CONGRATZ to IPSC 2011 WINNERS

This is a truly awesome experience. A grand meeting of great minds and talented, persuasive speakers...i'm glad that the event has brought together participants from various levels namely Foundation, Diploma, Degree and Masters...also, it's ONE MALAYSIA with some international flavour..at least 5 international students joined the competition and Twisha made it to the Finals. Well... 71 participants registered...and this is healthy for a public speaking competition at UNITEN...our friends from GMI, UPSI, Muazzam, and UKM have made it even merrier. Too bad, APIT and KLIUC had to pull out last minute. Let's hope they could join the competition next year.

Thanks to IPSC 2011 committee for a job well done. Yupp!! It's lecturers and students working together on the project that propels success and memento at UNITEN. This year, it's NATIONAL INTER-RESIDENTIAL PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION...next year shall witness a bigger success with better prizes and lucky draws..he..he..more sponsors???

To all our WINNERS, please don't stop here, okay... the journey has only begun. love alwiz from me and IPSC community. Let's make things happen!!!

Here are some photos as memento. of course you can also check the rest of the album on my facebook.

1st Inter-residential Public Speaking Competition

The 1st Inter-residential Public Speaking Competition shall make its debut on 28th May 2011...a total of 67 students from pre-university to degree to masters have registered for the event..it will definitely be awesome!UNITEN, UNITEN-Muazzam, UKM, UCTI, UPSI, GMI.

COme on!! Let's make time for public speaking!!! Show your support for the speakers.

VENUE: Admin Theatre, Admin Building, UNITEN 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. free admission.

The theme is LEADERSHIP 2013. It's definitely a challenge for our contestants, so let's see how they unravel truths, explore new boundaries, and make breakthroughs through words and wisdom! Here's persuasion like you have ever dreamed of! It's happening at UNITEN and together, we shall make a difference.

~on behalf of the public speaking community~

What happens to an UnPopular idea?

Imagine this. You are so motivated to speak up, and share your opinion with friends and all. As you prepare to claim the platform, you also realize one possible challenge. Your so-called brilliant idea may not be popular among the audience, that it may not be well-received, inviting some kind of disagreement and opposition, and you may have to bear unforeseen consequences. What would you do?

In a collectivist society like Malaysia, speakers have to play by tonnes of rules, norms, and discretion. To present an unpopular idea takes courage, persuasion, and creativity. Interestingly, some of these unpopular ideas are wisdoms, insights, and breakthroughs. Hence, to back off is absolutely out of the question!

By theory, most individuals will scrutinize the communication and cultural climate before they present their unpopular ideas. Noelle-Neumann's (1974) 'spiral of silence' explicates that people speak out when ideas are popular and become silent when they start to lose ground. Hmm...this explains why some clever ideas end up silenced and invisible.

What about you??? As much as this situation may trigger social-psychological discomfort, if you could muster enough courage, your seemingly unpopular idea can emerge as a groundbreaking claim. In other words, as there is majority vote, research shows that minority influence can also win people's hearts and conscience. Think positive+++.

Now, I invite you to take a moment to reflect and explain your stance on this trigger: In terms of percentage (0%-100%), how likely will you express your own opinion in situations when it is UnPopular?

The Nervous Speaker

What should you do if you suffer from nervousness every time you are assigned to speak in public? It sounds almost threatening to even admit that public speaking has become so essential nowadays. In other words, you just can't ignore or avoid it.

Particularly for students, oral presentations and speeches make up a handsome portion of the assessment. For working adults, the talent and ability to speak eloquently in public may promise promotions, popularity and influence. Hence, experts advise handling this phenomenon with care as it may impinge your reputation, career and future.

Some people claim that nervousness is a normal experience for beginning speakers. I agree. With adequate exposure and practice, things will look better. Maturity and experience in life mould composure in public speakers.

When I started public speaking, I remember the painful jitters and tremors. I told myself that I should find strategies to prevent the audience from noticing my nervousness. I memorized my speech and presented it with proper modulation of voice and eloquence. Later, I developed the habit of reading so that I could talk and argue on almost anything, with conviction. Some topics may be difficult, so I took the trouble to prepare and do sufficient research.

There are loads of advice on how to handle nervousness in public speaking in the market. Nevertheless, you must select the most appropriate for your personality and oratory skills.The list can go on, but does any of the tips to combat nervousness work for you? Do you actually need 'prescription' or does the remedy actually develop with age and familiarity?

Whatever your public speaking experience entails, please remember that nervousness shouldn't impede determination to explore this realm of elegance. I wish you all the best in your future speaking endeavours.

Would you like to reflect and share your encounter with 'nervousness'? The last time you were nervous in public, what did you do? What did you tell yourself? What was the secret ingredient that gave you the strength to conquer your nervousness in public speaking?

Welcoming the New Semester:)

Soon, the new semester will open and I certainly hope to meet enthusiastic undergraduates who are determined to succeed academically as well as socially, emotionally and spiritually. Theory and experience has taught us a great deal about interpersonal and intrapersonal strength in coping with challenges in the university. Let's pray that you take heed to this and muster more courage in your struggle for excellence in tertiary education.

