UNS — The Center for Science and Technology of Higher Education (Pusat Unggulan Ipteks Perguruan Tinggi – PUI-PT) Javanologi Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a Workshop on ‘Public Speaking and Presentation Skill’, on Thursday (12/11/2020). The event was held online through Zoom Meeting application and YouTube live stream PUI-PT Javanologi Kajian Tradisi Jawa (Javanese Tradition Studies) UNS inviting Rory Asyari, M.A as the main speaker.
Led by Muhammad Taufiq Al Makmun, M.A., this event aims to provide training for UNS Public Relation to support UNS to be the Word Class University (WCU). More than 40 participants attended the event which comes from various posts in UNS Public Relation. Opening the workshop, Rory stated that there is an art in public speaking. “To speak is easy, but public speaking has art. Public speaking needs to inspire and move people,” Rory, an alumnus of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) UNS, stated.
Rory explained that someone should have a calm mind before starting their public speaking. Thorough preparation is needed in public speaking to ensure that audience received what the speaker delivered well. The speaker should take their time and is not in hurry. Rory added that there are three levels of public speaking. The first level is to inform which is a person speak in front of the public to deliver certain information. The second level is to persuade, at this level the speaker does not simply deliver information but also persuade their audiences to perform an activity. The next level is to inspire, in which the speaker inspires their audiences.
Rory also explained that three matters need to be considered in performing public speaking, being credible, convincing and reliable. Credible means that a public speaker must become a trustworthy figure and become an expert on what they are delivering. Convincing refers to a public speaker who can persuade their audience with data and example of cases, the ability to carry oneself and to build interaction with the audience. While reliable means that a public speaker should be able to become a reliable, consistent, powerful, creative, and adaptive figure.
Besides that, Rory also mentioned on how to solve nervousness during public speaking. Some of the tips he shared are training breathing exercise, stretch before the event, and observe the audience’s background who attended the event. For a good presentation, Rory suggested that speakers performed four things, first, limit the number of slides because the star of the presentation is not the PowerPoint slides but the presenter. Secondly, simplify the content of PowerPoint slides, because the one telling stories is not the slides but the presenter. Thirdly, use figures in slides and avoid using too many letters to maintain the audience’s focus on the presenter. Lastly, increase audience interaction to bring life into the discussion and ensure two-way direction. In addition to sharing how to perform public speaking and presentation, Rory also allowed the participants to practice their skill and provide his direct feedback. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
