voice and audience contact

Two general observations had been made among the kids that have enrolled this summer for public speaking and journalism. Out of the nine only two showed confidence in projecting themselves with the right volume of the voice, while the rest still needs more training in this area. This can be achieved after more practice and drills which they are getting every meeting. Another thing which they need to work on is audience contact. It seems like majority of the kids have the tendency to look everywhere---the roof, windows, floor --- and avoid looking at their classmates who serve as their audience. Eye contact is vital in putting across your message. Without this, everything else fails. So these two aspects of public speaking will have to dealt with early on before proceeding to more serious topics. Today, a review on the parts of the stage will be done for the sake of those who were absent yesterday, then we move on to gestures, how important they are and the different types, then the different public speaking situations will be discussed. There is so much to be done with too little time but my goal really is to make these kids excel in their classes and in school because of the skills they have gained from this month-long seminar workshop.