Project report on

SOFT SKILLS
(SOFT SKILL-II)

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“Soft skills” are centrally important for human capital development and workforce success. A growing
evidence base shows that these qualities rival academic or technical skills in their ability to predict
employment and earnings, among other outcomes (Kautz, Heckman, Diris, ter Weel, & Borghans, 2014).
As the workplace has modernized around the world, the demand for such skills has increased over the
past 20 years (Balcar, 2014; Carnevale, 2013; Eger & Grossmann, 2004; International Labour
Organization, 2008). Nevertheless, a soft skills “gap” is noted by many employers around the world, who
report that job candidates lack the soft skills needed to fill available positions
Based on the evidence and these considerations, a set of key skills was identified that are supported by a
strong research base as being important elements of all aspects of workforce success, are applicable
across sectors and diverse world regions, are developmentally optimal, and are likely to be improved with
youth workforce development programs.

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There are five critical skills most likely to increase odds of success across all outcomes and which
employers expect employees to have: social skills; communication; and higher-order thinking skills
(including problem solving, critical thinking, and decision-making); supported by the intrapersonal skills
of self-control and positive self-concept.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Page no

CHAPTER 1 - Introduction, 6-7

Defination and selection 7-10
Objectives of Soft Skills
Limitations and Impact

CHAPTER 2 - Etiquette & Communication Skills 16-17

Table Manners 17-19
Public Speaking 19-21

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 Presentation Skills 21-24

CHAPTER 3 – Findings And Analysis 25-26

CHAPTER 4 Conclusions 27

BIBLOGRAPHY 28

Introduction

Any organization is made of people and its success depends mainly on the capabilities of the
human resources and on the kind of collaboration they are able to establish. Human capital is
then a fundamental component for any enterprise and the quality of it deeply affects the results
that the company can achieve. This happens in both services and manufacturing companies, even
if in these last ones, the competitiveness of the product also bases of course on the choice of
materials and processes used to fabricate it. In the past manufacturing companies of any kind of
industrial product were mainly concerned about the technical aspects of their production, in
terms of methodologies, systems, facilities, components etc. and tried to select workers
technically prepared and able to perform the tasks they were hired for. Nowadays this view has
changed and workers are considered a key element not only for their ability to perform a certain

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activity, but in particular for their transversal competences, also called Soft Skills. The term Soft
Skills is used to indicate all the competences that are not directly connected to a specific task;
they are necessary in any position as they mainly refer to the relationships with other people
involved in the organization. Hard Skills, on the other hand, indicate the specific capabilities to
perform a particular job. Then a Hard Skill can be for example the ability of a worker to regulate
and control a CNC machine to fabricate a component, while a Soft Skill is his capability of
collaborating with the colleagues working at the same factory department. Soft Skills are then
considered a strategic element in any industrial organization and they deserve high attention
from the Human Resources management, not only in the recruitment phase but also during the
whole professional career of employees. The quality of the industry, in terms of quality of the
product, of the organization, of the services and of the workers’ life, strongly depends on the Soft
Skills possessed by personnel at any level. The quality of the Human Capital working at any
company, then the results they can achieve, mainly depends on their Soft Skills. This paper
intends to provide a complete view on Soft Skills and on their importance in order to achieve
quality in any job and more widely in individual’s life, starting from their definition, learning
and assessment. The aim of this work is furthermore to enhance the relevance of Soft Skills
within industrial organizations, describing how an enterprise can collaborate with educational
institutions to “teach” Soft Skills and can contribute to the development of these competences for
its employees, increasing the competitiveness and success of the whole organization. Soft Skills
are a relevant cross-disciplinary theme. The workshop has collected several prestigious
international and national experts along with scholars of excellence who are studying and
analysing transversal competences, who are looking for a bridge between research, teaching and
employment and who are fostering and developing these competences within the enterprises. The
workshop has provided a complete panorama of Soft Skills from their definition to their
expression and application in the labour work.

