You Can’t Learn Public Speaking Online … or Can You?

The recent suspension of all centre-based classes and the stricter Work-from-Home (WFH) measures mean that e-learning is here to stay for the long haul. For your child, home-based learning is already a familiar term bandied about as the new mode to continue their education. We understand that the transition can be less than comfortable. In fact, the transition has led to more queries from parents to us, asking about the effectiveness of online sessions for a skill such as public speaking. Let us share more about how this works for your child.

As a start, we are not going to sugar-coat it – the online setting is definitely different from a typical physical classroom. The absence of face-to-face interaction may be a slight barrier to the experience itself. Still, this should not affect your child’s learning experience. Online learning, even for communication skills, is not uncommon (some universities even run online courses for skills such as negotiation!). When done right, the learning experience can be valuable, insightful, and engaging for your child.

The current measures have also meant that the Public Speaking Academy must transit to our e-learning platform. In this article, we will share how we have tailored our lesson plan to ensure that your child’s learning experience is maximised.

Benefit #1: Tailored Lesson Plan

Our e-learning lesson plan for the Speech Excellence Programme is more than just a copy-paste of our physical classroom to the virtual world. This means no pre-recorded videos, no long lectures, and no shortened duration for your child’s classes. Instead, we design our e-learning lessons specifically to ensure that the techniques covered do match the context. For example, in teaching persuasive speech skills, we focus on punchy, sales-based persuasion for a start instead of merely diving into traditional speech crafting.

We received many queries on how e-learning sessions can compensate for the loss in the physical audience. We believe that this is not an insurmountable barrier – the key is to adapt existing public speaking/communication skills to match the relevant private setting. Instead, shift the focus on the potential for the large ‘online’ audience and how your child’s words must now reach out to a bigger crowd. Even in our online sessions (where the size can be as large as 20+ students), the ability to speak out, participate and contribute in the online setting is in itself a challenge your child should be exposed to.

* Here are the skill-sets that your child can learn *

Benefit #2: Interactive Elements & Engagement

No one enjoys sitting still for 1.5 hours, simply staring at someone through the screen droning on and on and on … This is why we place a strong emphasis on adding interactive and engaging elements to our online sessions, especially for our kids’ programme. For example, our Trainer dedicates a portion of the week’s session as an open interaction and discussion – allowing for a more conversational setting to help students be at ease in the training experience.

Other pattern break elements that we use include our modified worksheets for the setting, videos, or even relevant visual materials that match the context. This retains a focus on the theoretical aspects of communications training (with an eye out for the practical aspects as well). Our objective remains to ensure a continuous and valuable learning experience for your child – especially as they continue to develop as young, confident communicators.

Benefit #3: Continued Skills-Building

We place a strong emphasis on sustained and continued learning, even beyond the online 1.5 hour sessions. We achieve this for your child through two ways – (i) recorded sessions for further review, and (ii) a record-at-home assignments for our young communicators. For the recorded sessions, the e-learning sessions are recorded for our students to review the techniques and refresh their understanding of the skills covered. You will be given the link to re-watch the online sessions!

For the record-at-home assignments, your child will have the opportunity to practise their communication skills in a small-scale, new media setting. Beyond just recording the video, our Trainers will also provide a detailed evaluation of your child’s presentation. The evaluation will still cover various aspects of communication skills such as speech objective, body language and even speech delivery. In a sense, your child will still get to continue his/her public speaking training and habit-building skills!

*This is the kind of quality training you/ your child can enjoy: How To Start Your Speech or Presentation | 4 Effective Tips To Hook The Audience | #SpeakingTips 005

Final Thought:

Enjoy Our Virtual Classroom!

Home-based learning (HBL) or e-learning is the new medium for your child to pick up the relevant skills (or even learn their usual subjects in school!). With this shift, you may find yourself fully involved with the set-up for your child, from the e-learning platform to the actual lesson plan in itself. We hope that with this article, you will navigate your way through the e-learning process and help your child’s educational growth!

Both LIVE Training & ONLINE Training Available:

If you’re keen to take your public speaking & presentation skills (either business/corporate presentation or kids in-class presentation) to the next level so that you may public speak and present with flair and charisma, feel free to check out our offerings below!

WATCH: Behind The Scenes | Public Speaking Academy Goes Online! [E-Learning During Covid19]

For more about our Public Speaking Course for Kids / Children:

https://publicspeakingacademy.com.sg/group-classes-students-age-9-18/

For more about our Public Speaking Course for Adults :

https://publicspeakingacademy.com.sg/courses-and-programs/group-classes-for-adults/