Presentation, Negotiation, and Debate - Essay Example

Reflective Essay on Presentation, Negotiation, and Debate Reflective Essay on Presentation, Negotiation, and Debate Introduction Gallagher (2012, Chapter 4) outlines communications skills as fundamental in enhancing business success. Communication skills are important in business management and, therefore, a foremost requirement for employers. Particularly, communication derives its importance from the need to ensure persuasion. Passing a message that is free of ambiguity is essential in communication that targets to attain persuasion. Among the key competencies in communication are skills of presentation, negotiation, and debate. This essay presents a reflection of my learning experience and that of my group members while practicing the three fundamental skills: presentation, negotiation, and debate. Presentation The presentation part of the project was one of the most involving considering the great deal of communication skills required. As soon as the professor gave us the assignment, we assembled every day to discuss the best approach (Boardman 2009, p.32). We first discussed what topic we could give our presentation for it to attract attention. There were many considerations from the team; therefore, we weighed the pros and cons for each. I found it challenging dealing with the numerous questions that the group raised. We decided our presentation about a company called Next Plc. and it concerned a comparison of the company with others. The work of researching was time-consuming because initially we chose to present about Coca Cola but had a change of mind. It means we had a short time left to prepare a comprehensive report to present to the audience and ensure that we could answer questions adequately. We had to adopt a persuasive speech format and dived the work, so that each member could have what to do (Chivers & Shoolbred 2007, p.2). For instance, some members could make the power point, some present the case, some deal with questions and others were to introduce. I helped the group in making the PowerPoint and organizing all the material required for the session. During the process, I found myself stepping in to help one of my group members whose duty was to lead the presentation. For instance, I helped him explain the statistics of profits and losses of the company after comparing it with other firms in the same line. I utilized my strength in data analysis to explain the trend in the enterprise’s revenue data for the last five years. Our group had the best presentation because we had prepared well for the case. I learned from the experience that good communication skills are a requisition for successful presentations (Ingram 2004, p.201). We had to stick to all the verbal and non-verbal cues, which we had learned in in class. It mainly confirmed a point considered as the purpose of communication because we managed to settle all the uncertainties. The audience was not easy to handle, which required that we remain composed and focused to convince. I realized that a good communicator could influence the audience into listening to what they say. There was a moment of panicking because of stage fright, but it gradually faded away after we learned to manage and coordinate our stage movements. The best part of our presentation was demonstrating the trends in revenue figures for the firm. The moment was exciting because it attracted much concentration from the audience. My main strength was speaking up often so that I could direct the session. On the contrary, one of my weaknesses was that I found myself wanting to talk often. I realized that such a behavior could undermine the power of group. The process was successful despite one challenge, which was the fact that time elapsed before we had winded up. The session provided numerous communication skills in practical life scenario, most importantly, the need for convincing power. Negotiation Negotiation forms a fundamental part of businesses mainly in the procurement sector where agreements are essential for making transactions (Opresnik and Opresnik 2014, p.34). We undertook a fieldwork as a way of equipping ourselves with the necessary communication required in negotiation, as a part of the business. We considered the case of buying and selling of car. Every group member had his or her role because we knew that success was inevitable if we combined efforts. However, we experienced challenges due to differences in difficulties of accomplishing the various delegated duties in the process. The areas we covered included the total price, amount of loan given to a person and the interest rate in paying the loan. We also considered the issue of trade-ins of the negotiation scenario. Little cooperation and commitment by the group members undermined the effectiveness of the team. Negotiation requires the use of various types of communication. Employing the various methods of communication proved to be the most difficult problem during the event. For instance, there was a need to synchronize with the different varieties of communication such as visual, body language and verbal communication. Communication failure can ultimately result in failure of the negotiation process (Mahajani 2013, p.56). The essence of communication in negotiation is persuasion, which influenced our method of approach. We had to consider the most attractive approach to the process so that we could convince the opposite party. We did not think that sign language was vital in negotiation because a majority of us previously thought that only verbal communication was essential. We, however, inferred that successful negotiations require other types of communication as well to accompany oral antiques. We discovered that the use of different persuasive methods is vital in determining transactions in a procurement. The level of success in the process depended on the degree of input. I mainly utilized my communication skills and the fact that I am talkative to help the group in the negotiation. In the various negotiation aspects, we discovered the interrelation between good communication and successful negotiation. The primary inference that we made is that negotiations stem right from good