Women Lines

Beauty with brains, this thought comes across your mind when you meet Murshidah Said!

Beauty with Brains

Murshidah Said is an independent speaker and adviser of grooming, corporate image and personal empowerment and transformation for individuals and corporations. A graduate of the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Sociology in 1993, Murshidah runs successful businesses for more than 10 years expanding throughout Asia that teaches entrepreneurship to teenagers and adults. She has over 5 years of personal grooming and personal image training experience to teenagers, corporate executives and government level executives. She also owns a convention organising and event management company and has organised over 150 projects spanning the Asia Pacific region (including Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, Sydney) since 1993.

Murshidah’s passion is to help people look great and feel great by gaining more self-confidence and attraction through motivation, inspiration and proper advice on inner and outer personal image. She is often invited to speak at conferences and be an emcee at events. Murshidah’s courses address the importance of education for the WHOLE BEING, ie incorporating the interconnection of body, mind, heart and spirit. Even the skills based programmes she conducts include the emphasis on the spirit which is hardly addressed in most corporate and management trainings. She emphasizes on principles-based practices in her courses. Murshidah is a regular speaker at conferences and is currently working on her first book. When working in a multinational exhibitions organizing company in 1995, Murshidah was the youngest appointed Conference Manager heading the Asia Pacific Conference Department team in less than a year.

After 13 years in the events and conference organizing industry, Murshidah went on to discover her passion of empowering people and helping them to excel in their life. After overcoming major financial and emotional challenges during business difficulties in 2002-2005, Murshidah started working with individuals as a personal coach to coach and empower them to take personal action to transform themselves and their lives.

In 2005, Murshidah was trained and certified to be a beauty workshop specialist and since then has been conducting grooming, skincare, personal care and makeup programmes to many corporations, institutions and individuals alike.. Some of her clients for personal grooming and makeup include Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Westin Hotel, Pan Pacific Hotel, Marina Mandarin Hotel, Damansara Specialist Hospital, National University Hospital of Singapore, Tawakal Hospital. Between the years 2005-2007, she has also trained teenagers from the Secondary Schools in Singapore on proper grooming and etiquette, how to gain confidence and public speaking skills as well as given talks of having a healthy lifestyle.

Murshidah plays role of businesswoman, and many more with such perfection that you are forced to admire her. It’s her passion to create a niche for herself, which keeps her going on forward on the success trail. When asked about the source of her motivation she says that “My Daughter is my source of motivation and I want to give her the best.I want to leave a legacy and empower one person everyday in my life”.She further shares “Its not necessary you are always on the success path only. Your real test comes when there is a down phase in your life and if you pass out that phase successfully then only you are the winner in real term. So never loose hope in life and whatever you do, do it with passion. Success will always follow you!”

An avid traveller and adventurer, she has explored Europe, Middle East, South Africa, USA, Asia Pacific and Australia alone on a backpack as well as with a small group of like-minded friends. Murshidah is resourceful and jovial and participants of her workshops are guaranteed of lively and fun sessions where they learn to expand their social skills and perform beauty and life makeovers. Her love for learning, colours, music, dance and movies are brought into the workshops that she conducts.

Womenlines hats off to Murshidah for celebrating womanhood in real terms in life!

Garima Pant from India wants to share her views about effect of TV culture on youngsters with womenlines readers-

I am full of gratitude to my dear friend (who own this platform) for asking me(read challenging…that’s how I feel with all the rusting that corporate job has done) to write something on womanhood or parenting. That was even more challenging…notwithstanding the fact that she and I had passionately created a journal on precisely this during college. Ironically I don’t get time to consciously think about womanhood and parenting I have yet to experience! Nonetheless, all of my friend’s prompting has shaken my writer self and thoughts started bouncing back and forth until this evening I had a chance glimpse of Star Pariwar awards.

Well, I must tell you that I have never been a TV person and of late, having idiot box to watch with dedication is increasingly becoming a challenge with just one TV between two persons (you know what I mean!). In any case, after watching this award programme, I must say that idiot box is not all that idiotic when it comes to fostering cultural stereotypes which are valued as integral virtues of Indian family set up. No matter what, you can neither deny that cultural stereotypes do play a role in identifying on ethics society one belongs. Now the Star Award category list was interesting with ‘Best beta’, ‘Best beti’ and so on. Even more interesting were the clips shown for each nominations – as Indian as it could get! Would you still say that TV is spoiling the GenNext kids?? Not me… After catching glimpses of this extravaganza, I immediately recalled and recoiled to my trail of thoughts that had been lingering on since my very recent trip to Uttrakhand.

