In my first blog entry many months ago I wrote about a course taught by Denis Shackel called Communicating Effectively, which helped us break out of our shell and become better presenters and communicators. During the recent elective cycle at Ivey I decided to take High Impact Presentations, Denis’s advanced presentations class. I must admit, prior to taking the course I was a bit skeptical on what more I could learn about presenting… was I ever wrong. We were a small class of about 30 people and over the 4 weeks of the course, I learnt so much about presenting, my classmates, and myself. Denis really helps you take a leap a faith and step out of your comfort zone. The course was as much a lesson in self confidence as it was in presenting. In Denis’s class you could put your hand up to answer a question and suddenly find yourself at the front of the room doing an impromptu speech or singing a song! At first it was quite intimidating being at the front room by yourself. But Denis creates a safe environment in the classroom and by the end of the four weeks, the spotlight was your friend.
One of the exercises Denis has you do to break out of your comfort zone is either perform a song or a poem. I was blown away by the talent in the class. We spend so much time working on cases at Ivey, it is easy to take for granted that we all have hidden talents. In my younger years I use to sing all the time in school choirs, but I haven’t sang publicly in over 10 years, so I figured I would step out of my comfort zone and sing for the class. I was extremely nervous, and the unthinkable happened… I froze! I forgot the words to the song I was singing mid-song! But Denis encouraged me to try again and eventually I conquered my fear of stepping out of my comfort zone, or as Denis described it… F.E.A.R is nothing more than “false expectations appearing real”.
Throughout the four weeks, we spoke, sang and even danced in the front of the classroom (see pictures below). We grew together as a class, we all stepped out of our comfort zone, and supported each other. I saw my classmates transform from good presenters to great presenters. High Impact Presentations was definitely the highlight of my elective cycle. It was a great four weeks, thanks to all the high impact presenters and thank you Denis!!
Shanti Suppiah graduated from the University of Guelph, with a Bachelor of Honors in Economics. Prior to pursuing her MBA at Ivey, Shanti worked as an Investigator at the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments. Shanti is the Co-president of Ivey’s Women in Management Club as well as Ivey’s Culinary Club. Outside of the Ivey Program, Shanti enjoys, reading, travelling and the culinary arts.