Kids Public Speaking Workshop at Johan Speaking Academy

During the recent school holidays, I decided to send Josiah for a 1.5 days public speaking workshop to build his confidence on stage. For those that know him, he’s a bubbly talkative boy, but once you put him in front of a bunch of people, he will get cold feet. I have myself to blame as I think he got it from me, I have stage fright since I was young. Therefore, I wish he can get more training in this area so sending him to this workshop would be perfect. Initially, when I told him about it, he didn’t want to go, but let’s see what happened after going ya. The workshop was held in the morning from 9.30am – 3.30am on the first day, and only 9.30am – 12.30pm on the next day. For the workshop, we sent him to Johan Speaking Academy TTDI branch, where Johan Ooi the founder himself was there to teach the kids.

For shy kids, it would be great to register them together with friends. Josiah had a few kid blogger friends in the class like Sean and Joey and he immediately felt at ease being there. The kids had to go on stage to do a self introduction immediately, that really gave him a good experience and feel of speaking in front in a non threatening environment.

Each class was not that big so it was great to allow some one on one time with the kids and teacher and for the kids to get to know each other well. Kids being kids, it was definitely not hard for them to make new friends!

Although it was just a short workshop, it was quite a breakthrough experience for Josiah as he had to learn and present a short story by the second day in front of all the parents. Of course, he was super nervous and even tried to negotiate with me not to go, but I managed to assure him it was all just for experience sake. I guess this kind of thing just make you get better as you go through it each time. During the workshop, they basically learned about body language, breathing, intonation, vocal etc. They also had game sessions to make the learning more relaxed and fun.

Even though Josiah had stage fright and stuff, going through this workshop really helped him gain some confidence and experience speaking on stage and he managed to battle his fears and finally did it and earned his cert from Johan Speaking Academy.

Of course, 1.5 days is never enough to create a good public speaker, it is only the tip of the ice-berg. Therefore, Johan actually has a 10 weeks program for kids and 8 weeks program for teens. Next intake will be in middle of September. Places are always limited so it’s best to sign up early. For me, I think public speaking is like the very basic and important skill for any kind of career, I just wish we have such schools when we were young, I should have attended then! Inability to speak well in public had placed so much limitations to my career all the years. Last year 2015, Johan Speaking Academy, bring the kids for an outdoor experience in Kids Public Speaking during the 10 weeks program. It’s not just indoor experience but also outdoor experience. Their activities as follows :

1. July – Popular Bookfair at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

2. August – Kids Public Speaking Expo at Women’s institute of Management

3. September – Kids Fair at Mid Valley – Mid Autumn Festival at Mid Point Shopping in Cheras

4. October – Brand Ambassador at Sunway Lagoon

5. November – One Book Fair at Jaya Shopping Mall

6. December – Musical Festival at Gardens Theatre – Christmas at Jungle Gym Atria

This is a REAL-LIFE experience for them because communication skills and public speaking skills are very important for their personal development as well as a great toll for them to advance in their career. The 10 weeks student will have the opportunity to speak at a a shopping mall or any retail outlet. The program is for kids age 7-12 years old. The 8 weeks teens speaking program (Age 12 to 15 years old) will be on every Sunday from 4pm to 6pm at TTDI.

Johan Ooi is the trainer and founder or Johan Speaking Academy and he has an impressive list of achievements when it comes to public speaking. Johan is a member of Toastmasters International in District 51, Damansara Utama Advanced Toastmasters Club. Johan and participated in various local and international speech contests since young and has a few titles under his belt. Johan’s greatest achievement is representing Peninsula Malaysia to the World Championship Of Public Speaking in Las Vegas,USA in Aug 2015. Johan has spoken on stage as a guest speaker for Maxis and P1, two reputable telecommunications company in Malaysia on the topic of social media. He has travelled extensively within Malaysia as the Speaker for their SME events where more than 200 business owners attended each time. He is frequently invited to speak in many small and large corporations nationwide. It is such a great privilege for the children to learn from him and for him to love imparting his skills and knowledge through these training sessions to the next generation.

Co-founder Cherry Ho is literally the cherry on top of the icing. Johan Speaking Academy also offers workshops and classes in Mandarin and that’s where Cherry’s strong point comes in. Cherry is also a member of Toastmasters International in District 51, Damansara Utama Advanced Toastmasters Club. Cherry is the true brainchild of Kids Public Speaking program which was birthed over a cup of coffee, didn’t I tell you coffee is great for the brain? Anyways, she trains in English, Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia for Kids Public Speaking program. She is not just sweet in looks and attitude but her patience and joyful personality really put the kids at ease. Cherry’s breakthrough came when she was the emcee for Chinese Society Event where 600 people attended, her largest crowd thus far.

A big congratulations to all the kids for an awesome job well done.

For more info about Johan Speaking Academy, click way to:
www.facebook.com/KidsPublicSpeaking
www.YouTube.com/KidsPublicSpeaking
www.KidsPublicSpeaking.com
Email: KidsPublicSpeaking@gmail.com

Johan Speaking Academy
92B, Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi, Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
60000 Kuala Lumpur. (just 5 min drive away from One Utama Shopping Mall).