KATRINA BRANDON
KATRINA BRANDON
EVERY Tuesday, a group in Morwell called the Rostrum Club has a couple of people in their group who do a prepared speech to help boost their public speaking skills. According to the group, public speaking skills are important to all aspects of life, such as personal and professional development, in making presentations and building confidence and credibility. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Morwell Rostrum was a club that assisted up-and-coming young executives to gain confidence at giving presentations to their peers. Now, it’s about gaining confidence, having fun and getting the opportunity to speak about topics that can challenge thinking skills while being able to get feedback. The current group has been in the Morwell area for more than 60 years, and commence their activities at the Morwell Bowling Club at 5.45pm. Anyone over the age of 18 is more than welcome to attend, even if you have no experience. The members expressed that the experience in the Rostrum group is good in day-to-day experiences like presentations at work and more as public speaking or group speaking is part of everyone’s life. The night starts with a welcome by their president, a handover to the chairman of the night to go through introductions and business, before an activity which might be news, a debate, a ‘would you rather’ or some prepared speeches. Recent topics that came up included ‘it’s a men’s world’, ‘would you rather broccoli for the rest of your life or watch ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ everyday?’, ‘advertisement for sardine tea’ and ‘banning substances: helps or hinders the problem’. During the night, while keeping serious, club members chipped in with humorous points and laughter. The roles that are within the club are rotated each time the group meets. One night you could be a critic and the next you could become the chairman of the group.