Definition and selection of Soft Skills

Many definitions of Soft Skills exist in literature. A first distinction can be made between
Selforiented/Intrapsychic and Other oriented/Interpersonal Skills. The first ones refer to what the
person must understand and develop by himself while the second category gathers what the

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person can develop relating with other people. This distinction can also be made in terms of
Personal and Social Skills. Personal Skills mainly correspond to cognitive Skills, such as
knowledge and thinking skills while Social Skills refer to relationships with other people. To just
mention some, a knowledge skill is the capability of elaborating information and a thinking skill
is the ability of exercising critical judgment. Examples of personal skills are the capacity and
desire to continue to learn and the ability to plan and achieve goals. Main Social Skills can be
identified in communication, listening capability, negotiation, networking, problem solving,
decision making and assertiveness. Soft Skills give Hard Skills the required plasticity to develop
and keep up-to-date in changing circumstances. Soft Skills are closely related to plastic, rational,
elaborating, abilities, elaborated in the prefrontal cortex, developed by Man in the last 50.000
years. Hard Skills allow Man to be what he is: an engineer, a physicist, a philosopher. Soft Skills
operate in a direction that is rather separate from the role of the individual and go beyond the
strict demands of the profession.

Basic Interactions

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The meaning of Intra-Personal and InterPersonal Competences is well described in Figure 1
based on a research of Daniel Goleman. Any individual is responsible of his actions, this bases
on different elements, each of them connected to the others. Awareness and Action interact with
Personal and Inter Personal competences, as the figure clearly shows (Kingsley, 2015). Many
personality features have a strong influence on the individual transversal competences. Moral
virtues can be considered connected to Soft Skills: Temperance, Justice, Prudence, Courage are
all significant traits for the development of transversal competences. Soft Skills can be
furthermore distinguished in Entrepreneurship Skills and Technological Skills. Entrepreneurship
Skills are connected to leadership, to risk facing, to innovation and change management and
correspond to Soft Skills. Technological Skills are the ones that allow performing specific tasks.
The parallel with Software and Hardware in Information Technology is evident: Software
controls and manages Hardware. This is particularly true in the Indo-European approach, while
in the Oriental one there is more integration between the two parts. A proposed integrated
taxonomy of Skills is the one in Figure 2 where Soft Skills are organized in two clusters:
Political and Ethical Skills – Strategic and Organizational Skills while a third one corresponds to
Hard Skills: Managerial and Technological Skills. Politics and Ethics allow the interpretation,
Strategy and Organization bring to planning and Management and Technology imply the
coordination of actions. All these skills concur to the realization, then to the production of the
effect.

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A famous simple definition of Soft Skills comes from the winner of the Nobel prize 2000 for
Economics James Heckman: “Soft Skills predict success in life”. He identifies a cause-effect
correlation between Soft Skills and personal and professional achievements of people Different
names have been proposed for Soft Skills by several institutions and organizations, including the
European Union (UE) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) Figure 3. Hard Skills are also called Specific Competences and Soft Skills are often
indicated as Generic Competences. The term cross-cultural competencies appeared in Europe 20
years ago. Now expressions such as Key Competences and, after Microsoft-Intel definition, 21st
Century Skills are also very common. Some European projects have been developed to define
and study the Skills issue. One of them is the “Tuning” project in which Generic Competences
are divided in three categories: Instrumental, Interpersonal and Systemic. Instrumental
Competences correspond to cognitive, methodological, technological and linguistic
competences. Interpersonal can be divided in two groups: individual and social. Systemic
competences are considered organizational, entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

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It is important to try to understand which skills will be necessary in future. The work skills that
will be required in 2020 can be defined as the skills that should be acquired by all citizens, in
order to ensure their active participation in society and economy, taking into account the major
drivers of change. Among them, the skills in using technology, in particular digital skills, will be
fundamental in most jobs to perform many tasks (Cinque, 2015). Furthermore digital resources
can help students to develop and train their Soft Skills, then they can be considered at the same
time aims to be reached and tools to train, to develop and increase competences and capabilities.
In order to define and identify Soft Skills, the Center of Creative Leadership in Bruxelles has
proposed a tool named “Social Identity Mapping”, which considers gender, nationality, religion,
sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, age, education, socioeconomic status etc. of people. This
mapping involves three internal processes: categorization, identification and comparison. First it
is necessary to define groups based on shared believes, experiences and characteristics. Second
each individual.

