from the presentation.

Individually I thought I provided a good hook and got people involved. I believe the key to any presentation is change. Change the way you present information, the examples you use, the way you get people involved. Always keep people on their toes wanting more while still delivering a concise informational message. Now some things I can work on is my eye contact when I am not speaking. I should be looking at who is speaking and my other team members. I also could have interacted with them more, made it more fun. 

As a team I think that we had good transitions and some comical things to lighten the mood. I think that we could have spent more time designing our slides and more class participation. 

Part II will be better. Mark my words ol sports. 

Design: make or break

This week we had to do a briefing article on a topic of our choice. Professor Middleton asked that we do it in a magazine layout. As I searched the web for magazine template layouts, I was amazed at the creativity and design of some of the magazine I saw on blogs and design websites. Steve Jobs said that "creativity is just connecting things." Seeing things in a new light, a simpler light. As I sat trying to design my magazine article I thought of how I am seriously  lacking in "right brain" thinking or creative thinking. Howard Gardener, a psychologist proposed a theory of multiple intelligences. He thought that humans engage in both right brain and left brain activity, and the more intelligences we use out of the seven he proposed, the better we are able to learn and grow. The seven intelligences are:
- lingusitic
-logical-mathematical
- musical
- bodily-kinesthetic
- spatial 
- interpersonal
- intrapersonal

So what? My goal once the semester is over is to engage in more right brain activities. At the top of my list are learn the piano, learn Adobe Suite, and learn how to edit videos. 

Let's get creative and get out of the mold of the classic university academic standards of how things should be done. 

The Process of Learning

Doris Lessing said, "That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all of your life, but in a new way." This past weekend I was reflecting on my college experience. I have been surrounded by wonderful intellect and professors that have a passion for what they teach. Some of the best teachers of my life have been here at BYU. But someone asked me a question a few days ago about finance. Something about discount rates and the rate of return. I sort of remembered what they were but could not make heads or tails of the problem. Then I thought about my other classes, everything from psychology to art history, and I could not recall hardly anything from class. The process of learning for most is to cram and put the information in short term memory. Where is the benefit in that?

So what? As of this week I have made a plan to start to review and study smarter so that I can have this information readily available. After all I'm here for an education not a diploma.