1. Understanding Emotional Intelligence

2. What Is Emotional Intelligence?
The ability to identify, use, understand, and manage moods, feelings, and attitudes
Paying attention to emotions allows you to use your feelings to enhance emotion
Consists of two general abilities:
Understanding emotions and predicting how others might feel
Managing emotions

3. Your Turn
Do you know anybody (including yourself) who is “book smart” but not very good with people? Do you know anyone who has serious problems managing time? What kinds of challenges do these people face? How would improving emotional awareness help?

4. Assessing Your Emotional Intelligence

5. Your Turn
After completing the EI questionnaire, are there any areas that you would like to work on? If so, why do you identify these as areas for improvement? Give specifics. What could you do to improve in these areas?

6. Identifying Competencies
Bar-On Model of Emotional Intelligence
Intrapersonal skills
How well you know and like yourself
Interpersonal skills
Forging relationships and getting along with other people
Adaptability
Ability to adjust your thinking and behavior when faced with new or unexpected situations
Stress management
General mood and effective performance
Bar-On emphasizes the importance of optimism and happiness

7. Your Turn
On the basis of what you have learned so far about EI and the competencies that are involved, choose three competencies you lack or need to improve. How can you improve in those areas?

8. How Emotions Affect Success
Emotions are strongly tied to physical and psychological well being
Strong EI links to college success:
Emotionally intelligent students get higher grades
Students who can’t manage emotions struggle academically
Students who delay gratification tend to do better overall
EI skills can be enhanced in a first year seminar

9. Your Turn
Describe yourself as a successful person ten years after college. What kinds of skills will you have? Don’t just focus on your degree or job description; include the EI competencies that help explain why you have become successful.

10. How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
Developing EI is important toward getting the full benefit of college
Some suggestions to improve
Identify your strengths and weaknesses
Set realistic goals
Formulate a plan
Check your progress on a regular basis

11. Your Turn
Select an EI competency that you would like to improve. Choose a specific goal and formulate a plan for accomplishing it. What kinds of results do you hope to achieve? How will improving your EI in this area help you become a happier, more confident person?

12. Tech Tip: Stay Connected
Different methods of staying connected through cyberspace
Texting
Instant messaging
Blogs
Wikis
Online social networks
Chat rooms
Web conference