On Wednesday, 25th November a small team from the Youth committee of Rotary Tervuren held a “boot camp” training session and workshop on Public Speaking / presentation skills for 11 senior students of GITO Tervuren. This follows in our established tradition – since several years - of helping the GITO with master classes in areas where the business experience and training skills of our members can be leveraged to good effect.
This session concentrated on developing effective presentation skills in the context of the “New Normal”, i.e. over video platforms (in this case Zoom) and while wearing face-masks!
RCT deployed a crack squad consisting of managers from the European Institutions and private industry as well as an economist and practicing secondary-school teacher. However, the heavy lifting of the morning’s session was undoubtedly provided by a new friend of the club, Carsten Wendt. Carsten is a professional trainer in public speaking and a member of the Toastmasters organisation – which has recently concluded a co-operation arrangement with Rotary. Carsten’s high energy and professional training style made a strong impression on students and co-trainers alike. We also had excellent technical support in the background from a member who uses Zoom professionally.
By all accounts the session was a great success and provided a powerful boost to the students, both in terms of practice of tools and techniques, but also in self-confidence. It was a pleasure to see the clear improvement in confidence and technique of the students as the workshop progressed. This comes at an important time for them as they prepare to take their first steps into today’s rather hostile world of adult employment.
Here is what Carsten has published on linkedin.
