Soft Skills - 4th Edition

65% of the Indian population is 35 or under, and approximately 50% of the country's population of 1.4 billion people is under the age of 25. However, we face a huge employability crisis in the country. In an AI world where everyone has access to the same information, who will be able to attain life success? The answer is, only those with superior meta soft skills.

The book aims to provide the reader with a practical understanding of corporate and business life. The author approaches the book from the point of view of a corporate soft skills training to help the reader gain a head start in their careers.

The book is designed to take the reader through 3 main verticals.

VERTICAL 1:
Theme: CONFIDENCE
This vertical helps the reader in gaining the mental strength, motivation & confidence to approach their lives with a positive mental attitude.

VERTICAL 2:
Theme: COMPETENCE
Good communication, especially in this AI age, is a huge demand from recruiters and employers today. Prompt engineering, asking the right questions, and business storytelling help the reader to get a head start in their careers.

VERTICAL 3:
Theme: COURTESY
A good first impression is created through effective habits and an ability to say the right thing at the right time to the right person.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
● Develop a dynamic personality that attracts recognition and career growth.
● Master essential 21st-century meta skills for professional self-improvement.
● Gain high-level professional polish through an accessible virtual finishing school.
● Acquire high-impact soft skills through an accelerated learning framework.
● Build executive presence to secure promotions and leadership recognition.
● Cultivate mental strength and confidence to maintain a positive attitude.
● Learn proven strategies to gain visibility for your professional achievements.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
This book is for anyone wishing to develop their personality and Soft Skills in this dynamic AI era that has brought on change, uncertainty, and job insecurity. This book is targeted towards those entering the job market, New managers, and Middle managers looking for Soft Skills mentorship or coaching.
It will also benefit independent consultants and entrepreneurs in building their businesses and skills.

1. Introduction to Soft Skills
2. Emotional Intelligence
3. Self-image Management
4. Building High-performance Teams
5. Time Management and Goal Setting
6. High-Impact Communication Skills
7. Communication in the AI Age
8. Presentation Skills and Public Speaking
9. Non-Verbal Communication
10. Building Online Presence
11. High Performance Leadership
12. Meetings and Business Writing
13. Etiquette and Grooming Habits
14. Resume Writing and Job Applications
15. Personal Interviews and Group Discussions
16. Performance Storytelling and The Art of Promoting Yourself

Prashant Sharma is an accomplished ICF-Professional Certified Coach (PCC), seasoned Executive Coach, and Training Facilitator with extensive corporate and entrepreneurial experience. As the founder of First Personality, a leading organization providing leadership development and training solutions across India and globally, Prashant has been dedicated to transforming thousands of individuals and organizations by unlocking their potential.

In his career spanning almost three decades, life as a corporate executive and entrepreneur has been a great teacher, and Prashant is determined to share this teaching with everyone who comes into contact with him. He has seen life up close and personal. Through downs in business and life and struggles. And Thrived!

Prashant conducted his first training program in 1996 when he was invited by the New Delhi YMCA to lead a course in Public Speaking & Effective Communication. The Times of India, too, has recognized this achievement.

Prashant is a First Prize Diploma holder in Public Speaking from the Nazareth’s Speakers Academy, Mumbai, and a B.Com from the Sydenham College, Mumbai. Upon completion of his Master’s in Management from the University of Massachusetts, USA, he returned to India to be part of the Indian post- liberalization story. He has co-founded two successful start-ups. One of his companies was among the first to introduce barcoding in India, in the pre- Internet era. In his other venture, a design and export business, he employed nearly 200 people at its peak.

His first job was with the TATA group in Taj Group of Hotels as Duty Manager, which made him realize the disparity between the soft skills of the average Indian vis-a-vis the people in the West. Prashant rightly predicted that this lack of soft skills would be a great hindrance to the employability of our Indian graduates and founded his Personality Development training start-up. He has been an entrepreneur with international exposure to diverse verticals, greatly adding to his knowledge and expertise. This entrepreneurial experience has helped him sharpen his sales and marketing instincts. Prashant brings over 28 years of expertise in designing and delivering impactful leadership development programs. His dynamic approach integrates innovative training methodologies, strategic coaching, and comprehensive program management to drive tangible results.

Prashant develops and delivers his own content. His trainings are based entirely out of his extensive real world professional experience backed by solid management concepts. His programs are based on his in-house developed Learning-Internalization-Feedback-Evaluation (LIFE) Model.

Prashant has worked with some of the world’s leading corporations. He has coached and trained thousands of professionals, offering bespoke solutions for complex business challenges.

His clients are based worldwide, and this enables him to incorporate global best practices in his sessions.

He has over 2500 hours of Executive consulting and Business coaching with senior corporates and entrepreneurs across verticals to enable them get the visibility, recognition and growth that they deserve. He has deep Experience in Training and Facilitating diverse cohorts: College Graduates to First Time Managers to Lateral and Mid-Managers level, right upto CXO level Consulting and coaching.

Prashant is a storyteller. His effortless and engaging style, peppered with real life personal experiences of different people and different cultures, makes his delivery different from others. He has actually experienced everything he talks about, and that’s what attracts others towards him for mentorship.

Prashant is a regular guest panellist in top leadership and HR forums such as Times Ascent.

In 2013, Prashant was nominated by the Govt. of India to train UPSC-qualified IAS/IFS/IPS Services Officer Trainees in Soft Skills. He is also on the visiting faculty panel of Premier Govt. training institutions like INGAF (Min of Finance), SBI Training Academy, etc.

He conducts training programs in all formats: Online, In-person as well as Outbound.

Prashant says: “Experience Life! Experience hardship. Letdowns and challenges build resilience. Diverse interests increase your luck surface area. This is the growth mindset of good professionals and great leaders.”