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(I'm just going to put everything in this one part ^^)

Honestly, truthfully, I was not looking forward to going back to school during the holidays. At all. But Eventually (by the end of two days, I mean), I don't regret waking up early in the morning those two days. I guess one of the reasons why I didn't entirely look forward to the workshop is because every time I hear the word "workshop" what I get is a boring lecture in a classroom with probably an instructor telling me things I (have to humbly) say I already know, such as "having a positive mindset to conquer fear", then playing some "icebreaker" games that have no relevance whatsoever with the objective of the workshop.

Some of the time spent in the workshop was still theory, especially I think the second day, and I nearly dozed off quite a few times (as I always accidentally do). However. I suppose it's not possible to go completely without theory. The workshop (although short) taught a lot more than some (school organized) workshops I've been (forced to go) to which were infinitely longer than the 8 (was it 8?) hours combined. It was captivating because Ms Rose was seemed like she had a unique teaching style of her own, which gave an interesting break from the usual droning on and on and on - and the workshop itself had icebreakers and *activities which played some role in helping us to understand what was just taught or what was going to be taught, for example, the eye contact exercise, where we learned the importance of eye contact and the very first one, with the handshake, where we learned the importance of giving a good first impression, something I realized I am not very good at (oops).

*One of the most important activities, though, I feel was the part where everyone had to go up and speak about any topic we wanted to, intermittently throughout the duration of the session. They are what helped us summarize and remember all we learned by applying them in a real life scenario. By going up and experiencing, we not only could see and experience for ourselves what we learned, but could also receive valuable feedback from Ms Rose on the areas we could further improve on. For me, it would be the way I put my hand behind my back (something to work on) I never noticed could be anything but habitual.

Something I didn't entirely like about the session was that certain things we were taught were generalized. For example, what Ms Rose classified under the feeling of fear, may not have been fear to some people, but more of a general feeling that one may experience whether or not the person is in front of an audience - Certain things apply to different people differently. However, I do think that most of it is still quite applicable generally and it IS impossible to have every one feel the same way under the same circumstances, so there isn't anything I feel I am really against.

I learned from this session that what I may usually blow off (how I feel etc) is extremely important and may be a great factor to how I present myself in front of an audience. For example, it has never occurred to me that perhaps walking around the stage might be a good gesture, but the way I do it (more on one side and not the other) gives an impression of nervousness. Now I can rethink why I do just that, and find the reason and work on that area of improvement. I also learned that first impressions, which I usually do not note, are detrimental of how the person you're meeting may treat you in future. I learned it from when we were taught that a firm handshake shows that you're a confident and warm person, and a loose grip gives the impression of sloppiness, some things that I never thought of before. With all this new learning I can (hopefully) improve on how I present myself to people, as well as improve on skills I previously (unfortunately, complacently) prided myself on (geez that's - wow, never thought of it).

In a nutshell, I am glad I was given (and that I took) the chance to attend this session, and the session has definitely been beneficial in allowing me to know my areas for improvement.

Apologies for the undeniably informal reflection and highly possible rambling, as well as any errors etc I made.

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I liked how enthusiastic Ms Rose was, it boosted my confidence enough for me to step on the stage without wanting to breakdown. As an introvert and a pessimistic person I doubted that by the end of a mere TWO days I could talk in front of a crowd, no matter how big or small. But to my surprise... I did.
On the first day I was generally surprised and pleased that this wasn't an ordinary lecture with a droning coach which preached the exact same thing any boring teacher would but nope! They gave us experience and that threw me off guard. I was a nervous wreck to be honest. But through this session I met everyone, got to shake hands and I got to know shockingly optimistic bright people like Caroline, Xin Hui and LJ (aka Liang Jie Chong).
Overall, I enjoyed the two days of so called training for the next years' pressurizing public speaking debate competitions which I definitely will never ever in my entire life win. It was fun. But if someone ever asks me, Hey Eliza, would you go back on stage ever?
Well the answer is...
Hell to the NO. (Sorry for the informality in this note, I just don't see a need to be extremely polite in a personal reflection. You could say I'm a rather honest person.)
I heard from a certain someone *cough* Kenny *cough* that there were writing competitions instead so goodbye stage, hello my beautiful pen and paper! I rather contribute to the school in a rather not so flashy way with the blinding smile and all that shining magical presence. Just... No. Sorry. I cannot express my emotions so... Easily? It's just so awkward. So, nope.
Going back to the topic at hand of the two days, I have to say I rather did a good job compared to all my rather unsightly attempts at public speaking months ago. So, thank you for letting me go through this experience, I learnt quite a lot over the span of two days. But my soul fits in the audience.

