Schools should train student leaders on public speaking

Secondary schools across the country reach out to us (Penman Programmes) to train their Student Councils. Somewhat, during the in-depth training and tutelage, we take student leaders through their roles and responsibilities. Our well-thought-out training framework delves deep onto areas such as general duties, convening effective meetings, leadership challenges, school safety, disaster management, forms of discipline, principles of punishment, emotional intelligence, people skills and qualities of effective student leaders.

We point out grievous goofs they should shun while dispensing their duties. We explore leadership skills and styles. We guide them on how to strike the beautiful balance between academics and leadership. Then, we focus on effective communication and deft delivery of announcements and speeches.

Ideally, John C. Maxwell posits that leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less. Everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership rises and falls on communication. No wonder, student leaders must master effective communication, which is a useful soft skill. They should know how to deliver announcements as leaders.

This will help them influence other students through the intriguing tools of rhetoric, which Aristotle, the Athenian thinker, summarised as — logos (truth), ethos (ethics) and pathos (emotions). Student leaders should rely a lot on tact, diplomacy and persuasion to lead their peers in school. They should be skillful and sensitive while addressing other students.

Ostensibly, student leaders, sometimes, face opposition from their peers who fail to take raft of instructions. Rude students heckle, boo, or refuse to attend to duties. In such instances, student leaders should rely on comely communication skills by deploying tools of persuasion. In other words, permit my pen to point out: Student leaders who are eloquent and articulate command respect from their peers.

For instance, when we see students going on rampage, it means that leaders are poor at persuasion. Again, in a school set up, student leaders command power and influence when they pay homage to the instruction of rhetors — orators or teachers of rhetoric. Meaning, they can always find a way to sway impressionable minds of their peers who may decide to gang up when they feel chagrined by school administration in moments of leadership lapse.

Effective communication

Moreover, when we look at the world as a whole, both in the distant and recent past, we see classic cases of leaders who relied on effective communication and powerful presentation of speeches: to inspire people and repair their despair. Winston Churchill, the former premier of Britain, is an excellent example. Through the great gift of the gab, he stilled the nerves of British soldiers to wage war with bravery and bravado during the Second World War (1939-1945). Likewise, in 1963, Martin Luther King (MLK) planted hope and help in the hearts of African-Americans who suffered due to racial segregation. In I Have a Dream speech, MLK envisioned an America, where his four little children would not be judged by the colour of their skins, but by the content of their character.

No wonder, our secondary schools should strive to groom spell-binding orators with silver tongues. Boys and girls who can talk confidently as if they have kissed the Blarney Stone. There is the exigence of raising leaders who can be objective, informative and educative. Actually, I am concerned about young leaders who should be trained on canons of rhetoric — invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery. In order to be the sage on stage, knowledge, language and logic, take preeminence.

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In a broader sense, speaking in public is not simple as some of us think. There is the essence of training student leaders on how to prepare and present speeches. This revolves around the wise use of good grammar, adequate preparation and settling on the best éclat of delivery. This also entails knowing, involving and maintaining cordial relationship with the audience. Students who are good at it, focus on audibility and clarity. They check on their personal appearance before they go lyrical. Then, they dodge the erroneous advice of fake it until you make it. Instead, they remain natural and lively. Right poise and posture are worth putting into critical consideration. They pay meticulous attention to paralinguistic features — both verbal and non-verbal cues. Their body language rhymes with what they say. They focus on right vocal delivery. Meaning, volume, pace and pronunciation — are key elements in their speeches. Then, their speeches focus on novelty, memorability and emotionality.

Finally, student leaders who have mastered mechanics of elocution are skillful in overcoming stage fright. How do they do it? First, they accept that it is normal to be nervous. Therefore, they put premium on practice and preparation as they make good use of available time allotted. They present facts interestingly: they pepper presentations with good sense of humour. Then, they employ different types of pauses such as sense, dramatic, emphatic and sentence-completion ones.

By Victor Ochieng’

The writer is a trainer of the Student Council. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232