Speaking Manner is important – so important, in fact, that it is where audiences tend to direct most of their attention when you speak.

In Term #3, students will look at developing a personal speaking manner to help them engage better with their audiences. They’ll also get to practise delivering speeches by using activity-based learning and experiential exercises to help perfect other essential elements like essential persuasive speech structure to help them deliver even better presentations.

Each session of the Joeys program is designed to combine a speaking activity, a new piece of theory and a practical task to solidify that week’s concept. Public speaking can only be improved by taking on opportunities to present – with this in mind, the focus for the Joeys program develops students’ speaking skills by spending nearly the entire session preparing and presenting speeches, placing a particular emphasis on speaking manner in Term #3.

If students would like a little more challenge, the two-hour weekly Public Speaking Wombats and Debating Wallabies programs will also go through more advanced theoretical content at a faster pace!

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. Despite high vaccination levels, the Government is still acting cautiously in removing restrictions – most people who catch the virus are quarantined, 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 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 themselves 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 Speaking Skills Joeys course is a beginner level program for students in Years 3 & 4.

Each term of the Joeys program has its own focus – whether that be manner essentials or reporting essentials – meaning that students don’t repeat content even if they remain in the Joeys program for the entire year.

Whilst students would definitely benefit from joining at the beginning of the year and following through, they are also welcome to join at the beginning of any term – they’ll still get plenty out of doing the program whenever they join.

Whilst our Joeys program is best for new students, it follows the same focuses each term as our more advanced Public Speaking Wombats program, meaning that students can jump between them as their circumstances change.

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

After completing the Speaking Skills Joeys program, students should:

• have participated in a range of activities (which often feel like games) in a nurturing class environment, each breaking down the stigma that public speaking is something they should be scared of;
• have been given at least one opportunity to present to their class in each and every session; and
• have a much greater appreciation of how fun public speaking can be!

Our classes vary in size for every program depending on how many bookings we receive – however, the maximum size of our Speaking Skills Joeys class is around nine 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 short booklet that covers the main points touched upon during the program; and
• hopefully a more positive perspective on public speaking!