Laugh it off

Going on week three of my internship and finally starting to have my plate full of great projects - Very exciting!! Had a creative brainstorming session for a client's new product to help boost sales, drive revenue, and increase visits for locals to be attracted to this destination. It was fun to be included in the creative team to bounce ideas off each other. Hopefully I'll get to participate in more of those in the coming weeks!

As for my presentation I mentioned last week; I finished it up for our potential client, showed my boss in the hopes of winning her approval, and... she LOVED it! She actually enjoyed it so much that now I am giving a Prezi tutorial to my entire department on Friday! She explained that moving forward she wants all of our client decks to be configured in this format. I'm very excited! Public speaking (and presenting ideas) is one of the areas I feel I excel in the most. The difficult part now will be explaining how to successfully use Prezi in a short amount of time. I, for one, had never even heard of Prezi until I came to USC. Now I have to become the Prezi master in just a few short days and hopefully teach my colleagues well enough that they will be able to continue this new method even after I've left. I can only do my best, and that's exactly what I plan to do. I even composed a Prezi "cheat sheet" that I'm going to hand out to everyone before I start my tutorial, which should be helpful... I hope.

Besides the presentation, work had been a little slow at the end of last week, so I was able to read up on what's been going on in the Chinese media. Apart from the blood, tears, and "Bad World Syndrome", I was able to find this little "pick-me-up" in The Standard...
At the end of the article, I came to the conclusion that this is my new motto for the rest of my time here in Hong Kong. If something is different, uncomfortable, or foreign to me, I'm not going to pass judgment, but instead laugh it off and carry on.

For example, last week when my workload was light, I continued to ask my colleagues if they needed help with anything. They repeatedly told me no, but then wouldn't take a lunch because they were so swamped. The following day I finally confronted one of them. I pleaded with her to give me some work and she just laughed and said she would love to, but it's all in Chinese so I can't help. *Laugh it off! :-)

                                                  - Brainstorming -
I'm realizing very quickly here that PR firms like to brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other fairly often. I've been involved in three brainstorming sessions already and it's definitely a helpful way to learn about clients, HK culture, and how to combine the two to please all parties. My boss runs the majority of these, but it's done in such a way where she comes in with an agenda or some questions and ideas of her own, and then we can chime in (or not) if we have anything to contribute. I like that much better rather than putting anyone on the spot. This way I'm free to think about and develop my own ideas and questions, then propose them whenever there is a break in the banter. I've also noticed that the majority of the people that are included in these creative meetings are fairly quiet. At first, I was slightly wondering to myself why they were invited if they never contributed. Then I realized that when they did say something, it was incredibly intelligent and thoughtful, and more often than not, a brilliant idea. I think I need to take that approach in the future as well as back in the states. Listening is even more important than talking. And as communication professionals, I believe this is more crucial for us to lead by example than anything else. I actually found this article 8 Things Gen Y Can Learn About Workplace Relations from the Chinese which was pretty interesting. It is almost two years old, but I think it's still relevant... And at the top of the list: LISTENING!
"Listen carefully. This means listening before speaking, and paying full attention to a speaker without interrupting. This is especially important when you’re new on the job and nobody cares about what you think. If you say 'yes' quickly when you should be saying 'no,'  you may have a big problem on your hands. Listening carefully doesn’t mean not to ask any questions. It means to keep your mouth shut until it’s your turn and learn as much as possible through listening, studying and observing.  Ask questions when it’s appropriate to ask them. "

My second motto.