What club events coming up this quarter are you excited about?
We are looking forward to the Summer Quarter as our main opportunity to reach the student body. We recently hosted our annual kickoff forum to allow members to meet with the new co-chairs and provide direction in what they want to gain from the club. We also participated in the Student Group Fair and made a convincing pitch.
Next, we plan on kicking off our Gleacher Speakers series in July, with a Booth professor presenting to club members on the tips and tricks they use to successfully navigate both conferences and classroom presentations effectively. This event also allows audience members to participate and practice the tools being taught.
The other event we are excited to re-launch in the summer is Booth Talks, where we will invite students to present speeches on subjects they are passionate about to an audience of their peers. This will involve post-presentation feedback from the audience to help improve the speaker’s speech-giving quality moving forward.
What event would you like admitted students to know about?
We would love to see new students at our Second City Improv classes, which come from our partnership with the Full-Time Booth Public Speaking Club. Students pay a reduced rate to take improv classes from theater professionals, where they can then polish their own abilities in reacting quickly and calm their stage fright. (Read more about a Boothie’s recent experience here).
How is the Public Speaking Club supporting students virtually?
We are supporting students by adjusting our events to an online format and inviting them to relay to us their needs and goals for the group. This includes hosting events over Zoom and doing our best to allow audience participation through breakout rooms to maximize the experience for members.
Do you have any tips for students in this virtual world?
Close your tabs! It can be very easy to get distracted when we are forced to use devices to learn, and professors are unable to restrict device usage during class. As such, do your best to pay attention by limiting what’s on your screen.
Turn your video on! It helps keep you focused on the lecture more by having your screen for everyone to see and also makes it easier to talk to peers. Talking to faces reduces the distance you may feel by talking over a traditional phone call, and we all need uplifting energy during this difficult time.
Take advantage of the variety of courses and times available. With classes moving online, an out-of-town student could now take the Monday evening class that would have otherwise been impossible.
If you are worried about losing the appeal of in-class learning, provide suggestions to professors throughout the course on ways they may be able to help your learning. Encouraging the use of breakout rooms, in-class surveys, or breaks during the sessions are solid ideas that we have seen work effectively to boost learning in our classes. Just like us, Booth professors are fairly open to suggestions from students about how to make improvements as they navigate this new world.
