Between February and July this year, the Sydney Women in Engineering & IT (SWIEIT) Speakers Program have engaged with 25 schools and over 1000 school girls from years 8 to 12. This program is jointly sponsored by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), NSW and GHD professional services firm. More information can be found on SWIEIT Speakers Program by clicking here.
Being an active outreach initiative that WiE&IT single-handedly coordinate, speakers for our presentations and school visits are always warmly welcomed. That’s why on Wednesday 5 September and Friday 7 September, women studying either Engineering or IT at UTS were invited to come and participate in an intensive 3 hour workshop designed to improve public speaking skills. These workshops not only gave participants an opportunity to assess and analyse their public speaking style and presence, but it also gave them an opportunity to get to know some of the other women studying in the Faculty of Engineering and IT. Principal Advisor for Workplace Diversity and Equity from RMS, Ann Pitkeathly, also attended the evenings giving some insight into the importance of public speaking skills in the public sector workplace. The workshops were open to both undergraduates and postgraduates, so there were quite a few fresh faces over the two evenings. Ian Colley from UTS Training and Development Services facilitated the workshops, giving helpful acronyms to help us remember some of the more important aspects of public speaking. Some of these tips were:
Afterwards, all SWIEIT Speakers and workshop attendees were invited to the Great Hall balcony for the annual SWIEIT Speakers Party, to celebrate the years Outreach activities and acknowledge the efforts of all those who contributed to the program throughout the past few years.
WiE&IT Program staff would like to say thank you to all the girls who have participated in the program, particularly those that have travelled long distances to reach schools in rural communities.
Anyone who is a female studying or working in these fields, is a cadet or a cooperative scholarship recipient, or UTS female Alumni is encouraged to join the program, so they can share their story and inspire female high school students to consider engineering or IT as a career!
Visuals: enhance your presentation. Photos are always better than cartoons!
Audio: Alter your tone of voice to drive home a point.
Kinaesthetic: moving and touching, getting your audience involved by asking them to raise hands.
Head: knowledge. Knowing what you are going to talk about makes presenting easier.
Heart: emotions, try to establish an emotional connection and pull at peoples heart strings.
Feet: movement and purpose, moving around the stage but also giving your speech a direction.
Afterwards, all SWIEIT Speakers and workshop attendees were invited to the Great Hall balcony for the annual SWIEIT Speakers Party, to celebrate the years Outreach activities and acknowledge the efforts of all those who contributed to the program throughout the past few years.
WiE&IT Program staff would like to say thank you to all the girls who have participated in the program, particularly those that have travelled long distances to reach schools in rural communities.
Anyone who is a female studying or working in these fields, is a cadet or a cooperative scholarship recipient, or UTS female Alumni is encouraged to join the program, so they can share their story and inspire female high school students to consider engineering or IT as a career!
