By: FAUZIA BANO and SYED TASMIYAH ANDRABI
On the concluding day of the very first and impressive Women’s leadership summit, the penultimate panel was taken by University’s Debating and Literary Club’s Secretary, Ansab Amir, who conducted a workshop on Public Speaking, something which many students struggle with. He began with explaining that no one has the power to make anyone speak except the person himself/ herself. He added that no one can speak our minds, opinions and thoughts better than us. By incorporating activities where he asked the audience to talk amongst themselves and then express the other’s ideas, he kept the workshop very intriguing and engaging.
Moving on, Amir detailed the fine points that tie together to finesse the art of Public Speaking by breaking it down to points and explaining that Public Speaking is not just a a medium of communication but also a tool to stand for one’s opinions, views and a way of conveying our understanding to the other person. ‘Relations in Public Speaking is the factor that restricts a speaker, one should try and never let that bind one from speaking out his/her mind. The silence which ordinarily is encouraged and called beautiful, is what actually shackles an individual’. Silence isn’t always a virtue especially when it restricts one from fighting for a cause, the same Golden silence becomes the shackles holding oneself back, remarked, the Secretary. Further, he urged that people should give voice to their opinions and thoughts as it’s every individual’s right to oppose any biases and be the catalyst to the change, which one can not achieve by maintaining the “golden” silence.
‘While being opinionated and assertive is good, a public speakers should never forget their etiquettes and always be respectful, whether it is reciprocated or not’, said the secretary. To get started with public speaking, he suggested that a speaker should follow the Murphy’s law, that says, ”Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” and listed out the basics that public speaking plinths on. Continuing with the hallmarks of a good public speaker, he talked about the need to consider language as a mere medium rather than a parametre to weigh knowlege. Pointing out the importance of personal reading, he said that a good speech is marked by a good research. He suggested that a beginner should start from informal avenues including watching online videos. However, he warned that eloquence of public speakers often manipulates beginners to structure themselves like them, which he strongly defied. Concluding with reiteration, he urged that students to break free from all the chains that hold them behind and keep them from voicing themselves and their opinions.
