I have never been comfortable with public speaking. So far, I have always managed to avoid doing public speaking until my son’s teacher asked me to do a speech for the toddler’s class graduation. I agreed to it because I wanted to do something special for my son, and I wanted him to be proud of me one day when he is old enough to understand the whole big deal of public speaking. I actually rehearsed a lot, because I wanted so bad to deliver a perfect speech for my son, to the point that I memorized each and every line. But on the day, I messed it up. I sounded like a robot, my speech didn’t have soul, and to make it worse, I was very nervous during the whole speech. The audience could probably see me shaking and fidgeting.
Photo Documentation : Linda Tan – Regular Class Program Professional Public Speaking Batch 45
That was when I decided I need professional help to improve my public speaking skill. I asked a few friends, and the name Talkinc came up most of the times, so i decided to register right away. I was first daunted by the program syllabus. The public speaking program consists of 9 encounters of 4 hours each, it is quite a commitment to make. I signed up anway, and I am glad I did. The course doesn’t do magic and suddenly turns me into a professional public speaker, but it helps me identify my shortcomings and elements that I can improve in my public speaking. I am still very nervous everytime I have to present, even if it’s a small presentation in front of my fellow classmates at Talk Inc. I guess I’d always get the jitters whenever I am put under the spotlight but by now I have learned a few tricks to at least pretending to look calm in front of the audience.
Photo Documentation : Regular Class Program Professional Public Speaking Batch 45 session Didi Mudita
Talk Inc has taught me to process my train of thoughts more efficiently, to focus and zoom in on the subject matter to give substance to my presentation, to deliver the presentation in interesting ways to catch the attention of the audiences, to consider how my presentation benefits the audience. It was a good reminder to me that no matter how grand my presentation is, if there is nothing in it for the audience, it’s just another meaningless presentation.
Photo Documentation : Regular Class Program Professional Public Speaking Batch 45 session Bona Sardo
Apart from all the theories, I like the fact that each encounter is assigned to different instructors with different backgrounds and teaching styles helps enrich our learning experience. Every instructor analyzed and gave us feedback from different perspectives. In addition, our classmates are responsible to be critical when giving their thoughts about our presentations. In some classes, Talkinc even arranges to have videographer to record our presentation. Therefore, we really get to see ourselves in most honest ways, which a lot of times are very unflattering. But I believe this is one of the best ways to learn, and having different feedback from instructors and fellow classmates helps to polish our public speaking skills from all angles.
My only regret is I wish I didn’t wait this long to take up public speaking class with Talkinc.