One of our Digipigz got in contact and needed another young person to speak at his college as part of his course, we put the request out to the group and Dan kindly put himself forward. Dan is currently undertaking an apprenticeship and has a really compelling story on how he got there. Read his account how the talk went and what he spoke about:
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When I received a message from the DigiPigz scheme to try and find a speaker to talk to a group of college students, I was more than keen to do it. Public speaking is something I’ve always felt confident doing, but I’ve never spoken in front of a younger audience or an audience of this size. After having got in contact with Cameron, who was organizing the event for part of his course at the college, I was given a clear indication of what they wanted.
I started by putting together a brief plan. This included the areas I wanted to talk about, photos I can use and the Do’s and Don’ts. My main concern was to not overload the presentation with text. The areas I wanted to cover were: my career, current work, my business, how to get started and tips from past experience.
I covered information about different careers in Retail or Catering, as these are the most popular jobs for 16 to 19-year olds. I talked about the skills each job could give them and how they can be transferred. I talked about my journey so far and what I’ve learnt, stressing my ‘no regrets’ mindset, having the persistence and obsessiveness to never give up. I believe without this, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
On the day, I was nervous but got a warm welcome. The room soon filled up with more people than I expected but I kept calm and remembered what I had been taught previously. I spoke clearly and at a steady speed, so everyone could understand me and involved the audience by asking questions. The talk lasted for roughly 30 minutes and I was happy with it. I got a round of applause at the end which made me feel proud.
This has now given me the confidence to be able to talk in front of people especially when speaking to larger audiences. It was also a great way network. I will be talking at the DigiPigz launch event in Bournemouth. I am looking forward to this; I feel it will be a great networking event and a chance to meet new, like-minded people.
By Dan