intra-communication. Members who managed to make the best deals did so prior to reflection and planning for the approach to use while persuading a buyer or vice versa. Debate Bitcoin is a form of digital currency created electronically and does not have any centralized banking system controlling it. Unlike other currencies such as the dollars or Euros, bitcoin production takes place around the world through various computer users without necessarily printing it. Bitcoin currency operates without a central authority of the banks. Computer users need to access and use a software that solve problems mathematically. According to proponent group members in agreement with its accreditation as a currency, Bitcoin is an excellent illustration of crypto currency. They argues that is a category of money considered fast growing in the world today. Our group members evaluated our classmates’ viewpoints and justifications to accredit Bitcoin as a currency. We, however, opposed the idea that Bitcoin should be an accredited in the global market. Other group members who were proponents of Bitcoin’s accreditation as a world market currency presented their justifications in the debate. First, they argued that Bitcoin is unique and different from other currencies (Van 2014, p.32). Bitcoin is decentralized because it is under the control of no central bank system. It is, therefore, a flexible payment system all over the world market (Jeans 2015, p.99). In their view, the current global business environment demands a flexible currency which Bitcoin fulfills. Proponents of the debate argued that a flexible currency is most suitable in the current global business environment. Moreover, proponents support the accreditation of Bitcoin because it is less expensive. Bitcoin idea charges low or no fees at all within its payments. Users only include charges in situations when they want the transaction process to be faster or prioritized. It also fastens currency exchange digitally from Bitcoin to flat currency. The application has a Bitcoin block chain, which makes it easily visible to anyone and anytime to do transaction verification (Chen 2014, p.48). The debate involved an evaluation of proponents’ viewpoints and our group members, the opponents, presented counterarguments. First, our group members declined Bitcon’s accreditation to a world market currency because of threats of control and security. I argued that with the trending increase in cybercrime, the currency is prone to be susceptible to security concerns such as hacking. Lack of a centralized banking system compromises regulation of the currency, a factor that can be detrimental to world economies through uncontrolled inflation from currency overproduction. Bitcoin is an unsafe currency. Being a new system that demands online transactions, Bitcoin use will edge out countries that have low access to the internet from trading in the world markets. The middle-class, as well, may not be able to access as a currency. From the debate, I learned a number of uses of communication in persuasion. I learned how to persuade my opponents logically to agree with my ideas that I felt were genuine and appropriate. Consequently, the group achieved massive grip through logical arguments and persuasion. Additionally, the group debate also presented to me a chance to learn the importance of using emotions to persuade the opponent (Gallagher 2013, p.62). When I used emotions to convince the opposing side of the debate, I learnt that they developed personal feelings. Not forgetting, I also noticed that ethics in arguments is essential because those who failed to use them lost respect and received poor response from the opponents. Conclusion The essay presents an analysis of the learning experience I had by participating in the three group activities: presentation, negotiation, and debate. In every activity, my group engaged in diverse roles. When practicing negotiation, group members had a brief about seller and buyer of a car. Every member had a task that basically involved negotiating with an aim to make both buyer and seller to be happy with the price charged. Negotiation was based on different aspects including total price, trade-in, amount of loan and interest rate. The group presented on Next Plc. Company. Every group member presented his or her part including an analysis of the company’s competitors. The debate addressed whether Bitcoin should be a new currency in the world market. From the three activities, I gained insight to the fundamental communication skills as applied in real life business situations. Bibliography Boardman Moen, C. (2009). Group Project Student Role Sheets. New York: Lorenz Educational Press. Chen Y., W, & Pandey, V 2014, The Value of Bitcoin in Enhancing the Efficiency of an Investor’s Portfolio, Journal Of Financial Planning, 27, 9, pp. 44-52. Chivers, B. and Shoolbred, M. (2007). A Students Guide to Presentations. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. Gallagher, K. (2013). Skills Development for Business and Management Students. Study and Employability. Chapter 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press Ingram, T. (2004). Professional selling: a trust-based approach. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western. Jeans, ED 2015, Funny Money or the Fall of Fiat: Bitcoin And Forward-Facing Virtual Currency Regulation, Colorado Technology Law Journal, 13, p. 99, LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 February 2015. Mahajani, M. (2013). Le[T]S Talk: Negotiation & Communication At The Workplace. Ahmedabad, Jaico Pub. House. Opresnik, M. O., & Opresnik, M. O. (2014). Hidden rules of successful negotiation and communication: getting to yes! Ebscohost. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=800267. Slatkin, A. A. (2010). Communication In Crisis And Hostage Negotiations Practical Communication Techniques, Strategems, And Strategies For Law Enforcement, Corrections, And Emergency Service Personnel In Managing Critical Incidents. Springfield, Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=536959 Van Alstyne, M 2014, Why Bitcoin Has Value, Communications of the ACM, 57, 5, pp. 30-32, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 February 2015. Read More