In pursuit of sharing their experiences, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Humboldt and Area have partnered with the regional Toastmasters club to train some of their older youths on how to speak in public as part of their new ambassador program.
“What they’re trying to do is teach the kids about public speaking so when they go out into the community, they can talk about their experience,” said Susan Hall, one of the mentors and a former Toastmasters member. “We want to make sure they have the skill and confidence to talk to the public and the media.”
They’ve already held the first of the three planned training sessions, during which they focused on how to structure a speech with a beginning, middle, and end. Since the kids are all between ages 11 and 16, it isn’t very difficult for them to learn and they’ve even exceeded expectations.
“They’ve actually been doing very well. We gave them a topic to speak on and they all went over the two minutes the first time. We were amazed at that,” said Francis Washkowsky, president of Toastmasters.
The challenge Washkowsky’s referring to is a small exercise most members usually do to get used to impromptu speaking. An individual has to stand up and speak for two minutes about a topic that is give to them. Doing so gives the leaders of the session a chance to evaluate various things such as eye contact, pauses, and “ums” or “aahs.”
From that first session, Washkowsky now has a better idea of what things they can focus on for their next session.
“We’ll try and get them to evaluate each others’ speeches, how they structure them, if they’re in logical order, if they have an interesting opening, and also that they don’t close it off too abruptly,” said Washkowsky. “We try to explain to them that each speech has three parts and that they should be specific.”
According to Hall, the kids are taught vocal variety and gestures so that they’re not monotone and staring the wall behind the audience.
They’ll also be able to use these skills at school such as when teachers call on them.
Hall also said the kids did a great job for their first time.
“I’ve seen people get tears in their eyes because they’re so overwhelmed,” she said. “The kids spoke for at least two minutes and they were just awesome. I think because they were in a safe place and everyone’s got your back, that’s why they were able to do so well.”
Hall said the impromptu speaking is very important because when the media wants to talk to them, they won’t know what questions they’re going to be asked.
However, the instructors still have to keep in mind that even though they’re doing well, they’re still young.
“I don’t think it’s a whole lot different explaining to them (as opposed to adults); maybe you have to be a touch more detailed, but they seem to catch on to what you’re saying just as fast, if not faster, than older people,” said Washkowsky. “You have to keep in mind that they’re young and be sensitive to their feelings; maybe be more gentle in your speaking.”
Including mentors, there are about 14 participants, five of whom are youths.
