What not to do at speaker's corner!

Speaker’s corner at the Joaquín was an excellent opportunity to prove that Language III students are as crazy as loons!

My speech was about the conflicts that were taking place at the Joaquín due to the disagreements in the History department. My speech required a strong but clear tone of voice and since I was describing events that weren’t shared by everybody I had to go slowly so that everyone could follow. You can imagine how many times I repeated the speech in front of the mirror, pausing, explaining and gesturing. Unfortunately, I had to go first. The worst possible scenario had unexpectedly turned true. I was really nervous, so I started rushing through the words of my speech, only thinking about when it was going to end. I was literally in the corner of the classroom so I started feeling claustrophobic and really hot.

However, since I was really committed and connected to the topic I had chosen, I got involved in what I was saying, and by the end of the speech I think I managed to convince the audience that what was going on at the Joaquín was serious, and that made me feel rewarded.

What I liked the most about Speaker’s Corner was listening to the rest of my classmates. I think I learnt a lot from their speeches, what I liked and enjoyed from their speeches and what I would have done otherwise. I loved Marina’s use of the space, how she walked around showing Cristina’s pictures and how confident she sounded. I looked up to Candela’s commitment to what she was sharing with us and the way in which she did. Hector’s challenging attitude was shocking at first but effectively caught the audience’s attention! Romina’s sarcasm was a great ingredient in her speech.

I still remember most speeches and what I learnt from them, so thank you very much people!

I hope we get the chance of a similar experience in the near future J