Page 78 - PR COMMUNICATION AGE July - December 2020

"Buy three fresh avocados from presentation practice. Ineffective meetings, job interviews,
aisle four in the produce section." practice is thinking about your performance reviews, conference
You write "3 avocados." speech and mumbling the words, calls, and more. If that's true, then
In fact, your notes should be so which only helps you know your you spend a lot of time trusting
presentation better. Effective yourself, your experience, and
personally coded for your personal
practice is having your mind and your credibility when you speak
use that they read as nonsensical
to someone else. mouth work together to convey spontaneously. Use that
your speech aloud and in real time. understanding to confidently
The good thing about having This tactic comes closest to realize you never need a word-for-
notes versus a script is that, after simulating what you'll be doing word script to make compelling
looking up at your audience, you when you deliver your speech for points.
can look down and easily track
real.
where you are and what you need When you know your points well,
You don't need a person, a mirror,
to say next. But if you lose your prepare good notes, and practice the
or a camera to practice effectively
place between, say, words 439 right way, you'll understand that
and 440, it will take a conspicuous - just you, your mind, and your conveying your ideas live and
amount of time to recover. mouth, practicing by physically
presenting. unscripted is easier, less scary, and
3. Practice Effectively more effective than you thought.
4. Trust Yourself More Than
You already know that practice is
important, but it's crucial to Your Script That leap of faith is also a leap of
understand the difference You speak without scripts in your progress. Anyone can read a script.
between effective and ineffective workplace all the time: in Leaders champion their ideas. R

In a first for India Inc, HUL to help staff facing domestic abuse

In perhaps a first, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has framed a policy to protect its employees from domestic abuse. This
extends the scope of employee well-being beyond work - that is, the office - to his/her personal life and home. HUL's
policy comes at a time when a significant number of its office-based staff are working from home. The policy seeks to
protect and grant relief to employees who are survivors of abuse, or acts of physical/emotional abuse beyond the
workplace, while maintaining confidentiality about their identities. The help HUL would extend under the policy, which
is gender-neutral, includes access to urgent medical care and psychological counselling support, paid leave of 10 days,
reimbursement of lodging and boarding expenses for 15 days for the employee, and temporary work arrangement at
a company office in another city for a month.
HUL executive director (HR) Anuradha Razdan told TOI, "Globally, in every way, women have been more adversely hit
due to the pandemic, whether it is due to job losses, or because they have to shoulder a larger part of the burden in
household chores, while working at the same time, or dealing with the negative emotions associated with the
pandemic. Across the world, there has been a significant rise in the number of reported cases of domestic abuse. We
want to stand up as advocates for change that we would like to see in society by proactively putting a stake in the
ground and coming up with a policy which calls out to our employees: 'If you are someone who has faced this and
wants to come out and talk, the organisation is here to support you'."
During the lockdown, cases of domestic violence have gone up significantly. The complaints the National Commission
for Women (NCW) received on domestic violence against women doubled in the first month of the lockdown from 123
during February 27-March 22 to 250 between March 23-April 22. Insights reveal that when people suffer abuse, their
immediate family is not necessarily a credible support. Standard Chartered has developed a toolkit to provide examples
of the various mechanisms that can be considered when supporting individuals experiencing domestic violence and
abuse and the range of available resources. "The group's position is to offer colleagues experiencing domestic violence
and abuse a broad range of support, including providing counselling through employee assistance programmes and
local NGOs," said the bank's spokesperson. Capstone People Consulting CEO Sujaya Banerjee said organisations need
to significantly improve on the support being provided to employees, given that domestic abuse is rampant and not
restricted to the lower echelons of the society.

78 PR COMMUNICATION AGE July - December 2020