ARTEK CAMPERS MASTER THE BASICS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

Participating in a thematic programme of the Federal Antimonopoly Service - “Economy of the future: fair competition”, Artek campers get new knowledge in the field of fair competition, antimonopoly regulation and acquire important skills. Head of FAS PR Department, Irina Kashunina gave a master-class on “Public Speaking Skills” for the young programme participants.

“I try to communicate a thought to children that it’s ok to make mistakes, one learns through mistakes. The public speaking skill is polished through practice. The more you practice, analyze your speeches, the better you speak in public. This skill is required in education, at work, in communication with friends and in the daily life in general. Children holiday in Artek, make new friends, and also learn something new. It is clear that active, not indifferent, intellectually curious kids come here”, saidIrina Kashunina, adding that she saw genuine interests in the eyes of the Artek campers, children were asking questions, actively participating in the discussion and were not afraid of experimenting.

During the master-class children learned that it is important to analyze the audience preparing to a speech, choose not only an interesting topic but also an appropriate style of dressing. Presentations certainly help – they should be readable, without too much text, have good visualization and a clear structure.

Guided by their mentor, Artek campers did exercises of articulatory gymnastics and practice tongue twisters that help train enunciation. The participants pointed out that anxiety is one of the biggest problems for them associated with public speaking. In the opinion of Head of FAS PR Department, anxiety can be managed by working on self-esteem and doing a stress-reducing exercise sequence.

Irina Kashunina explained that it is essential for all speakers to understand that criticism from listeners is aimed at the information delivered rather that at the speaker’s personality. Orators must be prepared that not everybody will like their speeches but if they generated discussions, it is already a success.

Head of FAS PR Department advised the participants to not only analyze their public speeches but also praise themselves. The road to success certainly consists of preparation, practice and experience, so the master-class facilitator asked the Artek campers to interview each other in front of the camera. The children coped with the task and found the recommendations from the competent specialist useful and valuable.

“It is of great worth that we have a possibility to adopt the best practices from a top-ranking professional. I have learned how important are the pitch of voice, its loudness, accuracy of pronunciation, mimics”, shared his impressions Vladimir Zinoviev from Klintsy, the Bryansk region. “Children from all over Russia who merited a trip to “Artek” get together here”. We must be able to speak finely, to show our level, and quicken interest in everybody. The master class was very useful for me”.

“Today we have learned a lot of important information, because the skill of public speaking will always be useful. I especially liked how to regulate the volume of voice and speak in front of a camera”, emphasized Timur Pshintsev from Nalchik. “The knowledge that we’ve got will come in handy both studying at the school and applying for a job. It’s great that we can improve such skills in Artek”.

Yelizaveta Yermachkova from Smolensk enjoyed tongue twisters most of all: “It was hard and interesting. The ability to speak finely and precisely will be useful in presenting and defending school projects. In the future many children will support the work of the team of the Federal Antimonopoly Service and it’s wonderful that adults are ready to transfer knowledge to us, the new generation”.