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View reports of ALL programmes Dare To Speak™ Public Speaking Programme for Primary School Children We had a small group for this session with 8 participants. In fact, only 7 registered through the normal channel and I had to ask a friend to send his child to raise the total to 8. We decided to go ahead with the programme in order not to disappoint parents who had registered their children. The programme started with the trainer asking the participants whether they chose to be there or were forced by their parents to attend the class. Half of them answered one way and half the other way. They were all asked to enjoy the 2 days irrespective of their answers.
The actual training proceeded in the usual way, of course, at a level suitable for the young children. Due to the small number, each of them had many opportunities to speak.
Over the 2 days, the children made friends and began to enjoy the programme more and more.
During the second afternoon, we had the graduation ceremony at 3 p. m. More than half the parents attended.
The 8 participants did their best for their parents and peers.
Prizes were given to the 3 best speakers. The "judge" was myself.
In closing, 2 parents shared their thoughts on the programme.
All in all, everyone went home happy. Reported by Sandy Tan
The response was exceptionally good for this session. As a result, we had to make arrangements to take up 2 rooms at the training centre and engage an assistant trainer. In the end, a total of 21 participants registered. The programme commenced and proceeded as usual. The main trainer Azmi Shahrin conducted all the main lectures. During the practical sessions, we split the participants into 2 groups. Azmi and the assistant trainer took charge of one group each (alternately). This enabled each participant to speak and be coached individually and the programme to (still) progress at the intended speed.
The assistant trainer Norhafis Nordin (nicknamed "Bobo") was assisted by myself in the smaller classroom. Interestingly, on the second morning, Azmi sent to us a few participants whom he found hard to motivate (spoke very little). We were asked to pay special attention to them. We used various means to get them to speak, with some success.
One of the programme highlights was the debate held during the first afternoon. The participants let go of their inhibitions and spoke their minds freely. Here are a few scenes from the debate:
For lunch on both days, we enjoyed food and fellowship at the nearby OldTown White Coffee:
Due to the large number, we did not have the opportunity to conduct the usual graduation ceremony where the participants would present their final speeches before the parents. However, we still had a grand finale round of speeches where each participant gave his or her best performance. Reported by Sandy Tan
This was a great programme because, to begin with, we had full registration of 10 participants. Starting from 3 very keen students, I worked hard until we hit the minimum of 7 participants. I was determined to make this training session for college and university students a reality as we had not had it for more than a year. 3 days before the event, another 3 students signed up. One person did not turn up but we still had with 9 participants in the class. The training was held at JCI PJ, which was a bit out of the way but once you got into the training room, you'd find it very comfortable. The seating arrangement was U-shape.
After a brief opening which touched on ways to overcome nervousness, among other things, the participants were asked to start speaking. The trainer Azmi Shahrin did his usual thing by helping them correct their most obvious weaknesses right at the beginning, whether it was shifting feet, stiff hands, speech crutches, soft voice, etc. However, before each subsequent round of speeches, he also gave a formal explanation of 1 or 2 new skills to be learned. Thus he covered the 4 elements of hand gestures, vocal variety and other skills over the 2-day period.
I beleive that in this programme, the participants got to speak more times than was usually the case. On the first day, they spoke 4 times including taking part in a debate. On the second day, they spoke 3 times as the speeches become longer. Everyone showed remarkable improvement. The class ended with a session on correct English pronunciation. These are some pictures taken during the debate:
What about food? On the first day, we had lunch at Murni Restaurant which was just opposite the block where we had the training. On the second day, one group went with Azmi to a mamak restaurant while the rest of us patronized a Chinese kopitiam. I'm personally very thankful that the programme turned out so well. I faced several challenges along the way among which was one parent refused to deposit the registration fee into our account before the training day because we didn't our own centre which she wanted to see first. Despite explaining to her that most of our trainings were conducted at the premises of companies, she still pulled out her daughter. But thank God, others were more reasonable and didn't find this a problem. I'm also glad that no participant dropped out on the second day despite the "commando-style" training method used by the trainer who drilled each person repeatedly until he or she managed to "get it". But they improved, and that's the whole point of this training. Reported by Sandy Tan
It's been more than a year since we last conducted this programme. In 2011, we did not manage to enlist a sufficient number of participants to have the class. This time round, 9 participants registered after I worked extra hard to promote the course and follow up on enquiries. However, only 8 of them eventually made it. As for the venue, we used English Champ's newly open centre at Dataran Pelangi Utama, Bandar Utama. In fact, we were the first people who used the centre even before their normal classes had started. The centre had a little platform/stage which was very suitable for public speaking training!
As usual, most of the participants were sent by their parents. Some were not very happy to be woken up early in the morning on a weekend during school holidays. But they warmed up pretty fast especially after making friends with one another and having the first round of practice. On the first day itself, the participants had 4 rounds of practice (each person spoke 4 times). We focused on speaking without notes, body language and speech organization. On the second day, the participants had another 4 rounds of speeches while adding vocal variety and correct pronunciation to the skills learned on the first day. Needless to say, their progress was only natural with so many rounds of drilling.
