By Brian Asin
A class of Rover Scouts got together early Saturday morning at the Hastings Branch of the Vancouver Public Library to participate in a Public Speaking Workshop. The event was organized by Barton Lui, and facilitated by some of our very talented and insightful Scouters.
Everyone got their first go at public speaking during our introductions. We carried on by watching segments of powerful TED talks, pulling out the impactful strengths and techniques used by these expert public speakers. They were tips that we would try and emulate later on.
Finally, we broke into small groups, led each by one of our facilitators, to put our skills to the test One by one, we stood up and spoke on a topic of our choice. After giving and receiving a lot of feedback, we were tested one last time with a topic chosen by the facilitator. With challenges such as “What would you do if you won the lottery?’, and “Try and sell me this pen.” we were able to find our own strengths and weaknesses, and develop our own voices.
If I were to pull out one idea from this workshop, it would be that we will never stop being nervous. All we can do is practice, and build up our skills to build confidence.
Workshops are a great way to get involved with our organization! Check out our upcoming events page to learn more about how you can participate.