Day 1: Awkward ice breaking and Lee Kwan Yew humiliating an american interviewer live by burning him. Horrible acting and Victory poses that allowed me to stretch my sore muscles. We learnt about tonality, eye contact, power words and body language. We also did a 7 second impression challenge. Oh, and also a short presentation! ... Or was that the 7 second challenge?

Day 2: Creating presence, doing group debates where everyone messed up their scripts and applying what we learnt the first day.

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I like how engaging these sessions was. as a kinesthectic learner, I felt I could learn better in the environment they provided which allowed me to apply the theory I just learnt and move around. Thus, making it easier for me to learn and apply. I also like the fact that all of us were given equal opportunities to speak out and go onto the stage to present.
One thing I didn't like about the sessions was that it still included learning the typical way which is sitting on a chair looking at a screen and learning the theory. It might have been better if we could sit on the floor or learning the theory in a practical way. But overall, it was relatively refreshing and easier to learn.
I have learnt alot from this session such as how to improve our presentation not only through content but through our appearance and way we give the speech. the importance of giving speech in different tone to make it more interesting, the importance of eye contact and engaging the audience etc. Through the this session, I felt more confident overall and more relaxed. By more relaxed means the content and how we presented. usually in classes, we must present in this strict way of standing still, looking smart. but in the session, they didn't stress on our content and allowed humour to be use widely and it is even allowed actually.
Since now, I have learnt about actually being able to move around, to start off with questions and even include humour. It will definitely make presenting in class and elsewhere easier and more comfortable. An example will be next time in class, instead of always standing at the teachers table, I can move around at the front and allow more contact with my audience to engage them. I can also make some jokes and ask questions to make them entertained and willing to continue watching my presentation.

DAY 1:
we did a simple ice breaker to start off the session, then we watched Mr Lee Kuan Yew's speech to learn how he presents. We did an "act" on anxiety, nervous, fear etc. we also did the victory pose. Most importantly, also the first impression matters activity to remind us on how important first impression actually is and how we can make a good first impression. Day 1 was also the day we have more theory such as what is tonality, "7:38:55", eye contact, body language and how do we do them properly.

DAY 2:
it focused more on creating presence and slowly goes into the way we present a content instead of first impressions. we learnt about how and when to apply the correct tone, language, posture and passion towards different speech type. Day 2 was more of presenting and really applying what we have learnt the day before and seek to improve ourself.

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I like that this session allows me to learn more about public speaking and to overcome it as a fear. It is also more interactive and I felt more engaged as compared to lessons in a class where do I do not really have the chance to speak and usually have a very inattentive audience. The session could have more games (that are less awkward) to encourage bonding and let us have fun. I have learnt how to bring across a message by speaking coherently with better presentation and content. I can apply these skills when I'm put in a situation where I have to speak to an audience.

Day 1: We did some ice-breaking exercises to get to know each other well and got a first hand try on presenting on stage. It was kinda difficult at first but it became less terrible with each try. We learnt about what makes a good speech and the different ways to carry one out, by using tonality, pitch, volume and how to look proper when presenting. I learnt that positive thoughts will not come to a negative mind. We had to make eye contact with each other for 4 or 10 seconds and it was not really normal but it did teach us how to properly make eye contact with someone as part of engaging people in a speech.