Objective of Soft Skills

Soft Skills: the employment bridge

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Several researches and surveys demonstrate that the Skill Gap in employability mainly concerns
Soft Skills than Hard Skills. This gap expresses the inconsistency between the human resources
looking for a job and the requirements of enterprises to hire employees for available positions.
shows some significant results of four surveys conducted in the USA regarding skills gap. A lot
of positions go unfilled due to a skills shortage in particularly concerning Soft Skills such as
punctuality, precision, professionalism, ethics etc. (Cinque, 2015). The Bloomberg research
carried on in 2015, investigating the MBA’s market (Master in Business Administration) in
USA, highlights that the most desired and hardest to find skills are communication, leadership,
problem-solving and strategic thinking skills. A NACE (National Association of Colleges and
Employers) research of the same year shows that employers mainly look for leaders who can
work as part of a team and communicate effectively. Then these surveys confirm the importance
for employers of Soft Skills. The McKinsey Report Education to Employment: Getting Europe’s
Youth into Work of 2014 demonstrates that skills gap is a problem in several countries, but it is
more serious in those with the highest youth unemployment.

A relevant research work concerning skill mismatch was carried on at the University of Bologna,
focusing in particular the specific Italian labour market of fashion production This sector in Italy
has perhaps been the earliest that off-shored its manufacturing processes in the 90s' (Prota and
Viesti, 2007), moving the production to low labour cost countries. Now, several entrepreneurs
are back-shoring or declare the intention to back-shore in the near future. One of the main
problems they face, coming back to Italy, is the skills shortage. Previous research (Ferrari and
Emiliani, 2009) has clearly shown that the most common complaint among fashion entrepreneurs
is the skill mismatch which 'affects' Fashion operators when they leave school.

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The most significant conclusion of this survey are:

In the opinion of employers, educational outlines are characterized by unnecessary and/or

useless skills rather than skill shortage, hence, it’s fundamental to update these outlines.

The students perceive themselves as under-skilled, both in technical skills and soft skills, and
they don’t feel ready for the labour market.

Soft skills (communication, teamwork, problem-solving) are almost always critical: this skills
category has more relevance inemployers' opinion than in the one of teachers and students
perceive themselves as under-skilled.

In conclusion, the local labour market studied in this research shows frictions in school-to-work
transition. To reduce this mismatch, it is necessary to insert soft skills in learning activities
(communication; problem-solving; teamwork and customer care) and to utilize more effective
teaching methods (i.e. cooperative learning). Furthermore, it is advisable to provide finalyear
students with early orientation and assessment paths, in order to improve their self-esteem and
self-efficacy.

Some research recently conducted in the USA identify as essential competencies on the
job Problem Solving, Teamworking and Critical Thinking, in order of importance, considering

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this last essential but relatively easy to hire in comparison to the first two, which are essential but
hard to hire.
Creativity is considered a less essential competence however significant, but very hard to hire
graphically represent the results of this research listing the competences most important to be
hired and showing that Technical Skills are at the second to last position in the ranking. Soft
Skills therefore result also in this survey more important to be hired for most employers
interviewed.

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 Limitations & impact of soft skills

These findings are limited on perceptions of the importance and utility of soft skills training as
applicable to their sectors and to themselves. This study could be carried further to wider
segments to get more insights. The study could go deeper into each training interventions to get
deeper insights with specific measurable outcomes with more variables for every training
programmes. However, within the constraints of time and sample population availability, this
study had to be limited to the current findings.

