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GLD Portfolio
SYDNEY PICKETT
KEY INSIGHT 1:
The Growth of Confidence through Learning Professional Communication
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It took me eight years until I could say the color “red” fluently. It took thirteen years to graduate speech therapy, but it took eighteen years to learn how much impact communication has had on my life. Growing up introverted with a severe stutter, I was never a huge fan of communicating with others. Whether that be attempting to hold a conversation with a friend, using my words to express my emotions, or to even try to order my food at a fast-food restaurant. Any type of conveying thoughts and ideas to others was anxiety inducing to me. Although I was always intimidated by talking, my parents harped on the importance of being able to communicate with others when it comes to meeting people and gaining future opportunities. They would always tell me “communication is a very important skill to have”. I did not really perceive communication as a skill that you could attain and mold. I thought it was just something everyone was born with; some were better at it than others and I was not one of those people. As I got older, I grew out of my stutter and found other ways to express myself like through dance, but I was still missing the piece of making connections through talking. I needed an environment where I could find my voice and have a support system there to help me fine tune my confidence is communication.
Coming to college at the University of South Carolina was that environment I was looking for. As a Hospitality Management major, my field is mainly based on the connections you make through networking and lasting impressions you can have on customers. In order to be successful you have to have professional communication skills. I did not have strong communication skills in general, so I had no concept of what professional communication was nor its importance. Being in my degree program, I learned very quickly how easily it is to lose opportunities from the smallest professionalism and interaction mistake. I wanted to make sure that I would not lose any potential growth opportunities through my lack of knowledge of professional communication. I took a class called Hospitality, Retail, Sport Management Professional Communications, RETL 242.
This class’s goal was to enhance or develop students’ professional development skills. We looked into different aspects of communication in the workforce in learning how to give effective presentations, how to host productive meetings, but the most impactful thing I learned in class was how professionalism in any method of communication can impact your success in the job and respect as an employee. My professor would create assignments that helped us practice different workplace scenarios dealing with professional conversations via email and over the phone. Scenarios would include how to properly respond to coworkers’ questions, comments and concerns through writing an email, calling, or talking to the person face to face. In the artifacts section I have included an email evaluation assignment where we were given a fake scenario, analyzed our email skills, and how we could improve them. Some of the tips that I learn from assignments like that is to be concise it what you want to say, always be respectful of the person time, and maintain formality in whichever method of conversation you choose. Applying these tips to my daily life helped me gain confidence in talking to others in normal conversation but also prepared me for my internship my junior year as an Event Management intern for Gamecock Entertainment.
Gamecock Entertainment is the student activities office that puts on multiple events on and off campus for students at the university. Being in a role where you had to create, coordinate and execute multiple events with various groups of people throughout the week was definitely a challenge. It was even more a challenge for me because I did not have any previous event management experience and was now in charge of putting on large scale events for university students. Coming into role that impacts the university was intimidating and I was not sure if people would take me seriously as a student employee with no event experience. However, what I soon realized in this role with many different moving parts was that I did not need experience, as long as I had proper communication and keep everyone in the loop the job will get done. When doing different areas of my job that required communication, I made sure to follow the tips from class of being concise, maintaining formality, and being respectful of other people’s time. Some examples include, sending concise weekly mass emails to alert students of weekly events, holding prompt meetings with the office members about potential event ideas with research and costs done ahead of time, and using professional language when talking to off campus vendors for potential event collaboration. The slideshow below includes some other examples of events I promoted, planned and executed as an intern. Linked in the artifacts section I have included a typical weekly event email I would send out to students, using the professionalism techniques I learned from class.
Using the professionalism skills, I learned from RETL 242 made me more comfortable and confident when carrying out my role in a position I was not familiar with. Using professional communication skills through Gamecock Entertainment has prepared me to use these skills in any professional role, especially in roles that may be more difficult. However, outside of the any job these communication skills I learned are impactful in my personal life. The development I have had in professional communication, helped me build confidence in how I am able to connect with others in daily interactions. Although I grew up uncomfortable with the thought of having to talk to others, learning about the art of proper communication has helped me confidently advocate for myself in any situation professionally or personally.
Goat Yoga Event Run of Show
ARTIFACTS
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