 Last up we have Karis Chan. Karis is from the ANU College of Business and Economics and the title of her presentation tonight is The Emotional Flu. True! Did you know that someone with flu can spread it to others up to 1.82 meters away? Just like how easy it is to catch a flu, the same goes for negative emotions. Imagine someone who starts yelling or sobbing in front of us. The negative tensions and feelings reverberate around the room, sending all of us into an emotional epidemic. Or is that always the case? Look around the room. There is always someone who isn't affected by the emotional flu. For others, the flu hits them harder and they start feeling aggravated, irritated or sad too. Why do some people seem to catch other people's emotions so instantly while others are completely unaffected? I conducted a series of surveys among managers and employees in different workplaces and found that individual personalities influence the transmission of negative emotions between people. For employees who are anxious and moody, are those who prefer to avoid conflicts altogether. When shown with negative emotions from their managers, they caught the emotional flu instantly and began to show the same negative emotions to their colleagues at work and family members at home. On the other hand, for employees who are emotionally stable and calm, are those who didn't mind confrontations at all. When shown with the same negative emotions from the managers, they were completely unaffected and even became better performance and more proactive at work. How did this group of employees prevent themselves from catching the emotional flu? Well, they had chosen not to react to their manager's negative emotions and learned to be emotionally aware, so they could deal with their manager's negative emotions as and when they emerged. What do all these mean for us? I am not suggesting that we should show negative emotions to bring about positive work and family outcomes. Rather, we should learn how to regulate our thoughts and emotions. To develop this critical skill, first recognize that we always have a choice. A choice between giving in to our negative emotions or shifting our attention to focus on positivity. Secondly, respond to our negative emotions with an open mind. Accept them but never act on them. Because when you practice these two strategies, you build your emotional immune system and let go of everything that is negative. You expand your choices, you make real changes, you achieve goals which boost your confidence and most importantly, you become healthier and live longer. So, the next time you encounter negative emotions, will you allow yourself to catch the emotional flu or will you tell yourself, stop, I've got this. Thank you.