HKBU CIE English Public Speaking Workshop

English Public Speaking Workshop 4M Marcus Kong, Yoshi Law On 30th May, a group of S4 students made our way to HKBIU CIE to attend an entertaining and informative public speaking training programme. The aim was to hone our public speaking skills so we could be more effective communicators. What did we expect When we first heard of this training programme, we were expecting a very serious lecture with strict teachers. Turns out, we were completely wrong. This programme was not at all what we expected it to be. The Lecture The workshop was separated into 2 parts. For the first 35 minutes, we listened to a professor on the skills of presentation and becoming a better public speaker. The tip of the 3 C’s stands out in our mind — that of connection, confidence, and clarity. We need to make our presence known through establishing a connection with the audience. Having confidence and being clear come with the right mindset and skillset and these would give you the power to delivering an impactful speech. A good first impression, a confident entrance with good posture and a smile goes a long way. Remember it only takes 7 seconds for people to form an impression of you. Public speaking is not just about spoken words. In fact, it’s way more than that. Public speaking also involves our body language and tone. This made us realize that during public speaking, we need to care about a lot of things like our appearance, the control over our voice, and even how to give a great first impression to attract people to listen to what we say. The workshop shared fun facts about public speaking and important life skills, in an entertaining and simple way. We got to practice our English-speaking skills in a light-hearted way. Putting what we learnt into practice The second part of this programme was the practice session, which lasted 30 minutes. We went to a smaller classroom with students from other schools along with another professor who mainly taught us about the importance of ‘pause’ and ‘stress’. As we practised together as we read a script, we got to really put what we had just learned into action. Also, a fun session for us. Our Impression A great learning experience. We took away with us many useful skills for public speaking and we also experienced what it was like to be a student of a university. Definitely an entertaining and informative experience. An afternoon well spent.