The participants in action:
During the "graduation ceremony", some parents came to witness their children presenting their grand finale speech. This round was also a mini contest.
Everyone did well but officially the winners were Darshan Abraham (first prize with speech title "Problems with Teens"), Ilham Nurhakim (second prize with speech title "Appreciation") and John Ong (third prize with speech title "What I learned in this programme"). Another speech which I liked very much was "How to handle a hyperactive child" by Jeeva Murugan who was himself a hyperactive child.
Certificates of completion were presented to all the participants. The programme concluded with 2 parents sharing their thoughts and one participant giving his feedback on behalf of the other participants. He said he wasn't happy to attend on the first morning but was eager to arrive on the second morning.
So the programme ended and everyone went home happy. Reported by Sandy Tan
The last time we had this programme for primary school children was more than 2 years ago in 2009. Obviously we were pleased to do it again. This time, we used the "English Champ" premises at Taman Megah, PJ. It was a good move as the centre also helped us to recruit a couple of participants. In total we had 9 participants.
At the start of the programme, the children were shy and quiet. Not all were keen to attend the programme. Fortunately, the trainer Azmi Shahrin managed to break the ice by starting a conversation with them about why they might need public speaking. It got most of the children to speak up and thereby warm up to the fact that they were in a public speaking class. We went through the usual modules using the simplified workbook specially designed for the children. Among the main things they learned was to speak without notes, use hand gestures, stress certain words and stop using speech crutches (sounds like "ah" and "er").
All in all, the participants had 3 rounds of practice on the first day and several more rounds on the second day.
Mealtimes provided some relief from all the drilling. We used the pantry for tea breaks and lunch. For lunch, we had food from KFC and Pizza Hut on the first and second days respectively.
On the second afternoon, we had to prepare for the graduation ceremony when parents and family members would come to watch the children's final performance.
The final round went smoothly. The children did well. However, a few of them were a bit nervous due to the large crowd. With more exposure, they would continue to improve. 4 top prizes were given away.
Lastly, before we closed, we invited any one parent to speak on behalf of all other parents. The father of Tommy (1st prize winner) said a few words.
I believe that in the end all the children were glad they attended this programme. We will try our best to have more coming! Reported by Sandy Tan
The last time we actually put on a programme for the college and university students was exactly 2 years ago. At that time, we managed to recruit only 3 students to join the class (and 4 adults who were roped in). In the 2 years following that, we'd always pushed the students to the adults class due to lack of numbers. This time, however, we got 14 students and had to divert 4 of them to the adults class held 2 weeks earlier. So we were left with 10 students. Maybe the tide is turning... and the importance of acquiring public speaking skills early in life is being realized...
At the start of the class, the trainer Azmi Shahrin asked the participants whether they volunteered themselves for the training or were "forced" by their parents to attend. The results were 50-50. In any case, all of them gave their fullest cooperation and participated actively in the training. The trainer took them through the usual steps, starting from learning to use hand gestures and the correct body language, right through to learning about speech organization, vocal variety and accurate English pronunciation, all the way peppering the core modules with additional advice on the side.
As was normal for students' programmes, we had an debate with the girls' team opposing the boys' team (except for one girl who had to join the boys' team due to numerical imbalance).
All these young people were leaders in the making. At the beginning of the programme, they were asked to select a character (real life or fictional) by whose name they would respectively be called throughout the 2 days. See what some of them chose:
We had so much fun that when the programme ended, we felt quite sad as we sang the theme song. Hopefully another class for another group will happen soon enough. Reported by Sandy Tan
It's been a year since we last conducted a public programme for students. Perhaps due to the accumulated interest over a long period of time, suddenly, it was like everybody wanted to register. In the end, we had 15 participants, exceeding our self-imposed limit of 10. However, we managed to arrange for another classroom to be made available in order to break the participants into 2 groups during the practical sessions. It turned out very well. For each module, the "chief trainer" Azmi Shahrin gave the lecture/talk and then the participants broke into 2 groups - one group was handled by Azmi and the other by me (alternately). This shortened the waiting time for all the participants and we managed to have more rounds of speeches and practice. As a result, the participants learned very fast and everything was on schedule. However, the 2 groups were joined during the debate session at the end of the first day. The topic was "Women is the cause of all the problems in the world". Contrary to expectations, the girls had to propose while the guys had to oppose!
Then came the time for the participants to show off their newfound talents to their parents. At the end of the second day, parents streamed in some bringing along other kids. The classroom was almost too small to hold everyone in. This added to the "heat".
Despite the inevitable "stress" caused by a large audience, the participants overcame all obstacles, presented their final speeches and received their certificates. We also gave away 3 main prizes and 2 consolation prizes for the best speakers. The parents were pleased. Some of them didn't know their son or daughter could speak the way they did!
