Koinonia Community in partnership with Riruta Health Project (RHP) are offering life skills lessons at Ever School, every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. The sessions are conducted and coordinated by Chege Kamau.
Life skills can be simply described as a skill that is necessary in everyday life. Today’s lesson was all about public speaking. The art of public speaking can be tricky especially if one is not used to speaking in front of large crowds. The lesson starting with a simple exercise where Chege invited the students to talk about random topics. The exercise was aimed at analyzing, the mode of presentation, preparedness, audibility and confidence levels.
The first pointer when it comes to public speaking is how one walks towards the podium. One should be confident and maintain an upright posture as it helps build trust with the audience. Once you get on the podium take a few seconds to familiarize yourself with the environment. If for some reason you tend to fill a bit nervous it is advisable to have an icebreaker; whereby you could say a short joke.
A key factor to a good public speaker is he/she should know what they will be talking about. One may be confident but if they lack knowledge of what they are going to present, one may end up losing focus. It important to research adequately concerning the subject that one will present. Also ensure that the presentation is conversational and maintain eye contact with the audience.
You want your audience to capture what you are talking about and therefore one should ensure that they are audible. When one is audible enough and maintains eye contact it helps the audience to stay alert and follow through the presentation. The last pointer one should consider is to ensure that they do not engage in unnecessary movement as this could be destructive or hazardous.
As you head to your next public speaking session do keep the above tips