Easier said than done? But things always have to start with something, somewhere, so let it begin with my kind reminder cum advice.

I guess I'll be teaching public speaking this time around, but there's no confirmation yet. If so, I'd be more than excited. Really, I just can't wait to groom more public speakers, scout talents for UNITEN EDSoc.'s debate team, and witness a whole class of future leaders speaking up their minds on issues and matters of importance and grievance, planning for their immediate future as well as the nation, deliberating ideas, and debunking invalid arguments. Let's just say that I anticipate a class of active and enthusiastic learners wanting to polish their public speaking skills, and not to forget, budding talents who are grasping with theory and interested in further practice on the public speaking challenge.

If you are a writer, not yet a speaker, you are also most welcomed to join the circle. I believe that speaking and writing are so beautifully connected. The only difference lies in how much guts you need to speak your mind. Seriously! But if you don't care about guts, face, and pride, and your only concern is passing the course with flying colours - then public speaking course will turn the writer in you into a fantabuluos public speaker. Just remember to talk a lot outside class, guess that's a handy kit:)

You may want to visit this link and read my simple article on the speaking-writing connection. hopefully, this piece of mind will motivate you a bit more...

<http://ezinearticles.com/?Public-Speaking-Challenge-And-The-Writing-Connection&id=1137252>.

Looking forward to seeing all of you again in the real classroom, and the speaking community.

Got a Topic for Public Speaking?

A friend comes around one day and asks, "Why do children watch so much television until they forget about socializing?"

If you are a parent yourself, preparing a speech topic for a PTA assembly, this will be an appropriate discussion topic. You can grab the chance to educate parents about the influence of television on children, and remind them to encourage their children to mingle with peers and the neighbourhood friends.

Nevertheless, will this topic attract the attention of teenagers or university students? Is this a major concern in their everyday lives? If they listen to you, will they gain benefit almost immediately?

Public speaking students always start their speaking challenge with informative speech. This type of speech is easier to begin with, compared to persuasive and argumentative speech. It's a speech genre almost anybody can handle - provided you pick a suitable topic.

The first rule is to investigate your audience. You can do a simple survey by merely checking if friends would be interested to learn about hacking? employability? communication skills for IS professionals? animal testing? illegal immigrants? etc.

Next, pick a topic that you feel comfortable presenting and discussing in front of so many people. Avoid topics that have been a taboo in your life, or sensitive issues, prejudices, etc.

Doing an extensive research on your topic will help you play the role of the "expert" - at least, that you know 70% and your audience have a grasp of 30%...on the topic. Basically, as a speaker, you have to inform the crowd about your topic.

Because you "are" the speaker, the audience will assume that you have some extra information to share with them. Think about this - if it's not significant, it might as well be a one-minute conversation topic at the cafe, or bus-stop.

A careful analysis on both, yourself and your audience, will help you take off gracefully. Later, you can start to worry about other aspects of success in public speaking like content, delivery and language.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking??? Yes, it's time to share, and it's good to learn from each other. Seniors in public speaking, what were among the best topics you have delivered? For the juniors, if you're still searching for a suitable topic, tell us about it and see what kind of feedback you can get from this community. All the best.

Have you tried "storytelling"?

Sounds childish? Definitely not. Childlike, may be..which is positive indeed. This is a common genre of creative speech that is discussed at TESL conferences. As much as it is mostly children who participate in storytelling competitions, students in secondary school, colleges and higher istitutions may want to try it out themselves.

My children have tried storytelling, and these stories have taken them through challenging moments on stage, losing and also winning the prizes and incentives, of course. To me, what really matters is that they find enough courage in themselves to stand in front of a big audience, being only 7,8, and 9 then, participate, and learn the tru meaning of perseverence (lots of practice) and endeavour. Congratz Nadia & Farah. You are such darlings:)

Why storytelling, you may ask. Well, most interestingly, it improves your paralanguage ( which is like icing to d birthday cake & spice to mamak's curry). That includes intonation, voice, expressions,...hmmm..can imagine a speech embedded with these effects? a conversation embellished with these secret formulas?

Like reading aloud, try storytelling. Grab a big book this moment and have lots of fun. Enjoy.

Speak up: Deliberating the Barriers and Challenges

Given a choice, how many of our undergraduates will voluntarily enrol for a "speech course" or "public speaking class" and earn credits for the semester?

Despite promotion posters and attractive rewards for a public speaking competition or elocution contest, how can we guarantee that new faces will participate and compete for the trophy?

The current demands of evaluation in education as well as employability imposes on our undergraduates to possess adequate skills and courage to speak up, present ideas, argue and negotiate. The onus is on them to develop this skill.

Swain (1985) wrote, "We learn to speak by speaking".

But it's not as easy to speak up and talk to others about our ideas. Common problems like nervousness, lack of confidence, and low self-esteem may create barriers to beginners. Given a bit of exposure on theories and practice, some will still refuse to speak up.

In our daily lives, we speak more than we write. But some of us still find public speaking, or even speaking in a group discussion, an ordeal, a nightmare, and a tough challenge indeed.