I had met my cousin there after a couple of years and she has almost completed her Company Secretary course and is contemplating a move to Delhi from Haridwar for an internship in a renowned MNC. She is an avid couch potato…that is another significant shift from the time I was a teen – girls (I am more thinking about them) are so particular and careful about what soaps they like and must watch. Unlike most girls of her age, her wardrobe is full of pretty salwar-kameez dresses, each one with its own story of creation. When I tried to offer buying her a dress, I was amazed how particular she was about what color combination, fabric and look she wanted for the very next dress she had to buy (a mehandi green-maroon mangalgiri cotton with wide brocade). I was reminded of my days when I would have just six pairs of dresses that mom bought to last entire college years. That’s what I mean when I say idiot box isn’t all that idiot! Youngsters know what they want. While discussing about her future, while she had ambitious plans about career, she believed an arranged marriage is better that that of one’s choice…that is also what she imbibed from her favorite soaps on TV! If she could potentially represent her generation to any extent then I can make another interesting revelation. Their flights of fantasies about encountering ‘prince charming’ could be something ever-green and romantic like the scarf getting carried away with a breeze to someone’s arms. Wish I too qualified for one such fancy…So I would rather believe that diverse genre of teleseries ranging from family soaps and reality shows are doing some good (let us look at glass as half-full) in shaping young minds.

That was on girls. I also feel that now moms have become so much more open, appreciative and ambitious about their daughters. Mothers, I believe have always seen the reflection of their unfulfilled or cherished dreams and desires in their girls but probably never felt they could do anything about it more than getting them the best possible match until recent times. With soaps like ‘Radha ki beti…’ and ‘Utran’ moms don’t seem to be missing the glory that having a son used to bring. Not only do they seem friends with daughter, they are anxious to see their girls bring laurels to them by excelling on career front. Moms are lending daughters their ear, experience and faith by having hearty chats and mature discussions – something that was pretty amiss in my time. My aunt (my cousin’s mom) knows for sure how her prospective son-in-law has to be. In lieu, moms are also enjoying more liberated and evolved company for themselves. My relations with my mom were quite formal and we hardly ever indulged in banters, at least not between just two of us. Not that my mom did not have dreams for me or would not have wanted to be different with me but then idiot box had not evolved so much. Nonetheless, my mom too is an avid couch potato and I am assuming the goodness of idiot box will flow unto me no matter a little late.

Garima Pant

Mrunal Arun has come across such a motivating poem in Chicken Soup for Women Soul, she wants to share with Womenlines -

It is a world proven phenomenon that Great Speakers make GREATER Leaders. You too can excel at your work, in your business, in your family/ social life, politics, social work, etc. becoming a Great Speaker. Fortunately, Great Speakers can be groomed. Just look around & listen to communications, advertisements & speeches in the media / events/ seminars, etc. Some observations can be made on the way we communicate our message, affecting the quality & effectiveness of our communications/ speeches/ presentations.

The 5 MISTAKES TO AVOID

1) Speaking with artificial ‘western’ slangs & twangs/strong asian accents is affecting the quality of & sincerity in their message. If its not original, they can’t hold it for too long & comes across as them being UNREAL, even when they have the BEST message.

2) Lack of conviction / professionalism, as words are spoken with just slides & notes, & in the ‘head’.

3) Very bad language usage affects understanding of what they’re speaking about.

4) Focus is on themselves (speaker), “how ‘good’ they are coming across - (ego-talk), rather than the REAL message benefiting the audience/ listeners. This attitude puts-off the audience/listeners.

5) Speaking/Preaching what they don’t practise/ believe in. This is by far the most common mistake & listeners/audience can see through & will ‘shut-off’ when they do.

Where is the “heart” in what is spoken? Its time, we acknowledge how much many in Singapore/ Asia, lack, in the ability to “SPEAK” professionally. We may have the “substance”, immense values & real knowledge & a good command of MANY languages. But we need to TAKE MASSIVE Actions to STEP-UP & bring it across effectively, in an affluent, professional manner, so that we can stand out from the Global Crowd & Make our Mark.

The Fastest way to the ART OF ORATORY EXCELLENCE

THE 3-STEP STRATEGY

1) Remove artificial slang’s, twangs / strong asian accents when you speak. LEARN to Speak GOOD English (or any language) - & in the most Natural way it’s meant to be spoken.

2) Focus in your message with clarity in your heart.
3) Enhance your intrinsic values in speaking.

You can stand out from the global crowd in your career/life & achieve GREATER heights as a GREATER LEADER, when you can excel in both intrinsic & extrinsic values of communication.

Check out this Youtube Video Ranked No. 2 for “Professional Speaking” to understand & learn tips on intrinsic values. http://tinyurl.com/lrrc4u

Email to psp@shineworldwide.com for your FREE report on the IPST(In’tl Professional Speaking & Training) Industry. Also JOIN SHINE ADASTA (ADA Speakers & Trainers Alliance) on Facebook Group http://tinyurl.com/njxl8e

Article by Azeeza Jalaludeen PPTD (Proficient Professional Trainer Developer) & Communication Specialist, effectively multi-lingual in Mandarin, English, Tamil & Malay, with more than 15years experience in Relationship Marketing & People Development. She is the Co-Founder of SHINE Academia De Aedificatio (ADA),. SHINE ADA is a Global Professional Edification Institution with diversified, unique programs for Corporates & Individuals.

http://speakprofessionally.blogspot.com

QUALITY EXCELLENCE IN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNIQUE in Singapore
2-DAY Certification Program with SDF Grant.
Register online at http://shineworldwide.com/qepc.html