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Invited at Oriental Institute of Management Vashi, as a Guest Speaker
This short piece reflects on a guest speaking engagement at Oriental Institute of Management, Vashi, where the author shared insights on soft skills with management graduates. It highlights a real gap in most academic programs: technical (hard) skills are well taught, but the personality grooming, communication, and presentation skills that shape professional and personal success are rarely addressed — making guest sessions like this a valuable addition to a management curriculum.
Key Takeaways
- Soft skills — dressing, body language, communication, and behavior — are essential to success but rarely taught in traditional management courses.
- Academic degrees build technical (hard) skills, but they don't cover personality grooming or presentation.
- Institutes that invite outside experts to teach soft skills give students a real head start entering the corporate world.
Invited at Oriental Institute of Management Vashi, as a Guest Speaker
We all know that the way we dress and present ourselves, our ability to conduct conversation, our body language and facial expressions, behavior and finer personality traits are essential skills to excel in all walks of life. Unfortunately, their are no management courses available on grooming ourselves for a corporate job.
I appreciate that Dr. Ravindra Pratap Gupta from Oriental Institute of Management Vashi, understands that academic degree will provide a grip on technical skills (hard skills) to his young management graduates while it’s the above mentioned soft skills that will determine to a large extent the success of his students in their professional and personal lives.
Many thanks Dr Gupta for inviting me to share my learnings with your bright students.
FAQ
Why do soft skills matter alongside an academic management degree?
Because degrees build technical expertise, but soft skills like grooming, communication, and body language are what largely determine success in professional and personal life — and they're rarely taught formally.
What topics are typically covered in a soft skills session for management students?
Personal grooming, communication, body language, facial expressions, and overall professional presentation.