SELF CONFIDENCE

Self confidence is an attitude which allows individuals to have a positive yet realistic views of themselves and their situations.

Self confident people trust their own abilities, have a general sense of control in their lives, and believe they will able to do what they wish, plan and expect

A confident person can easily deal with the hurdles of life and can influence other by their positive attitude and personality.

Self confidence can be built through:

• -       -   Praise and compliments
• -          Focusing on positive ideas
• -          Having a good role model
• -          Physical activity
• -          Rest and relaxation
• -          Learn new things
• -          Practice talents and skills
• -          Setting and achieving goals

SELF DISCIPLINE

Self-discipline refers to the ability to control one's own feeling. Self-discipline is one of the most important and useful skills everyone should possess. This skill is essential in every area of life, and though most people acknowledge its importance, very few do something to strengthen it.

Self-discipline enables one to overcome one's own weaknesses. It helps you take charge of yourself and enables you to get things done in an orderly, organised and efficient manner.

Self discipline is one of the most important ingredients of success. It is achieved through

- Perseverance

- Not giving up despite failure and setbacks

- Self control

- Resistance to distractions and temptations

- Try over and over again till you succeed

VALUES

Values from an important part of society as they account for the stability of social order and provide an internal reference for what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable and constructive. Values generate behaviour and influence the choices made by an individual.

Values may help solve common human problems for survival by comparative rankings of value, the results of which provide answers to questions of why people do what they do and in what order they choose to do them. 

Moral, religious, and personal values, when held rigidly, may also give rise to conflicts that result from a clash between differing world views.

Over time the public expression of personal values that groups of people find important in their day-to-day lives, lay the foundations of law, custom and tradition. 

Values do not change from individual to individual.

IMPORTANCE / SIGNIFICANCE OF VALUES

- Values provide goals or aims for members to pursue

- Values ensure uniformity and stability in group interaction and thus hold society together

- Values help bring adjustment in the various sets of rules given to us and hence it is possible to modify rules.

- Values enable society to function in peace and harmony

Some timeless human values are: Non-violence, Peace, Trust, Unity, Responsibility, Love, Compassion, Generosity, Sharing, Integrity, Honesty, Sincerity, Service, Respect, etc.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

Promotional material helps to establish a cordial relationship between the customer and the organization and to foster the customer’s confidence in the organization’s products and services. Organizations reach out to customers through advertisements, billboards, press releases, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing, telemarketing, radio and TV commercials etc.

Promotional materials do not have a standard format. The design of the promotional material depends on what is being offered and the means and methods used to reach the customer. Promotional materials should be accurate and all claims should be supported by data. It should not make exaggerated claims or mislead. It should be prepared with the approval of the senior personnel of the organization to make sure it compiles with the policies of the organization.

The purpose of any promotional material is to reach the reader, convey the information, convince the reader of the quality of what is offered and then prompt him to respond positively. Thus it is important that the promotional material is well written in easy to understand language and presented in a logical and professional manner. The more customer friendly the promotional material the greater the chance of positive response from the reader. To achieve this, the customer’s needs are to be kept in mind while drafting the promotional material.

Promotional material should be clear in what it says. It should be concise yet complete, conveying all relevant matter. The text must be free of spelling and grammar errors. Use short sharp sentences that will convey the message clearly. Repeating the same matter in various ways shows lack of confidence and should be avoided. It is important to keep in mind ‘less is more’ principle.

Use visuals effectively to support the written or audio text. Ensure that the contact details are easy to find and easy to read. They should be in bold and in a logical location.

Promotional messages are illegal if they advertise false prices, performance capability, quality and other characteristics. The text must be ethical. 

PRESENTATION SKILLS

A carefully researched and prepared viewpoint that contains suggestions and ideas for the solving problems and which is delivered as a speech with the help of notes and audio-visual aids is known as a presentation.  Presentations try to persuade by explaining ideas, sharing knowledge and experiences and helps the listener make informed decisions. Some times the purpose of a presentation is merely to obtain feedback.

A Presentation may take the form of a prepared speech which is read out line by line, with breaks for illustrations on the black board or slides being shown with an overhead projector. Or it could take the form of brief notes which the speaker refers to from time to time and elaborates upon spontaneously.

The speaker has to research his material well and plan the presentation with care for the presentation to be successful.

USING AIDS FOR PRESENTATION

We absorb knowledge and information through a combination of sense. Vision enables us to take in 75% of what we learn. Hearing follows at 15% and feeling, smelling and tasting to a negligible extent. Keeping this in mind the effective presenter makes use of various aids.

Visual (and even audio) aids should be used to reinforce the points that you are speaking about and should not become the main attraction of the presentation. Do not speak while the audience is studying the visual material. Remove or erase the visual material before going to the next point as keeping it will distract the attention of the audience from what you are saying.

Advancing technology has given an entirely new meaning to modern presenter tools. E.g. OHPs, LCD, etc enable the presenter to effectively illustrate his/her talk.

SECULARISM (INDIA)

Secularism is separation of religion from the State. It implies that state should not favour the followers of any particular religion or discriminate against any followers of any particular religion

Secularism does not mean negation of religion; does not mean banning of religion from social or public life.

Secularism means not merely tolerating other religions but showing equal respect to all religions and their followers. (“Sarva dharma samabhava”) which allows all Indian citizens to follow or not follow a religion of their choice.

The 42^nd Amendment to Constitution inserted the word ”Secular”  in the preamble to the Constitution in 1976. It is thus part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.

The Indian Constitution promotes secularism in the following ways: 

- State to observe neutrality and impartiality towards all religions. 

- There shall be no state religion in India. 

- No religious instruction will be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds. 

- Every person is guaranteed freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practice and propagate his/ her own religion, subject to restrictions imposed by the state in the interest of public order, morality and health. 

- State shall not discriminate against any citizen in any matter, particularly in the matter of employment on the ground of religion   

FOR ALL STUDENTS

Dear students,

Here are some guidelines which will be useful for all your papers.

• Don’t start your answer until you have fully understood the question. Read and re-read questions, paying attention to the wording.
• Answer to the point. Tailor the matter you know to answer the question. Don’t write all that you know on the topic.
• Get your facts right. Don’t give conclusions /arguments without factual backing.
• Use paragraphs- one paragraph for one idea or point. Each paragraph should be worked around one idea and the next idea should logically follow in the next paragraph.
• Use bullets and numbering to highlight points. Bullets/ point numbers should be INSIDE the margin and be distinguishable from question numbers. (Don’t number every sentence).
•  Leave enough margin space for examiner.
• Avoid long-winding introductions.
• Answer all subsections of a question together (Especially Q1) and number them clearly. no rhetoric, exclamations
• Language should be neutral. No emotion, or counter-questions.
• Don’t get personal in your answers: Don’t say “I feel”’, “I think” etc; instead say, “Some people argue that…..’
• Write clearly
• Don’t use abbreviations (such as ‘coz, n),
• Don’t underline every other word: highlight only the side headings.
• Not to use any colour other than blue or black for writing as using other colours is considered a malpractice.
• Don’t write anything on the question paper.
• Each question is a stand-alone question. Don’t say things like ”As discussed earlier…” etc.
• Keep a note of the time and don't waste time looking around for inspiration.

Sleep well, eat healthy and have some outdoor physical activity while you prepare for your exams. 

Wishing all of you the very Best in your exams and a bright future ahead!

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