Reflections

Talents shouldn’t be apathetic puppets to not versus corporate agenda In my first two reflections, I reflected about how I could have performed better within my direct capacity as a performer. In my third reflection, I reflected about realising the importance of having knowledge outside of my immediate scope. For this fourth reflection, I’m taking it entirely off screen. Specifically, the aligning of values between talents and organisations that engages them. At the end of the day, both sides are just humans merely trying to make a living. Both are simply doing so in their respective capacities to survive this hyper-capitalistic society (at least, where I am based on this world). So, what happens when work itself supersedes the humans that carry out this work? What if the values of talents get in the way of the agenda driving the production? How do we weigh talent versus agenda? The core essence of Rapid Fire has always been about highlighting the student community and being an overall student centric piece of content. However, in this Rapid Fire in particular, while we did make it student centric in the sense that a student host, like myself, interviewed other students, it wasn’t the usual highlighting of the student community. Instead, this Rapid Fire highlighted the institution itself, commemorating Taylor’s 50th year anniversary. Talent’s relationship with their work As their talent, I thought nothing of it at first. I was just focused on being the best host possible and getting the job done. Looking back, I realised this episode was an example of shifting content creation goals in the name of corporate agenda. My role has always been to be the host for student centric pieces. However, this episode highlighted the institution itself, signifying the shift from a community objective to a business objective. Albeit the content still asked students for their views, keeping it student centric, but it was the shift in topic. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It just so happened that this experience opened my eyes to seeing projects beyond the lens of a talent. I can now consider the project’s bigger agenda. I can ask myself important questions, like what purpose am I helping to fulfil? Who ultimately benefits from the success of this project? In a more selfish light, how does this project represent my reputation as a talent? Ultimately, which is more likely to win in a talent versus agenda scenario? Realising my moral values as a talent versus agenda Reflecting on this Rapid Fire episode, I realised it leaned more towards branded content than a community-focused piece. This realisation taught me to carefully consider the underlying agendas before accepting a job, emphasising the importance of aligning professional engagements with personal values. Until now, I would have, without hesitation, responded with an astounding, “Yes!” to any opportunity presented to me. Now, I have realised my capacity to choose jobs that are better aligned with my higher purposes. Now, I can look beyond my craft and evaluate projects with this new criterion. From here on, I can consciously make the personal initiative to suss out project agendas prior. This could then help me to decide if I should take on or reject the project, thus helping me make more informed decisions moving forward. However, it gets more layered than that. The integrity threshold in talent versus agenda To add another layer to it (and it’s probably because we live in a world currently powered by money), from this reflection, I realised I could take things one step further by using whatever information I suss out to my advantage. If I find that the project is not aligned with my values, I could play the negotiation card to gain additional benefits to compensate for the cost of sacrificing my values (and even then, I could feign it). If I position myself right, I could seem unwilling but would be willing if I’m simply paid high enough. In return, the cost would be my ethics and integrity. Whether I stick to my personal values or sacrifice them in the name of financial gain is something I’ll have to evaluate when the time comes. Enjoyed this reflection? Check out my Hosting portfolio to see what else I’ve learned! CreditsWritten by Danniel IskandarProofread by

Contributing to non-immediate domains This was my third opportunity to host ‘Rapid Fire with Danniel’ for Taylor’s University’s Marketing Team. In my previous posts, I reflected on how I could have performed better purely from the talent’s perspective. However, reflecting from this particular Rapid Fire I realised a way for me to level up my contribution as a talent. In short, it’s contributing beyond the immediate domains related to the talent. Here I refer to my immediate job scopes such as acting or vocalisations. I’m referring to contributing to the domains which I am not directly involved with such as set designing, costuming, directing, etc. From this particular instance, I learnt about contributing through the non-immediate domain of scriptwriting. Refining The Scriptwriting For context, the Creative Director who hired me for my first two Rapid Fires was no longer working for Taylor’s. By this time, I was already friends with him, so we kept in touch despite us not working together anymore. He came across this episode of Rapid Fire and wanted to tell me how I could have done better. He referenced the production team. In the video (at 0:08), I said “In conjunction with Teacher’s Day.” While this was semantically correct, it wasn’t the optimal word choice. He said that while this line fulfilled the objective of conveying its message accurately, this word choice wouldn’t resonate with the target audience: young people, students of Taylor’s University. Basically, the word ‘conjunction’ was just too formal for this context. He suggested using more casual language would have been more effective. This is what sets apart good work from great work. The scriptwriting was correct in the sense that it conveyed its intended meaning, but it would have better achieved its objective if it was mindful of this nuance. If I had been aware as a talent, I could have contributed here by changing the lines myself, instead of blindly following the script given to me as I did. Learning to increase my contribution as a talent For the first time, I looked at my work beyond the perspective of a talent, beyond my immediate job scope. I analysed it using a macro lens, and that shifted my view of content creation vastly. I now understand that as a talent that wants to be in the entertainment industry, I have to be sharp not just as a talent, but also as a production. The production and talent work in synergy. If the production makes a mistake, the talent is part of that mistake. If I had been sharp enough to catch this minor scriptwriting nuance, I could have aided production, and in turn have made my own work a higher quality one. I now realise that knowing things from the talent side alone isn’t enough. Knowing the production side of things is very useful supplementary knowledge. Essential even, one could argue. To gain this kind of knowledge comes from many avenues, such as sheer work experience, being an astute observer, and guidance from mentors. This time around, it was from my mentor. I had only learned about this thanks to the previous Creative Director, who is now also my friend, and connection in this industry. Consequently, I need to continue enriching myself with gaining more work experience, being observant and learning from mentors to gain the knowledge I need in order to fortify my contribution as a talent. Enjoyed this reflection? Check out my Hosting portfolio to see what else I’ve learned! CreditsWritten by Danniel IskandarProofread by

