I'm currently designing a speech/debate and presentation skills course for teenagers. The academic goal is to help them feel more comfortable speaking in public and gain self confidence in the process. My personal goal, just like any class I create, is that I make sure they are engaged, entertained and learning. It's meant to be purposeful and fun.
So...how do I create that balance?
Because I have academic and professional experience speaking and facilitating, I will use that as the basis for the course. The technical meat-and-potatoes stuff. But I think it's really important to remember some of my other experiences: being a shy kid. I'll be sharing personal stories with them, reflecting on what I went through as a quiet, teased, low self-esteemed little girl. Then I'll tell them about how I changed it and how I'm STILL working on it as an adult. I'm going to be honest with them, because that's the only way the class will flourish as an authentic learning and growing environment.
We're going to talk about their strengths, qualities they admire in a speaker, qualities they find distracting in a speaker and so on. There will be TED talks, there will be YouTube videos and there will be a lot of personalizing. The first thing I'm going to do is ask them what they want to know and help them to find the answers. The course is a living system and it will change and grow just like the students and I will on this journey.
I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to, among other things, develop courses for individuals of all ages. I'll be sharing more updates along the way since this is only the beginning and it ends in February.
Let me know if you enjoy this kind of content! I have plenty to share.
Rachel
Twitter: PerceptionHQ
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