On Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, students had the opportunity to engage in Lambda Pi Eta’s 2023 annual Forum. Sponsors included Lambda Pi Eta National Communicaton Honor Society, Department of Communication Studies, and College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CASSH) Con. Students were able to listen to speakers in an inspirational manner.
The forum provided students an opportunity to learn about viewpoints that the speakers have on a variety of topics.
This forum presented student speeches from public speaking courses that were nominated by the Communication Studies faculty.” Included as speakers for this opportunity was Elijah Briggs, Kirsten Deckert, Kate Ferguson, Emmanuella Mensah, Addison Sondberg, and Hunter Ter Horst.
According to Lambda Pi Eta’s faculty advisor, they hoped to showcase the speakers’ exceptional public speaking skills as well as their “ideas and opinions and have the audience gain new perspectives by engaging with their speeches.”
Many students that participated felt that the opportunity was deeper than just speaking, but instead working on their confidence, determination, and work ethic.
Information Technology and Analytics major Emmanuella Mensah explained the importance of branching out to speak.
“It was something new for me, and speaking has become beneficial in my everyday life.. I am able to connect with others on another level,” said Mensah.
Not only were the speeches evaluated, but one was selectively chosen to receive the Top Speaker Award by the end of the event.
Hunter Ter Horst took an interesting stance while posing the argument that AI may not be properly programmed.
“Until it is properly monitored, we should begin to pay attention to how much power we give this app,” said Horst.
Intriguing many in the audience, Horst displayed the skills of confidence, memory, and intelligence.
Following the event, Horst was able to share a few tips from his success of speaking so passionately about AI programs.
“Familiarize yourself with the content, once you do that, you’re so much more authentic,” he said.
Other participants also expressed the significance of mastering public speaking outside of the classroom. With her confidence high, Kirsten Deckert who spoke on the impact high stake testing on students, talked highly of mastering this skill.
“I am able to be more confident overall. I now know how to properly speak, have that conversation, and speak on something I am so passionate about”, she stated.
Many students were able to leave with insightful takeaways, along with the importance of public speaking skills that will take many of the students further than just a “speech printed on paper.”