Companies are hesitant to divulge information on their training evaluation processes due to
confidentiality. This study could be much more comprehensive if HR and Training Departments
could share information on their training feedback. Trainers It was challenging to identify

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organisations which conduct soft skills training programmes. Some in-house trainers, as well as
independent training consultants and training consultancy outfits perceived that the study would
reflect on their training competence by way of trainees giving responses to the questionnaire.
They had to be convinced that the study was not aimed at evaluation of trainer’s expertise or
training competence and that the objective was to help the training fraternity to design
appropriate soft skills training interventions with the aim of improving performance. The area of
soft skills training is still viewed in a very diffuse manner with companies not being very sure of
the measurability of the outcome. The realm of business etiquette especially is subject to cultural
bias. Similarly, assertive skills training is an area which is sensitive and had to be handled with
care.

It was also difficult to get respondents to fill in the questionnaire after they had finished training
and they had to be convinced that this study would not jeopardise their career.

Some in-house trainers, as well as independent training consultants and training consultancy
outfits perceived that the study would reflect on their training competence by way of trainees
giving responses to the questionnaire. They had to be convinced that the study was not aimed at
evaluation of trainer’s expertise or training competence and that the objective was to help the
training fraternity to design appropriate soft skills training interventions with the aim of
improving performance. It was also a challenge to get responses from respondents which
constituted of senior HR and Training professionals who are busy with their training schedules.

The significant findings of this study could be taken further to delve into the specific reasons for
managers not finding importance and utility in certain training programmes. Within the
constraints of the research time given, this study could come up with the current findings.

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Chapter: 2

Etiquette & Communication Skills

Etiquette and communication are considered “soft” skills, but they are vitally important to the
successful conduct of a business. Appropriate behavior establishes trust among business
contacts, and a good flow of communication improves the efficiency of any enterprise. Both of
these outcomes can add materially to a business’ bottom line.

First Impressions

When you are dealing with contacts outside of your own organization, etiquette and
communications skills contribute to projecting an excellent first impression. If you are trying to
make a sale or close a deal, this is vital. People you come in contact with will assess you by how
you dress, your personal grooming, your body language, your handshake and the fluency of your
communications skills. All of these together add up to your professional image.

Colleagues

Communicating with colleagues is a vital yet often overlooked skill. Any credible organization
should have good formal channels of communication set up, so that information is shared
efficiently and duplication of effort is minimized. If you are in charge of a team of employees,
you should make an effort to communicate in an open and approachable manner. The way you
interact with your workers, especially your listening skills, helps them to feel valued and
engaged. Similarly, if you are an entry-level employee, the expertise of your communications
skills contributes significantly to your speed of promotion.

Overseas

Business etiquette and appropriate communication vary in different cultures. If you are on a
business trip abroad, research beforehand the established business etiquette in your destination

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country. This might involve modifying the way you dress, the way you greet people and the
subjects that are appropriate to bring up in a business meeting.

Training

The importance of soft skills such as etiquette and communication is leading to an increase in the
number of training courses and consultants who specialize in this area. In addition, many Master
of Business Administration courses include etiquette and communications modules, often as part
of orientation for students so that these skills are mastered early.

Table Manners

Good table manners are a matter of common sense and should reflect the most logical choices.
One of the most important things to remember is to be natural, without drawing attention to
yourself. It is best to give the appearance of being confident, yet comfortable.

POSTURE
When eating, sit close enough to the table so each bite is brought to the mouth without having to
lean forward. Sit straight at the table without sitting stiffly.

ELBOWS
Elbows should not be placed on the table, but kept close to the side so they don’t interfere with
those sitting next to you. When a hand is not in use, place it in your lap, or if it is more
comfortable, rest your forearm on the edge of the table.

TABLE SETTINGS
An attractive table setting makes the food look and taste better and provides a positive
experience for each guest. The table setting gives the host/ hostess an opportunity to express
creativity, while the guests see the effort that has been made in their behalf.

PLACE SETTINGS

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Each place setting should consist of the main plate in the center, with the forks placed on the left
and knives on the right. Spoons are placed to the right of the knives, and the water glass is placed
at the tip of the knife. A second beverage glass would be placed to the right of the water glass.
The bread and butter plate belongs at the tip of the forks, and the salad plate usually goes to the
left of the forks and a little above. When no bread and butter plate is used, the salad may go at
the tip of the forks. The napkin is placed directly to the left of the forks and dinner plate, but if
the table is crowded, it may be placed under the forks, directly on the plate or in the center of the
place setting.

