Another Workshop Successfully Held: Presentation Skills and Public Speaking
Organised by the “Serbian Youth Association” and the Centre for Education and Research (CER), another “Presentation Skills and Public Speaking” workshop was successfully held in the hall of the “Semberija” Cultural Centre in Bijeljina on 30 November 2015. Interested citizens, including representatives of organisations, had the opportunity to follow the techniques of public speaking, its pitfalls and possibilities.
Organized by the “Serbian Youth Alliance” citizens’ association and the Center for Education and Research (CER), another workshop was successfully held in the hall of the “Semberija” Cultural Center in Bijeljina on 30. November 2015. “Presentation skills and public speaking.”
Interested citizens—including representatives of civil society organizations and institutions, unemployed young people, and students—had the opportunity to follow a session on mastering public speaking techniques, pitfalls, and possibilities. Through various ways of presenting this demanding and broad subject, the lecturers, who sought to impart theoretical and practical knowledge, held the attention of 30 participants.
Interactive public-speaking workshops help equip participants to speak more persuasively and effectively before an audience, improve their skills in overcoming fear and stage fright, use their voice and diction correctly as tools of persuasion, and understand the importance of body language in presentations—all to build self-confidence and assurance when speaking.
The desire to make the best possible impression—and the resulting fear of public speaking—is, according to numerous studies, the most highly ranked fear of the modern day. Appearing in the media is never easy, especially if it is your first time in your career. However, an opportunity to speak in public and promote yourself or your organisation/institution should not be turned down; it should be embraced, because it is free PR that can be very useful if you prepare and deliver it well.
On the other hand, according to audience perceptions, statistics show that as much as 55% of a first impression is “down to” clothing, behaviour and the way you walk, 38% to the quality of your voice, grammar and confidence, and only 7% to your choice of words.
Therefore, experts also recommend working constantly to transform fear into energy that can then be channeled in the desired direction. Remember, the ancient Greeks were right when they said “A poet is born; a speaker is made”!
