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Courses » Developing Soft Skills and Personality

Developing Soft Skills and Personality

ABOUT THE COURSE

The course aims to cause a basic awareness about the significance of soft skills in professional and inter-personal communications and facilitate an all-round development of personality. Hard or technical skills help securing a basic position in one's life and career. But only soft skills can ensure a person retain it, climb further, reach a pinnacle, achieve excellence, and derive fulfilment and supreme joy. Soft skills comprise pleasant and appealing personality traits as self-confidence, positive attitude, emotional intelligence, social grace, flexibility, friendliness and effective communication skills.

Important For Certification/Credit Transfer:

Weekly Assignments and Discussion Forum can be accessed ONLY by enrolling here

Scroll down to Enroll


Note: Content is Free!

All content including discussion forum and assignments, is free


Final Exam (in-person, invigilated, currently conducted in India) is mandatory for Certification and has INR Rs. 1100 as exam fee.


INTENDED AUDIENCE

Students, Teachers, Professionals, Trainers, Leaders, Employers

PRE-REQUISITES

No Pre-requisites

INDUSTRY SUPPORT – LIST OF COMPANIES/INDUSTRY THAT WILL RECOGNIZE/VALUE THIS ONLINE COURSE

All industry/companies/organisations will recognize and value this course and recommend this for their employees and trainee programs.

44553 students have enrolled already!!

COURSE INSTRUCTOR



Dr. T. RAVICHANDRAN is presently a Professor of English in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.  He has written about fifty research articles/book chapters, supervised six doctoral theses, edited a special issue on Cyberpunk Literature for the Creative Forum Journal, and published a book on Postmodern Identity. He is a recipient of the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship (2014-15) for his research/teaching at Duke University, North Carolina, USA.   He is honored with Champa Devi Gangwal Chair Professorship at IIT Kanpur. In his distinguished twenty-five years of teaching career, he has taught various courses in English Language and Literature. His NPTEL Video and Web courses on Communication Skills are well-acclaimed nationally and internationally. 
COURSE LAYOUT

 Week 1:
Lecture 1: Introduction: A New Approach To Learning
 
Lecture 2: Planning And Goal-Setting
 
Lecture 3: Human Perceptions: Understanding People
 
Lecture 4: Types Of Soft Skills: Self-Management Skills
 
Lecture 5: Aiming For Excellence: Developing Potential And Self-Actualisation
 
Lecture 6: Need Achievement And Spiritual Intelligence

Week 2: 
Lecture 7: Conflict Resolution Skills: Seeking Win-Win Solution
 
Lecture 8: Inter-Personal Conflicts: Two Examples
 
Lecture 9: Inter-Personal Conflicts: Two Solutions
 
Lecture 10: Types Of Conflicts: Becoming A Conflict Resolution Expert 
 
Lecture 11: Types Of Stress: Self-Awareness About Stress
 
Lecture 12: Regulating Stress: Making The Best Out Of Stress


Week 3:
Lecture 13: Habits: Guiding Principles
 
Lecture 14: Habits: Identifying Good And Bad Habits 
 
Lecture 15: Habits: Habit Cycle
 
Lecture 16: Breaking Bad Habits
 
Lecture 17: Using The Zeigarnik Effect For Productivity And Personal Growth 
 
Lecture 18: Forming Habits Of Success 

Week 4:
Lecture 19: Communication: Significance Of Listening
 
Lecture 20:Communication: Active Listening
 
Lecture 21:Communication: Barriers To Active Listening 
 
Lecture 22:Telephone Communication: Basic Telephone Skills
 
Lecture 23:Telephone Communication: Advanced Telephone Skills
 
Lecture 24: Telephone Communication: Essential Telephone Skills


Week 5:
Lecture 25: Technology And Communication: Technological Personality?
 
Lecture 26: Technology And Communication: Mobile Personality?
 
Lecture 27: Topic: Technology And Communication: E-Mail Principles
 
Lecture 28: Technology And Communication: How Not To Send E-Mails!
 
Lecture 29: Technology And Communication: Netiquette
 
Lecture 30: Technology And Communication: E-Mail Etiquette


Week 6:

Lecture 31: Communication Skills: Effective Communication

Lecture 32: Barriers To Communication: Arising Out Of Sender/Receiver’s Personality

Lecture 33: Barriers To Communication: Interpersonal Transactions

Lecture 34: Barriers To Communication: Miscommunication

Lecture 35: Non-Verbal Communication: Pre-Thinking Assessment-1

Lecture 36: Non-Verbal Communication: Pre-Thinking Assessment-2



Week 7:

Lecture 37: Nonverbal Communication: Introduction And Importance

Lecture 38: Non-Verbal Communication: Issues And Types

Lecture 39: Non-Verbal Communication: Basics And Universals

Lecture 40: Non-Verbal Communication: Interpreting Non-Verbal Cues

Lecture 41: Body Language: For Interviews

Lecture 42: Body Language: For Group Discussions



Week 8:

Lecture 43: Presentation Skills: Overcoming Fear

Lecture 44: Presentation Skills: Becoming A Professional

Lecture 45: Presentation Skills: The Role Of Body Language

Lecture 46: Presentation Skills: Using Visuals

Lecture 47: Reading Skills: Effective Reading

Lecture 48: Human Relations: Developing Trust And Integrity



SUGGESTED READING

Dorch, Patricia. What Are Soft Skills? New York: Execu Dress Publisher, 2013.
Kamin, Maxine. Soft Skills Revolution: A Guide for Connecting with Compassion for Trainers, Teams, and Leaders. Washington, DC: Pfeiffer & Company, 2013.
Klaus, Peggy, Jane Rohman & Molly Hamaker. The Hard Truth about Soft Skills. London: HarperCollins E-books, 2007.
Petes S. J., Francis. Soft Skills and Professional Communication. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2011.
Stein, Steven J. & Howard E. Book.  The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success. Canada: Wiley & Sons, 2006.