It was a satisfying experience. We hope to do more programmes in future. Reported by Sandy Tan
It would be an understatement to say this was a difficult programme to organize! Despite the large number of enquiries, the actual registration was low for a variety of reasons. In fact, there was supposed to be another session for primary school children on 23 & 24 Nov, but due to low numbers I had to combine the 2 sessions for ages 11-16. Anyway, we decided to focus our positive energies on those who actually registered and not on those who didn't. Eventually, we had a good programme and a great time. Here are the 10 cute participants:
As usual, since we had only 2 days to "work on" the participants, some manhandling techniques were necessary:
Other highlights included the debate session and the "graduation ceremony" which was attended by many parents and family members. Each participant gave a speech, after that, certificates and prizes were given away. I was exhausted but felt appreciated when one of the parents openly thanked me (in her speech) for fetching her 3 daughters on both mornings from KL Sentral (their took the train from Putrajaya). It was good to know that my efforts were not wasted. We hope that the response will be better in times to come. Bonus photo:
Reported by Sandy Tan
Wow! I say "Wow" for 2 reasons. Firstly, despite the herculean effort we put into setting this programme (including distributing flyers), we managed to recruit only 3 college/university students. Secondly, I miraculously managed to convince 4 more persons to join the class at short notice, so we didn't cancel and it turned out to be one of the best sessions we ever had!
It also turned out that the 3 students were soccer fans supporting 3 different clubs. This matter became the subject of some speeches (and counter speeches) which made it all the more fun! Oh yes, we had our first foreign participant. Noel Kituto from Kenya had been wanting to attend our class since March but was unable to due to outstation work assignments. I contacted her and she was very willing to join the students' group. Two other participants were returning graduates who wanted a refresher.
At the end of the programme, Noel commented that the trainer Azmi Shahrin was like a "healer". Throughout the programme, he had gently coached each participant, brought out the best in them, and not let anyone give up. I am sure the rest of the participants felt the same way. In short, I am glad we went ahead with the programme. However, we have to think of more effective means to recruit more participants in this category for future sessions. College and university students are at the threshold of a new chapter in life where they will need public speaking skills like never before! We must reach out to help them! Reported by Sandy Tan
Last year, when we were drawing up plans for the Dare To Speak™ Public Speaking Programme, we deliberated on whether to have a programme for primary school children. We knew it wouldn't be easy to "handle" these kids. This was proved true in the just-concluded programme which was attended by 7 girls and 2 boys (why so few boys?). On the first morning, the participants were sullen and unresponsive. Some refused to open their mouth and had to be coaxed to speak more and louder. But after the initial hurdle, we had a great time and everyone performed well.
There was more trouble on the second morning when one of the girls cried and one boy got angry and kicked the trainer 3 times and spilled Milo on his (the trainer's) pants! I had to bring the boy to a separate room and use all my psychological powers (i.e. counselling skills) to get him back on track. Thank God that in the end we and the participants managed to pull through and presented a good show to the parents during the "graduation ceremony". Many parents attended and it was a great encouragement to us and to the children.
All in all, do we say it's worth it? I am not so sure... hehe... but at least I am proud that we upgraded the food - first day's lunch at Mama Chops & Papa Grill (Western) and second day's lunch at Rempah Garden (Malay). Bravo for the economy!
Reported by Sandy Tan
With each programme concluded, we reach another milestone. However, I have to say that even programmes with the same "name" can turn out very differently. This is because each group has its unique dynamics. In this latest group, there were a new noisy and boisterous participants and we had to adapt accordingly. For group activity, we had a debate on the topic "Women are better leaders than men". The guys were made to propose (support) while the gals had to oppose. What's more, listeners were allowed to cheer or jeer the speaker and throw paper balls at them. In the midst of the excitement, even the quiet ones raised their voices above the noise and braved the paper balls to present their views.
Still, the highlight of the programme was the final session where parents were invited to attend and watch their children deliver a final speech. Some participants spoke about their parents' love and sacrifice for them, and told their parents how much they loved them. It was a touching moment for all.
We were glad that everyone was happy in the end, including the several participants who were not happy at first, being forced by their parents to attend. Eventually, everyone felt it was worthwhile. Reported by Sandy Tan
This was ProSkills Trainers' very own first programme which was open to the public. The programme almost didn't happen as we did not plan for it earlier. We only decided to have it after we received several "enquiries" about such a programme for students. After fixing the dates and making the announcement, unfortunately, several prospective participants could not make it. It also took awhile for the other prospective participants (rather, their parents) to confirm. The most common concern had to do with the composition of participants. "Would my son/daughter fit in and benefit from the programme?" I assured them that each participant would be given personal attention and make progress individually, so there's no need to worry too much what the other participants are like. It took some persuasion and in the end we managed to "round up" 9 participants. An ok number. :) The programme went smoothly. I was personally amazed at the progress made by the participants within such a short time. I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.
Reported by Sandy Tan |
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