Monday, October 25, 2010

Era Sezhiyan, a celebrated Parliamentarian gives tips for effective communication

Era. Sezhiyan
Mr Era. Sezhiyan (88) is  one of the well respected Parliamentarians and Statesmen of India.  He has served both the House of Parliament for more than 22 years continuously till 1984.  He is well known for his Parliamentary debates. Whenever he used to raise to speak in Parliament, even the Prime Ministers used to listen to him carefully.  Many a times, due to his debate, even the Budgets were modified.  
He is still considered an authority on Financial matters of the Governance.   Even at his 88th age, he is keeping updated with the global Parliamentary practices.  He is also one of the Founders of Janata Party and then Janata Dal along with Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai and few others.  For many constitutional matters, even today, many of the National and International media used to take his views.  Due to his poor health, he has restricted his public meetings.
On 24th October 2010, he interacted with the participants of Business Communication Course at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai.  As one of the celebrated Parliament debater, he shared his views on effective communication.  According to him, whether it is a political communication or corporate communication, the concept remains the same.  In an exclusive interview for PodUniversal, we asked him what was his secret of communication, which made everybody to turn to him.  Some of the views are:
1.  Communication should come from the heart; Communication in flowery languages to please the auidence and without any purpose is not an effective communication'
2.  Clarity of theme is needed for communication'
3.  People with good knowledge should come out openly with their views;
4.  Keep in mind that the people listening to you are not inferior to you;
5.  Communication should be to share your knowledge and to improve others;
6.  Morality and value should be embedded in the communication.
Please watch his interview in this video, by clicking 'play' button.  (4 minutes).  Since this was recorded in the class room, external noises could not be avoided.
The video can also be viewed from the following link


Friday, October 22, 2010

Public Affairs professionals should be transparent and adopt best practices to enhance credibility

PodUniversal Edition 115
In the recent years, Public Affairs (PA)  is emerging as a sub-sect of Public Relations (PR) Profession.  While PR is a traditional one, dealing with the relationship of all stakeholders, PA focusses on the  public policy and relationship with the Government.  In the developed nations like US and Europe, PA has become one of the recognised and reputed professions.
Roger Hayes
In the developing nations like India, this profession is yet to get good recognition and credibility.  There are many reasons for this phenomenon.  Now, many of the Public Relations Agencies have also started PA divisions to provide this special services.  In the anxiety to get the works done, some of the professionals involve themselves in un-ethical practices and resort to 'quick-fix' solutions.  This also brings down the credibility of the profession.
Recently, one of the CEOs of a well known Indian Public Relations Agency was debated in Indian  Parliament for the alleged role in 2G spectrum scam.  Media carried negative perception about this profession itself.   With this background, we wanted to bring out our October 2010 issue of ezine PreSense on this theme 'Public Affairs'.
Though we approached the CEOs of many Indian PR Agencies, who claim to offer Public Affairs Services, none of them even acknowledged our mails. Now, probably, they are highly scared of investigation by Government agencies, if they say openly that they offer PA services. They should not fear, if they follow ethical practices. 
However, Indian CEO of  APCO Worldwide, one of the globally reputed Public Affairs firm responded to our mail and connected us with Mr Roger Hayes, their Senior Counselor.  Mr Roger is one of the globally renowned  Public Relations and Public Affairs specialist.
In a free-wheeling conversation with me over telephone  for PodUniversal, he shared frankly his views on the present state of affairs of this profession globally and also suggested ways to improve the credibility. He suggested that the PA professionals should not resort to quick-fix solutions and should be more transparent.  He also suggested that they should come together and share the global best practices.  Please listen to his interview by clicking 'play' button.
Streaming of this audio will be smooth in broadband connections.  If you find any difficulty, you may download the audio by right clicking this link and saving to your desktop.
This audio can also be listened from the following link:

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

How to improve the rapid reading skills?

PodUniversal Edition 114
Many students and business professionals find difficulty in reading the materials, holding in the mind and to comprehend the contents.  Even, if they read several times, they may not be able to comprehend the contents.  Just like writing skills, reading skills is also important in business communication.
Prof. S Krishnamurthy, a well known management professor of South India gives few tips for improving effective reading skills. Please click to play to watch this podcast (3 minutes 50 sec).

This podcast may also be watched from the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v34gcQJebxg

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Ayodhya verdict - An analysis

PodUniversal Edition 113
Ayodhya verdict delivered by the 3 Judges Division bench of Allahabad High Court (India) has been received by the Indian citziens with maturity. Centuries old conflict between Hindus and Muslims on the disputed site has witnessed the loss of thousands of lives in the past due to various communal clashes.  Fearing such backlash, Indian Government had made elaborate security arrangements throughout India on 30th September 2010 when the judgement was delivered.
S Sethuraman, Advocate
Earlier, Indian political leaders and religious leaders had appealed to receive the judgement peacefully.  Indian citizens have shown high degree of maturity, when they received the judgement. Even the media, political and religious leaders played highly positive role in containing the emotions.  
The verdict is one of the landmark judgements in the history of Indian judiciary.  While, all the three judges have confirmed the fact that a temple was in existence before the construction of mosque, two judges ordered one-third portion of the property to Muslims.  It is based on the fact that in the past both Hindus and Muslims were using that property simultaneously for prayers.
Though Hindus and Muslims may have a feeling that they are not given the full possession of the disputed proerty, the judgement has provided a win-win situation to both and none of them are the losers.
Some of the intellectual and constituional experts also criticise this judgement as "Panchayat type of judgement". Pakistan leaders have condemned this judgement and are provoking Indian Muslims.  Fortunately, Indian Muslim leaders are also showing high sense of maturity, not to fall in the trap laid by Pakistan. Though, both the parties have option to appeal in the Supreme Court, this judgement has given some avenues for reconciliation to end the centuries old dispute. 
On behalf of PodUniversal, we spoke to Mr S Sethuraman, one of the senior civil advocates of Chennai High Court and Supreme Court over phone.  In this interview, he has explained the background of the case and analyses the important aspects of the judgement.
Mr Sethuraman feels that though the judgement may be criticised by some intellectuals as a flawed one, this has provided a best possible solution for the centuries old problem.  He also added that he would prefer a flawed judgement if it provided a solution to the problem in the national interest, rather than a legally correct judgement, which could create more tensions.  Since the citizens of this country have accepted this judgement with maturity and calmly, he said that this solution could bring more communal harmony and peace.
Please listen to his interview by clicking 'play' button (14 minuts).  The streaming of the audio will be smooth in broadband connections.  If you find any difficulty, you may download the audio (13 mb) by right clicking this link and saving to your desktop in mp3 format.

The podcast may also be listened from the following link also:

Miscommunication

PodUniversal Edition 112
Sep 2010 issue of ezine PreSense deals with the concept of Miscommunication. In the communication process between the sender and the receiver (oral, written and body language), the receiver may not perceive the message, in the same manner the sender had thought of. Such miscommunication happens due to various factors.
In this edition, we have explained the many factors contributing to such miscommunication along with some examples. We have also given the tips to avoid such miscommunication.
This issue is guest edited by the students of Business Communication Course of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai as part of their project. Please also watch the podcast produced by them sharing their interesting personal experiences of miscommunication.
The ezine in pdf format (690 k) may be downloaded from the following link
Please watch the podcast produced by the guest editors.

Preview of the ezine


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