NAPKINS
When seated at the table, if you are the guest, wait until the host/hostess has taken up his or her
napkin before placing it on their laps, or when the host/hostess asks the guests to proceed. When
the host/hostess picks up his/her fork, you may pick up yours and begin to eat. The napkin
remains in your lap until after the meal and should then be placed loosely gathered on the table
next to the plate. If you need to leave the table during the meal, the napkin should be placed on
the chair and then back in the lap after you return to the table.

UTENSILS
Knowing which utensil to use will increase self-confidence and foster a more relaxed
atmosphere. Silverware is placed in order of its use. Always remember to begin with the
silverware on the outside of the place setting and work from the outside in. If in doubt, watch the
hostess or someone else at the table who is confident in using the utensils. Cut up food as it is
eaten, not all at once. When finished eating, place the used fork and knife on the plate, sharp side
of knife facing in, fork next to knife.

BEVERAGES
Wait to sip beverages until your mouth is empty and has been wiped with a napkin. The only
exception to this is when your mouth has been burned with hot food, you may take a drink with
food in your mouth. Do not gulp or guzzle beverages.

CONVERSATION

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When talking at the table, there should never be any food in your mouth. Remember the saying,
“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Chew with your mouth closed, without talking. Guests should
not draw attention to themselves by making unnecessary noise either with their mouth or with
their silverware.

SEASONINGS AND CONDIMENTS

Guests should always taste the food before asking for salt and pepper, so as not to offend the
cook. When you use the condiments on the table, place a portion of each condiment desired on
the plate beside the food, not directly on the food itself, i.e., cranberry sauce is placed on the
dinner plate, not on the meat. If there are no condiments on the table, it is not polite to ask for
them.

REMOVING FOOD FROM MOUTH

If a piece of food must be removed from the mouth, do it the same way that it was put in and
place it on the plate. A pit or small bone should be removed with fingers. The most important
thing to remember when emoving food is to do it with as little show as possible.

Natural table manners take practice, and the best place to practice is at home. If manners
at the table are insisted upon at home, they will more likely become second nature. Once good
table manners become automatic you will feel more relaxed and comfortable, and the
conversation and food will be enjoyed much more.

Public Speaking

Public speaking is the process and act of speaking or giving a lecture to a group of people
in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain a listening audience.
Public speaking is commonly understood as face-to-face speaking between individuals and an
audience for the purpose of communication. It is closely allied to “presenting”, although the
latter is more often associated with commercial activity. Most of the time, public speaking is to
persuade the audience.

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Know your audience
Get information about who will be attending your presentation. Are all participants experts at the
topic or will there be novices present? Is there a mixed group of people representing different
backgrounds or is everyone on the same page regarding technicalities? Depending on the
audience, you will have to spend some time giving varying degrees of background on the
material and explaining certain concepts.
A word of caution: don’t overdo it either. Don’t get cought up in details and
technicalities.

Frame your story

There’s no way you can give a good talk unless you have something worth talking about.
Conceptualizing and framing what you want to say is the most vital part of preparation. We all
know that stories are a powerful tool for communication and therefore, metaphors which abound
the narrative structures work best to engage people.
Approach 1: Consider it as planning a journey where the biggest decisions are where to start and
where to end. To find the right place to start, consider what people in the audience already know
about your subject – and how much they care about it. If you assume they have more knowledge
or interest than they in fact do, or if you start using jargon or get too technical, you’ll lose them.
The most engaging speakers do a superb job of very quickly introducing the topic, explaining
why they care so deeply about it, and convincing the audience members that they should, too.
Approach 2: Have a narrative structure that loosely follows a detective story. The speaker starts
out by presenting a problem and then describes the search for a solution. There’s an “aha”
moment, and the audience’s perspective shifts in a meaningful way.
As a general rule, people are not very interested in talks about organizations or institutions. Ideas
and stories fascinate us; organizations bore us – they’re much harder to relate to.

