When we get up to speak in front of audiences, we may want to teach them something new or entertain them – and both of these are essential purposes for many speeches. However, most commonly, we’re getting up to speak because we want audiences to think, feel or act differently – we want to persuade them of something.

Our Term #4 Lions program places the focus squarely on these types of persuasive speeches. Whilst students will likely have already covered basic persuasive speech structure in our Leopards or Tabby Cats programs, the Lions program takes this type of speech to the next level. Students learn how they can use various techniques – from chain words to hyperboles – to help make their speeches sound much more persuasive. Students also have plenty of opportunities to apply these techniques across a range of different types of persuasive speeches, from advertising to elections!

During the upcoming term, we will be offeringing all our weekly programs online while the NSW Government Lockdown continues.

For the most part, there is very little that separates our online and physical programs – both are interactive, cover the same theoretical concepts, and give students a range of opportunities to practice and develop their skills. Whilst some activities are different between the two, as some activities lend themselves better to physical or online classes, the actual learning outcomes remain the same for both classes.

Notably, the difference in price isn’t an indication of the quality of the program, or how much students will get out of the experience – both get the same amount of attention and care, and we’ve found some students develop better in an online environment.  The deviation instead is simply a result of the higher costs (such as venue hire) associated with running classes in-person.

Whilst children appear to not be at particularly high risk from COVID-19, SSA places their safety (and the safety of our coaches) as our highest priority.  This emphasis on safety is the first tier of our teaching policy.

We generally consider the risk of transmission at our programs to be very unlikely.  This is for three reasons:

1. From a general perspective, whilst children are not immune, they do show substantially milder symptoms than adults, and appear to catch and transmit the virus at lower rates.
2. Local transmission rates are currently low, and the Government is acting very cautiously in removing restrictions – most people who catch the virus are quarantined, as are any known close contacts, which has significantly limited the spread of the virus.
3. We have put in place a range of extra protections that are reviewed continuously for best practice, and seek to keep students as safe as possible.

We have prepared our COVID-19 Action Plan, which outlines the three methods we are using to keep students safe.

Whilst you are very welcome to read the Action Plan in full, the three elements are:

1. Symptom Testing – whilst we instruct all parents not to send students displaying symptoms (or awaiting test results), we will be using temperature checks and coach training to ensure that any students who show symptoms are isolated and removed from programs;
2. Limited Exposure – there are a range of steps in place to help ensure that students (and parents) socially distance, and limit the chance of spreading the virus; and
3. Enhanced Sanitation – we have adopted hand and surface cleaning regimens to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Additionally, we will also be continuing to offer online programs for the foreseeable future. This will help ensure that parents and students who are uncomfortable with physical classes have an alternative that allows them to feel safe, whilst still receiving a quality education in public speaking and debating.

Please check out our COVID-19 Action Plan here, or get in touch if you have any questions!

Our Presentation Skills Lions course is an experienced level program.

Students are assumed to have a reasonable understanding of public speaking, and in particular persuasive speeches, before undertaking the program.  By way of indication, the Lions program would be suitable for students who have:

• previously completed one or two terms of our Presentation Skills Leopards term program;
• finished at least two intensive holiday workshops, including our Presentation Skills Tabby Cats and Presentation Skills Tigers programs (or two of our Tabby Cats Online or Tigers Online programs);
• already completed one or more Lions term programs, and want to come back for another term to learn a new skill; or
• received plenty of formal public speaking coaching from another provider.

Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss what’s best for your child!

After completing the Presentation Skills Lions Persuasive Speeches program, students should:

• have been exposed to the fundamental principles which underpin persuasive speeches;
• understand a range of new techniques to help them sound and feel more persuasive when giving a presentation; and
• have been given multiple opportunities to present to their class in each and every session.

Our classes vary in size every workshop depending on how many bookings we receive – however, the maximum size of our Lions class is around eight students with one coach.

If there aren’t any spots left, it’s usually because we’ve hit capacity – please get in touch with us and we’ll see what we can do about either opening an extra class, fitting your child into the existing class, or putting you on a waitlist in case any students pull out!

By the end of each program, students will have:

• a feedback sheet, prepared individually for them by their coach, which goes through what they’ve improved on, and what still needs some work;
• a certificate recognising their achievements;
• a course booklet that covers everything they’ve learned throughout the program;
• the speech that they prepared for their final presentations; and
• an improved understanding of how to present in an engaging manner!

We have a specially designed holiday workshop for our tiny tots called Presentation Skills Bumblebees. Unfortunately, we do not have an appropriate term program suitable for kindy at this stage (although we’re working on one!).

Our Leopards and Lions term (Year 1 – 2) programs require students to be able to write at least simple sentences, as well as read their own handwriting and instructions on the board, which most Kindergarten students are unfortunately not able to do. This may well lead to those students feeling inferior to the rest of the class, creating new fears around public speaking – the exact opposite of what we hope to achieve.