Soumya Adhikary

Personality development is a term which is often misunderstood to be self development and or just limited to enhancing one’s own looks. So it becomes necessary to get a clear picture on what is personality development and what is self development. Personality development is something which is considered as improving the way we think, feel, behave and carry ourselves. In other words, it is not confined to the improvement of a single aspect of an individual; rather it is about improving an entity or a cluster of qualities which helps in achieving and presenting oneself in a better way. Well, if you are wondering how to improve your personality, here are a few tips which could help you improve your personality. Positive approach and confidence: Positive approach and confidence are two different terms but are interrelated in many sorts. A positive approach will make one believe in them and this self belief will help a lot in achieving a difficult task. Being positive in whatever you do will skyrocket your confidence level and helps in finding better solutions even in worst case scenarios. Confidence in turn will help in making the best use of your own abilities. Listen with intent: Listening with intent results in a better understanding of the core point of what you listen to. Being a better listener makes the person whom you listen to feel like they are important to you and in return they will begin to value you more. Be good in learning: Always have a curiosity to learn new things. Learning will keep you updated in a challenging working environment and open minded towards accepting new happenings. At the same time, learning is not confined only to getting to know about something which you are not familiar about; rather it also includes learning from the mistakes of others and your own. Body Language (Eye contact, Body Posture, Hand shake): Body language is the way through which you exhibit your inner personality to others. A positive body language can work out wonders in impressing others. Well, to maintain a perfect body language make sure you connect with the eyes of the person whom you are conversing to. It reflects your honesty and boldness. Maintain an erect body posture which reflects your energy level, but at the same time don’t be very robotic in moves. Avoid shaking legs and hands or playing with your pen. It indicates your disinterest. And finally, don’t forget to give a firm handshake when you greet someone and while signing off. Be yourself: The best thing you can do to yourself is just being yourself. Though inspirations are good, trying to turn yourself into a person whom you admire will have negative effects on you. So, try not to be like someone else as each and every individual is unique. It is this originality which can help in creating a branding for you. Dress up well: Dressing up well is one of the most looked-into aspects in a corporate work culture. In order to carry yourself in a confident manner, the way you dress up yourself is important. Try to maintain a decent and professional look in your dressing by avoiding striking colors. Make sure your dress is neatly pressed and most importantly wear laced shoes. Though proper dressing alone will not improve your personality, it has a considerable amount of impact on it. Manners: Manners are the rating scales through which people rate you as a well behaved and a respectful human being. Treat your team mates respectfully and politely. Help your colleagues in their work if possible which will earn you their respect off-stage. Cooperativeness and being considerate in manner are the qualities that help you in emerging as a Great leader in the future. Be encouraging: In general, we all seek for encouragement of some kind or the other while getting a work done. Despite of all our hard efforts, interest and thirst to prove, it is the encouragement which acts as an off-stage positive catalyst in reaching the goal. Your encouraging quality will help others identify you as a better team player. So, try to be motivating and encourage others and for sure you’ll get plenty of them in return. Being social: Socialize with your colleagues as it will help in creating an environment in which you can work comfortably in. Nobody would love a sober or an expressionless person. Having fun at work with your colleagues is no harm as it will be a rejuvenating timeout which will pedal up work to a more brisk pace. Socializing with people will help in understanding individuals and turns you adaptable towards any group. Indulge in conversations: General conversations will teach a lot as it usually involves topics unrelated to your work. Such conversations are the gateways for knowledge exchanges. Nobody knows about everything and so indulge in conversations and get to know more on what you know the least or on what is totally new to you. It is also important to share your own thoughts and opinions but try not to be too preachy as it would bore the other involved in the conversation.

Dear Sheetal, There are many options actually. The most common is through skype or any such softwares. Everybody logs in at a pre-determined time and you train with the help of a webcam. Another option, though slightly expensive is to create a virtual classroom. You and your participants can have your own 3D avatar, and you can train in that virtual classroom. Just google it out and you will come across many websites offering such facilities, either for a fee or free of cost. Webinars are common these days, you may want to explore that option too. There are many good thing about these technology driven options. First and foremost, you get to completely defy the geographical limitations. You can be anywhere on earth, and so can be your students. As long as both of you have a high speed internet connection, you are good to go. Through this medium of training, you can reach out to people and demographics, which otherwise would have been impossible for you to reach. Many people either do not have the time to attend a regular face to face class, or too shy in front of people (especially people who are slightly senior in age). They can also learn staying at where they feel comfortable. However, it is my personal opinion that Online method of Soft Skill training should be limited to very few topics, where activities and direct participation is not needed so much. It is important for a trainer to monitor the participants closely, and this distant mode of training does not offer that. Personally, I enjoy direct face to face sessions more than any virtual on line sessions. Hope I could explain a little bit of your questions. If you need any specifics, please feel free to contact me. I will be more than happy to be of any assistance. Take care, and Happy Training.... :)