She wasted no time in taking the attendance and quickly broke the ice, "Students, today I will not teach you anything to you, in fact, I WANT TO LEARN FROM YOU – Your presentation skills on the topic of my choice. So, we will have an extempore from every student for about 2 minutes followed by the feedback"
That statement decreased my excitement and increased the butterflies in my stomach. "Extempore, Why? On day 1 itself! Why God?" I was intrigued. I was used to the conventional method of rehearsing the script and then giving a presentation. I was never used to impromptu speaking leaving alone doing an extempore facing an audience of 80+ people.
I got nervous as my classmates went one by one onto the stage and did their part. The topics were quite diverse and distinct from one another – Philosophical "Men are from Mars and women are from Venus" to Generic "Pros and Cons of Socialism" to Abstract "Why are you happy?" I was overwhelmed as many were able to do well. After a while, I started looking at my watch hoping that the hour passes by soon and I could escape from giving an embarrassing attempt. Moments later, Lavanya, the girl next to me went to speak on the topic "Deforestation – Are the industries aware of the consequences?". After 2 min, my jaws remained dropped as she raised the expectations for the extempore class and literally owned the stage. It was spectacular to see someone ace such a topic with ease. It also made me lose my nerves a bit.
It was my turn next. I held my nerves and got up. The Prof. went, "Sachin your topic is How do you think technology is being used in classrooms?" I calmed down, pondered for about 20 seconds formulated my thoughts and then proceeded. After 35-40 seconds, I fumbled for a while and then continued and went on for about 30 seconds and again fumbled, I showed some signs of nervousness to which the faculty gave me a thumbs up and asked to continue. I then went on for about 30 seconds after which I gave a conclusion.
Like everyone else, I received a round of applause which boosted my spirits after which the professor had this to say, "Sachin, your thought process is good. You presented with decent structuring and logic. The delivery can be improved. The next time you are about to fumble, try to pause for 2-3 seconds and look at the audience which will help you stay confident."
That's it. My extempore was over. I felt glad that I could hold my horses and give out a decent attempt. I learned an important lesson i.e. when situation puts you out of your comfort zone, you have to bring out your best. The experience was challenging, the class topic surprising and learning experiential, which is what a B-School trains a student for. I hope to have many such memorable learnings over the course of next 2 years at IIM Raipur.
Which ABG company would you want to work for and why?
I would want to work for Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited. I have a good dress sense and also stay updated about fashion by following magazines – GQ, Maxim and Vogue India extensively. I plan to specialise in marketing management and branding during my PGP at IIM Raipur which will hone my skills and I can gain perspectives from the fashion market. I would then tap into the regions especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where people are getting updated about the current fashion trends, and make them potential customers for the brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, People, Pantaloons etc. sold by Pantaloons.
Lingala Raghunath Sai Sachin is a first year student at IIM Raipur.
Comments
Akash Kumar
Well written!!
22 Jul 2018, 06.33 PM
Hemant Kumar
Nicely written :)
22 Jul 2018, 06.39 PM
Chanakya Kambhampati
Loves solving challenging problems and an avid traveller
Even I felt same
22 Jul 2018, 07.08 PM
Divya Singh
nicely written
22 Jul 2018, 11.13 PM
P. Santhosh
Nice!
22 Jul 2018, 11.51 PM
Satyajit Patra
very well written
22 Jul 2018, 11.59 PM