Plan your delivery

There are three main ways to deliver a speech. You can read it directly off a script. You can
develop a set of bullet points that map out what you’re going to say in each section rather than
scripting the whole thing word for word. Or you can memorize your speech, which entails
rehearsing it to the point where you internalize every word. Don't do number one as reading a

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speech is the most boring thing for everyone! For me bullet points proved to be the most
reasonable system as remembering the entire speech by heart might prove too stressful or time-
consuming. Don't write out the material word-by-word and don't plan on reading text even if you
do have it all written down. Having the text written out and parts of it memorized will constrain
you. Memorize the structure of the talk and the outline, but not every word.

Timing
People rarely want to listen to someone for longer than the allotted time. Few people are such
amazing speakers that an audience can't get enough of them. Do not assume you are one of those
few. Wrap up your talk on time. To achieve this goal, ask someone to give you time cues by
indicating when you have five minutes left, two minutes and when you have run out of time.
Once you get the last notice, you should stop talking.

Practice makes perfect

Practice the presentation a few times: more if you have less experience, less if you are a more
seasoned public speaker. It can be especially helpful to give the talk to someone who is not in
your field and is not intimately familiar with the material. This is helpful in seeing whether you
have made the talk too narrowly focused or overly technical. Such a practice session does not
have to involve the entire talk, it can consist of telling someone about your presentation outline.

Presentation Skills

Public speaking is one of the hardest things to master. The trick to delivering a powerful
presentation is to prepare carefully, take it slowly on the day and be enthusiastic about your
topic. But presenting is not just about speaking to an audience of 1000s – the one-on-one
presentation you give to your boss can be just as important to you career and
needs the same skill set discussed below

Planning your presentation - prepare with care:

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Start, by thinking about your audience and what aspect of the topic they are most likely to be
interested in – you should be able to state the purpose of the presentation in an easy sentence.
Then list your key points and write down the general structure of the presentation ahead. If you
need to, write down every point that you want to cover and practice until you are totally
comfortable with the material.
Rehearse the presentation thoroughly, particularly if you have been allocated a speaking time
(eg, at a conference).Allow time for questions (but have things to say if there are no questions -
running short is nearly as bad as running over!).

Consider the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint:

- a PowerPoint presentation should have 10 slides,
- last no more than 20 minutes, and
- contain no font smaller than 30 points.

• Remember the 6:6 rule:

- Too much information on a single slide is unreadable especially when it is projected on a
big screen.

- Use bullet points:

i. Using bullets not only makes your slide readable
ii. They also add to the impact of your presentation.
- Maximum of six bullet points in a slide.
- Maximum of six words in one line.
- Contrast the text with the background

• The text highlights what you are saying

- Don't read the slides, talk to the slides...

• Avoid the overuse of clip art and animation,

- It detracts from the focus of your presentation, but......

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• Allow your audience adequate time to read information slides:
- Minimum 30 seconds (very simple slide)
- Average 2 minutes per slide

• Rehearse – talk through your delivery several time (5 or 6). Remember, the spoken word is
quite different from the written word!

• Use aids such as highlighted text and large notes to keep you on track (but don’t read these
either).

Delivering your presentation

On the day:
1. Get a good night’s sleep beforehand. Eat a healthy breakfast and try and free your schedule, so
you're more relaxed going into the presentation.

2. Check out the venue – before you speak (even the day before) walk around the room or
auditorium, sit in different seats to see what your audience will see and make sure you know
exactly how the technology works. Practice using the presentation technology and know where
the ‘help’ is most conferences have onsite technical support staff.

3. Before you present, spend 15 minutes going over your presentation. Then take 15 minutes off.
Don’t make last minute changes!! Use the quiet 15 minutes to manage your reaction to nerves:
a. Go to the toilet beforehand and avoid stimulants; you already have a powerful stimulant in the
form of adrenalin in your system. Have a small drink of water to off set the dry-mouth effect of
adrenalin.
b. Then use the next 5 to 10 minutes to park any extraneous thoughts and worries that may
interfere with your concentration, don’t ignore them - they need acknowledging (or they will
come back at the most inappropriate moment), either physically write them down and put the
note somewhere safe or use a virtual technique such as the ‘Actors Box4’ to hold them for a
while.