CERTIFICATION EXAM :
  • The exam is optional for a fee.
  • Date of Exams : October 28 (Sunday)
  • Time of Exams : Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon session: 2pm to 5pm
  • Exam for this course will be available in both morning & afternoon sessions.
  • Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
  • The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published.
CERTIFICATION:

  • Final score will be calculated as : 25% assignment score + 75% final exam score
  • 25% assignment score is calculated as 25% of average of  Best 6 out of 8 assignments
  • E-Certificate will be given to those who register and write the exam and score greater than or equal to 40% final score. Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur.It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

 APPRECIATIONS AND COMMENTS BY THE PREVIOUS BATCH STUDENTS:

Thank You sir for this Awesome Course. This course really was a great work of you. I now understand how much practice and hard work you been undergone to deliver such awesome and easy to understand lectures. My more thanks to you sir for lecture on habits [Week 3]. Concepts in lectures are difficult to understand and I don't think I could understood those without your guidance. - Siddharth Bhusari
I would like to thank you for providing this wonderful course with lots of subject information, examples and life examples . . . . Looking forward to more courses like this from NPTEL. My special thanks to the Professor for guiding and explaining elaborately and neatly about the subject. Also eagerly waiting to enroll for the next Enhancing course. - Ranjani
This course helped me a lot. I can experience the change in my life style. I am suggesting others at least to watch the videos. Thank you very much for the wonderful course. - Indugu Rushiraj (M. Tech (Digital Systems and Instrumentation-ETC) IIEST, Shibpur Howrah-711103)
The course is an enriching and transforming one. This course has helped me understand myself and develop in many ways. I appreciate the way you have designed this course. Thank you very much! I look forward to doing the next level. - Pankaj Haryan, pankajharyan8@gmail.com
This course is really helped me a lot.. This type of thing I was searching since 2 years. But I never found stuff that I needed. This is the course which provides me quality learning skills. Big Thanks to you sir . . . I'm blessed that I get chance to learn from you . . . Thank you..!! - Durga Charan (M.Tech Student PEC, Chandigarh), dcharan44@gmail.com
I am very excited and happy to convey my sincere feelings to you. This course not just only helped me in my teaching but also it helped to develop my personality in terms of my attitude. Sir, as you said in the presentations that it is not just to learn or get certificate but we should be in a position to implement and follow in our day to day life then only it will become life changing course. That's true Sir. Once again my best warm wishes to you sir for your wonderful efforts. - A. Praveen
Dear Sir, I am very blessed to have you as my guru. Sir, you have motivated and inspired me to become the human being with the essence of sensitiveness and mindfulness that everyone must possess. I promise you that I will imbibe all the necessary skills with regular practice. With all the valuable motivational tips and suggestions I learned in this course, had bought many essential changes in my thinking pattern. - Dilip Kumar
This was the perfect course which I sought one year back. The way you delivered the lectures were lucid. Lot of examples, new technical words were adding credits to it. This course brought Awareness on Communication Skill, Conflict Resolution methods, Non-verbal communication, Self-Actualisation, Interview Skill and Group Discussion. Apart from exam perspective I am satisfied in following this course for 8 weeks successfully bringing awareness around me. Thank you sir. – Gowtham
I have completed the course today. Today I feel equally proud as well as happy to have been a part of such a wonderful course. You and your supporting team is great. Thank you for putting this great course for us people. I am looking forward to the advance course in this series. Thank you sir. - Rahul Parwal (B.Tech, 2016, JIET Jodhpur)
I am feeling sentimental about end of this course! Two months have passed in no time, I became happy! Everyday in the evening after coming from office I used to watch your videos religiously. Sir I am from technical background, and have never learnt soft skill. Before this course I was knowing that Personality means simply the outlook/dress up/makeup, etc., of a person. After doing this course, I have change a lot and now I have forgotten the term “Anger”. Now I am able to understand the term “Humans and Humanity”. All the short stories used in the lecture were simple but highly effective. Your Etiquette session was superb! And the last week lecture was splendid! The most interesting was the summary in single slide. Keep sharing such thoughts so that humans behave like humans. The whole world has become selfish and inhuman. Most people have removed the word called humanity from their dictionary. I promise you sir I will apply these thoughts in the life. Thank you once again for the splendid course and reminding us that we are HUMANS. – Vinod Kumar
Dear Prof. T. Ravichandran, This is the first ever course I have pursued from NPTEL and my journey has been a fruitful one. The content and the structure of the course was well designed. Your short stories throughout the course were amazing. Your questions during the course were thought provoking. My intent of undergoing this course is full-filled and I am immensely grateful to you. - Richa Baid 29 October 2018
Respected Prof. Ravichandran, Thanks for your valuable lectures and interesting presentation. I had an excellent journey through the course, learnt so much about myself and my peers. I could map all my activities with the course contents. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity, will never forget this course in my lifetime. It became part and parcel of life & hand in hand in my routine . . . . – sandanalakshmi@pec.edu
Respected Sir, At first, when I registered I did not think this course would help me. But, today after the exam, I did realize the wonderfulness of the learning through the course. The course lectures have definitely made me change into a better version of myself. I would really appreciate the team of students and teachers who have been so persistent and working round the clock to answer the queried in the forum and also to conduct those 2 live sessions. So with a big Thank you. I will be definitely registering for Enhancing Soft Skills and Personality. Thank you Sir, - Yours Sincerely, Sanjith P Hemagiri