Day 2: we got to do more speeches and had more time on the stage. I have learnt how to improve my reading skills and expression. We did speeches based on a number of selected topics, "what people want". We got to do "debates" in groups of 3 and though it wasn't really like a proper debate, it was still interesting to try it out. We learnt about magical presences and personalities and how that would affect the speech

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i liked this session as it is differents from normal lessons i go through. there was more practical and moving rather than sitting in a classroom juz listening to what the teacher. in class sometime i find myself zoning out but for this it was really interesting and makes me curious to learn. i dislike this session as we did not get to choose our debate topics. and it was not like a debate i expected, i thought it would be like u get to fight back and state a point instead of juz stating our point. however it was still fun and challenging. i learnt to work with people i do not know well,  to be more confident when speaking and to be more conscious of what i  doing to have a good impression on others. i can apply what i learn in my upcoming event where i would have to be the MC. after this event i conquered my fear of standing on stage and learning the posture and hand gesture for when on stage.

Day1:

i learnt the effects on power speeches. it us when a speech is inportant and influence other people decision. i learnt that we should not be tunnel minded and open our mind to the endless possiblility. having fear is that the way we feel and think. however sometime the way we see a certain thing may not be real. building up confidence can help to conquer our fears. different poses can mean different things for example having you hands on your waist shows that one has a higher power. i learn how important the first impression was and how to give a good and impactful first impression. i also lesrnt the different tonality in a speech. pitch, loudness and speed. we had to stare into each other eyes for 4-10 sec and although it was awkward, the eyes is the window to your soul. just by lookinn into ones eyes you can tell if they are irritated, sad or happy. we then had to give a 1 min speech and come out with a topic. overall it was fun and interesting.

day2:

i learnt a out magical presence and how to debate. making a magical presence is xatching the audience attention by our words, action and power words we use. we did a speech on 'what people wants'. i did not want to give the speech at first as i did not know what ill say and everyone before me had very good speeches. after everyone gave their speeches, i had to give my speech too. i was scared of what others would think about my speech however i gave my speech. afterwards one friend had to hold a paper anf the other had to read it out with expression and hand gestures. i was the first group and i didnt know what was expected so afer our turn the trainer showed us an example. then we had a debate, we neither get to choose our group nor our topic we were debating on. the debate i thought would be done did not go as the way i thought. i thought it would be one party stating their poiny while the other oppose to the statement and state her or his point. although it did not go as i hoped it would be, it was still meaningful and exciting. overall the whole 2 day workshop was challening but meaningful.

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Compared to many other lessons I went through about public speaking,this was one of the first that i really enjoyed going through and waking up so early for.The activities that we did really gave us a chance to apply what we had learnt like posture,hand movements and face signs.It gave us a chance to understand what did factors are important to public speaking and why we need it.We also got to found out our weakness through the activities.The trainer was able to engage me throughout the entire time i was there.I wasn't bored listening to the theory or the practical too.She tried to make a personal connection between her and us by trying to know our names and asking us individually to give our thoughts and opinions about each activities.

On the first day,we started out with games like ice breaker just to allow us to know one other.We also learnt how to give a proper handshake and the factors in having a good speech,like having power words,body language,tone,pitch and hand movements.We were also told to smile so as to make our self feel more friendly to the audience which was somewhat challenging to me as i did not know whether i was smiling or not.I also learnt to have eye contact with the audience so as to attract the audience and make it feel like you are talking to them.I also learnt that the biggest fear was public speaking and that was true for me.At the last section of Day 1,we were tasked each to give a debate on any topic we want.When i went up on stage,I was quite nervous as to how to introduce myself.My first attempt went badly and so did my second attempt as i stuttered on the word 'I'.

On the second day,i learnt how to be more attractive to the audience personality wise and how to have a magical appearance like many singers or celebrities have when people meet them.I also did the elevator exercise where i had to pretend if i was having a conversation with the person with me in the lift.The main point of the activity was to focus on our hand gestures.It really gave me the chance of using my hands as what i had to say was already prepared and ready for me,i did not had to think on the spot and hence be so focused on my thoughts and not my action.The last activity was the debate.The group was separated into groups of three and given ten minutes to prepare their debate on the given topics.For my group,we were going to debate about why plastic surgery was bad.At the start of the planning phase,all was well till we ran out of time.We were forced to thunk of what we were going to say on the spot. Through the process,i learnt not to laugh when telling a joke and not to "dance" when speaking on stage

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overall:
what was different from what I think it would be like. I thought it was going to be a 3-4 hour talk about how to speak in public with a instructor talking like a robot. It turned out to me nor interesting  than what i thought. The instructor was vary hyper and enthusiastic and there were a lot of activities for us to try and practice four ourselves and also help me get to know the the other people in the class. it also challenges me to work with people the I am not familiar. I AM VERY THANKFUL for the opportunity given to me the teachers to go for this workshop.

