UM PUBLIC SPEAKING TEAM’S FIRST ONLINE SPEECH TRAINING
UM’s Public Speaking Team recently had the pleasure of hosting a two-day peech evaluation training, which was the 1st online contest. Considering that the university could not resume classes in the anti-COVID-19 period, an online contest via ZOOM was conducted. Aimed at sharpening our speakers’ written skills, enhancing their appreciation for the work of their peers, and further developing their critical analysis, we planned a contest in which all members were required to write speeches on the topic “Manifest your dream.” This topic was borrowed from Asian English Olympics’ (AEO) 2020 contest. Students were told to submit their speeches before we gathered them all together, randomized the order and presented it to the whole team. All written speeches were kept anonymous, and fellow team members were asked to evaluate and give constructive criticism in the form of a two-minute speech.
Each written submission was read aloud for the whole team by either an evaluator, fellow team member or one of the coaches before the evaluation speeches were given. Due to time constraint, the contest was split into two days, which resulted in two pairs of winners: one evaluator and one speech writer. The coaches served as modulators and gave their tips, comments and praises at the end of both contest days. The voting system was based completely on the team members anonymously sending their votes to the coaches for tallying. We are pleased to announce CLARA (FBA,HC, SHEAC) and CASSIE(FST, HFPJC)as our best speech writers for this contest, along with ROSEN(FBA, MCMC) and TONGTONG(FBA, LCWC) as our best evaluators.
Of course, we would like to commend all our students for their participation, enthusiasm and genuine effort! Receiving prepared, proper evaluations from fellow speakers is not something all speakers experience, and we were pleased to have witnessed everyone’s genuine interest in and admiration of their peers’ efforts and skills. All in all, everyone was able to pinpoint areas to improve in, realize strengths they were not aware they possessed in writing or in evaluating, and enjoy this opportunity to bond with their peers. It is our hope that everyone continues to work hard and will do a better job in the future!
Student Resources Section | Student Affairs Office
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