A Second Hosting Experience = Hidden Talent Unlocked! In late 2018, I once again became the host for Taylor’s University’s Rapid Fire. I accepted the opportunity, because I wanted to improve my performance from my previous time of being the host. Knowing that the previous time was also my first, I knew I had a lot of room for improvement, and that was what I was aiming for this time around. My intention was to keep doing what I did right, and to improve what I lacked then. Now looking back, I realise; being invited back to have my second hosting experience meant I was doing something right. This was a great confidence boost for me as it gave me reason to believe that I may have a knack for hosting. Non-Verbal Communication This round, I learnt to pick up body language from potential participants. While walking with a very visible cameraman following me around as I looked for students to interview, I developed the ability to discern between those who were comfortable and uncomfortable with getting interviewed. If they were not, their body would show it, whether implicitly or explicitly. Examples include walking or looking away (implicit), head shaking left and right (explicit), or some variation. Contrarily, if they were comfortable, they wouldn’t show any of these signs. Whenever I found these people, I deduced they either didn’t mind getting interviewed or were comfortable enough to reject me. Unlocking this ability to read body language allowed me to better filter my participants. This eye carried over for during the Hosting as well. Whenever participants displayed seemingly listless responses to questions, this would alert me to ensure that the energy stays up. I would try shifting to questions that they were more energetic in responding to, increasing my own energy, or improvising some viable solution that I saw fit. Technical (Linguistic) Skill: How you phrase your question matters (again) My main area of improvement this round was my technical skill. There were times where I had asked my question too broadly, and thus got overly broad answers. My supervisor had to refine the words I used in order to reap specific desired answers. This taught me the power of phrasing. Simple adjustments to questions can seriously alter the responses to it. An extension to this would also be to carefully craft the follow up questions to steer the conversation towards desired domains of conversation most useful for the content. However, the true test of skill is balancing between the technical craftsmanship of language used and choosing the questions that energise the interviewee. Enjoyed this reflection? Check out my Hosting portfolio to see what else I’ve learned! CreditsWritten by Danniel IskandarProofread by

Where I Started My First Hosting Experience In early October 2018, the Taylor’s Marketing Team had asked me to be their host for their first ‘Rapid Fire’ project. Rapid Fire is basically a Taylor’s Marketing initiative where the final product is a video centered on finding student insight, by students, and for students. It is ‘by’ students in the sense that a student (myself at the time) is the one to ask questions to the student population in order to gain student insights to be shared on Taylor’s University’s social media pages. This was my very first hosting experience, ever! I was excited, but I also lacked confident because of that fact. Additionally, I was doing this for a real organization: Taylor’s University! so I did feel the weight of responsibility. However, my natural energetic tone and excitement powered me through. Since this was my first hosting experience, I did it for free. I only discovered that I was a natural as I was doing it. Initially, I didn’t feel the need to get paid because I believed my skills were still underdeveloped. However, looking back, I now understand that being a talent getting the job done in and of itself was enough to warrant some form of basic payment. If only the entertainment industry in Malaysia understood that as well. On the bright side, I have video proof demonstrating my potential. Learning Curves from My First Hosting Experience While I acknowledge that I was the kind of student who excelled more outside of academia, this does not put me above those of the opposite. Much like how there are different kinds of Pokémon with varying contrasting strengths and weaknesses, the same applies to humans. Not a single one is superior than any other. We are all just different. Aside from this reflection pertaining to human nature and comparing it to a fictional species, here are my reflections pertaining my quality of performance: (1) The Humanity Factor: Increased (Effective) Engagement = Increased Openness. I realised while hosting that naturally engaging students encourages more elaborate responses. Simply asking one question typically results in a minimal answer. However, when you bring your social energy and make them feel heard, they are more likely to expand on their answers candidly. This approach saves effort because instead of having to painstakingly probe for a more detailed answer, which can feel forced or unnatural, presenting myself authentically with a safe and positive energy is often enough to engage them. In return, this authenticity makes them more responsive to your questions. (2) Technical (Linguistic) Skills: How you phrase your questions matters. Your words are like raw material in the sense that it requires craftsmanship to get your desired result. Asking a general question gets you a general answer! Therefore, crafting your questions with a particular direction in mind can get you specific answers in that direction. First you must identify what directions you want your answers from, then you can work towards them. Use the appropriate language in order to gain the exact kind of insight you’re looking for. It’s learning how to ask the right questions. (3) Contextualise Your Conversations for Audience’s Benefit In the above video at 0:20, I asked students how they prepared for exams and they answered with ‘ZNotes’. For anyone watching this video who doesn’t know what ZNotes are, they wouldn’t be able to fully understand this moment. Which is why at the video stamp of 2:15, I asked the same student what a ‘ZNote’ was and then only did they explain it. This is crucial because (A) it provides context for audiences, and (B) I learned that hosting isn’t simply about asking a preset list of questions and getting surface/superficial answers; hosting is a two-way conversation. In my opinion, hosting should not be two-dimensional. At its best, hosting should be organic and authentic. Enjoyed this reflection? Check out my Hosting portfolio to see what else I’ve learned! CreditsWritten by Danniel IskandarProofread by