day 1:
In the first day i learn about my strength and and who i am. I learn that we are more fermail with others a round us more than we know about our self. We were shone how LKY speaks to foreign journalist who say that Asians are dumb by asking why the ang mo feel that wany in a clam way. Ms rose said that fear is false evidence appearing real. to be a confident speaker, we need to acknowledge our anxiety, nervousness, fear, over confident and introvert. she ask us to display all this emotional. we also learn the power pose. also learn to maintain eye contact, stay positive, good body language, don't boast, smile, good appearance, remember the person name and practice. we learn tonality and pichest and eye contact. All this new skills and knowledge will definitely help me in meeting people and public speaking.
day 2 :

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I like how

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•What i liked about this workshop is that it isnt like other workshops where we are made to sit  3-4 hours just listening to the trainer talk about public speaking. This workshop allows us to practice public speaking, thinking out of the box and also learn the ways of looking presentable when public speaking. There was also alot of interaction opportunities which i found interesting. •What i disliked about this workshop is that the debate had fixed topics, some in which we were not very familiar with or know much about. •From this workshop, i learn that it is crucial for me to think out of the box, and that there are many ways to attract the audience's attention, such as adding humour to the speech. I also learnt that posture and gestures are important to make the speech more interesting compared to just standing in the centre of the stage, unmovingly while speaking. •I find this workshop very beneficial. I am able to apply what i've learnt in class. I am able to speak more confidentally and with more expression than before. When it comes to presentations, i am also able to apply what i have learnt during this course. day one: On the first day, we learnt about anxiety, fear and nervousness. We were asked to express these emotions to our partners, through our facial expressions and actions. We also had to do a one minute speech on any topic, but were only given 5 minutes to think about what to talk about. This caused me to panic a little, but in the end, I managed to complete the one minute. We also learnt about tones and posture, how to look presentable. At first, I was unsure about this workshop and was feeling rather awkward and uncomfortable when it had just begun. Throughout the days we got to speak 'on stage' and communicate between each other which slowly boosted my confidence up. I felt alot better and less shy around my peers when i realised most of us were all feeling the same way. day two: I was feeling nervous for day two because we were told that there would be a debate. We were taught about 'clarity' and then was asked to speak infront of everyone. Everyone was getting better and less unsure about themselves as compared to yesterday. We learnt to vary our tones when reading and how to be eye catching, instead of mundane. We watched a speech from the Toastmasters competition and i was drawn to the speaker's speech. Then, we got into groups of threes and were given topics to either propose or oppose on. Throughout the day i learnt alot about how to better speak in public, i also learned a little about myself

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i like how this session teaches me how to convince people on a topic i'm sharing with my own stage personality, because i usually hide behind the mask of a character i'm portraying for drama, and so this a new experience in which i'm not familiar with.
it taught me how to have a stage presence and build my confidence on presenting on stage.
however, i was still nervous without a speech as my thoughts tend to be incoherent and thus not presented clearly.
i didn't like some of the topics given because they were rather vague.
i learnt how to have dramatic pauses in btwn times for the audience to react and to leave an impact. i also learnt how to engage the audience using humour and hand gestures.
i can use this in the future for when i am trying to communicate an idea across to pple.

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Day 1 :

I like how the class was conducted, more practical compared theory. Lessons was also easy to understand. The class was also quite small, which enabled to feel more comfortable.

I learnt how to stand properly while presenting. I also learnt how to ice break properly, to make sure that the person knows i am sincere.

These can be appiled when i am trying to make new friends, or when i am trying to present something to the class.

Day 2:

It was really helpful, in my opinion that we taught the different speeches and how to present them. The lesson was clear and very engaging. We were also constantly reminded of our weaknesses when we present, which made me more conscious of it.

It will help me as when i am presenting to someone, i would be more conscious of my actions and not 'dance' and to not spread my arms too much.

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What do you like from this session?

What do you not like from this session?

What have you learnt from this session?

How can you apply your learning to practical use?

Day 1:

Day 2: