“I Just Wanna Be Successful”

December 10, 2017 By: Deric Kennedy

“We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than our successes. We think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn’t. Success often lies just the other side of failure.” Leo F. Buscaglia.

Welcome back to The SCEM VIEW, with Deric! By now, you know that I’m pursuing a master’s degree in Strategic Communication at Troy University. This blog (which I like to pretend is a popular prime time talk show where strategic communication and pop culture fuse) was originally created to explore and discuss various topics and content in a previous class, Strategic Communication & Emerging Media (SCEM), but I have since completed that course and am now taking COM6610 Leadership and Issues in Strategic Communication. I decided to hold on to the name “The SCEM View” because it's catchy and you guys already know it…so why not? And so, here we are. Let's keep riding this thing out!

Our last show (blog/post), week seven, you learned that my COM6610 course focused on Leadership, Media Strategies, Crisis and Change. On the show, we discussed how to be a more effective leader as it relates to crisis management. This week, week eight, COM6610 took a look at measuring success in strategic communication. The readings this week will suggest that there are many ways to measure success. Some of these measures are conventional while others are not widely accepted by society. And we answered the question, “How do you know if you strategic communication program is effective?”

Well, as the opening quote reads “We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than our successes. We think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn’t. Success often lies just the other side of failure.” While this doesn’t directly answer the week’s question ad to how do we know if the program is effective, it does introduce what I’ve decided to talk about today- and that is body language, the power of the mind and what exactly am I getting from this course and is it making me a better communicator- thus proving its effectiveness! Yes, that is how I chose to measure my personal success in the course, based on how much I have acquired and how much it is helping me become greater.

One of the readings from the week directed us to a TED video entitled: Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are. After watching, I quickly realized that I have yet another powerful tool better equip me for greater success both professionally and personally. Here is what I learned from the video:Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy argues that "power posing" — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don't feel confident — can boost feelings of confidence, and might have an impact on our chances for success. I tried this out and to my surprise, it worked- for me at least! I concluded tat it is indeed beneficial to maintain positive thinking and confidence showing body language. Personally it has its advantages as well as professionally, considering we are communicating a message whether are suing verbals or nonverbal. 

How do you know if you strategic communication program is effective? The Master of Strategic Communication program focuses on the leading edges of communication issues and positions graduates for immediate responses to the new realities facing today’s communication industries.

Program Outcomes Are:

1.            Knowledge of digital media and multi-media platforms as they pertain to 

         communication and Leadership

2.       Academic research skills in strategic communication and related scholarly fields

3.       Critical thinking

4.       Professional communication skills

5.       Professional network formation

6.      Knowledge of and the skills to study the emerging communication trends and how  

         online Media impact the public and communication industries

And currently, in 6610, we are examining how the changing media environment affects outreach methods and explores practical solutions to achieve communication goals. And I believe the program as well as the course are doing exceptionally well and are proven successful because I am indeed acquiring the skill and knowledge expected from the program. 

Another insightful Ted talk I watched this week, as relating to our week eight’s objective, comes from Dan Gilbert who spoke on the topic “Why Do We Make Bad Decisions?” Gilbert shares Some surprising tests and experiments that we all can and should try on ourselves.