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c. Then concentrate on your breathing for 5 minutes5. This focuses your thoughts, relaxes you
and gets rid of any nerves.

4. Delivering the presentation: Remember, the open and close of your presentation are the most
important parts. So put in extra effort into the opening to make it memorable - "In less than a
minute, your audience forms impressions of you and your credibility based on what you say and
how you say it".
a. Your greeting is an essential element of your presentation, it is your first and best opportunity
to establish rapport with listeners and you only get one chance to make a good ‘first impression’.
b. You need to compel your audience's attention as you begin your speech, launch your
presentation with a ‘grabber’ something original, intriguing, and slightly creative.
c. Preview of Your Speech. Let the audience know what you're going to talk about and where
you're going with this topic: Tell 'em what you're going to say, say it, then tell 'em what you said.
Listeners need to know the direction you're going in so they can follow you there. Here's an
acronym that might help: B-L-U-F, or Bottom Line Up Front.

5. Main points, with evidence. Make sure you clearly lay out the main points you're going to talk
about.
a. Big topics need a place for you and your audience to "land." And when you deliver those
points, backup each one with evidence.
b. Use vivid and visual language, what means more ‘female parent’ or ‘mother’ - short impactful
sentences employing simple words, and that include images and metaphors, will bring your
presentation to life.
c. Effective transitions are essential for your presentation to be a logical and organic whole. At
the end of each major point, use an internal summary followed by an internal preview of the next
point "Now that we've seen examined the system of alliances that existed in Europe at this time
[internal summary], let's look at what happened in late July and early August 1914 that led to
war" [internal preview].Transitions should contribute to your talk's logical shape.

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 Chapter: 3

Findings & Analysis

The entire research process was designed to assess the impact of the Soft skills training provided
and the statistical analysis yielded results which threw light on different aspects of the training
and its impact. These findings were both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The qualitative
findings were based on the observations of the researcher during the progress of the entire
research. The quantitative findings pertain to the analysis of the data and the research process.

According to the research study the following Soft skills were identified for the engineering
students, which would help in their holistic development.

Basic Skill

Personal Skill

People Skill

Thinking Skill

Work Skill

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A fourteen topic module was developed as a team. This module was used to train the students.
An interactive work book, this enabled the students to use it more as a personal diary which
helped them in self-development. Thirty hours allocated in syllabus provided for ample scope for
the teachers to discuss and enhance the thoughts, attitude and behaviour of the students. Each of
the topics required a different approach and the teacher customized the approach based not only
on the topic but also on the way the students interacted in the class.

Each of the topics required a different approach and the teacher customized the approach based
not only on the topic but also on the way the students interact and react in the class. Some
modules required open discussion, sharing of idea, debate, role play etc.

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Chapter: 4

Conclusions

The study has clearly established the impact and importance of soft skill. Internationally the need
for such skills has been established and some countries consider this as ‘life’ skill, ‘key’ skill,
and ‘fundamental’ skill and so on, emphasizing its importance. It is all about being able to
coexist and succeed in this highly competitive world. Individuals alone cannot achieve and one
needs to value
team work, adapt to change, understand diversity and be confident to succeed. The ability to do
all this is the ‘soft skill’ that this study undertook.

The study helped in identifying the soft skills that would enhance the holistic development of
students. It also enabled the framing of course for soft skill and helped develop a tool to measure
it. The study clearly shows that there is an improvement in the level of Soft skills when training
is provided over a period of time. The study resulted in recommendations to Curriculum
planners, Institutions and Industries etc.

All the objectives of the study have been fully achieved .A set of recommendations have been
evolved out of the study. This study will help further researchers in pursuing their research in the
area of Soft skills.

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 Bibliography/References

Information and data related to the project has been taken from the sources below: -

1. www.wikipedia.com
2. www.slideshare.com
3. www.scribd.com/softskill
4. www.icai.bos.org
5. https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-24AWFCSoftSkillsExecSum.pdf

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