Day 2 in Accra: Communication and public speaking skills

The excitement just kept on mounting as we entered day 2 of the Recycle Up! Ghana Summer Camp in Accra.

1^st session

The day started with a talk on “Plastic and Us” by team leaders Rahim and Katrin. Participants were then divided into groups to brainstorm and list reasons for which plastic are commonly used in schools, markets and work places instead of wood and metal. They were tasked to highlight the merits and demerits of using plastic in the area each group was given.

2^nd session

Surely knowledge is incomplete without an expert’s advice. Due to that, we had a lecture by Dr. Dzidzo- Yirenkyi Tawiah from the Institute of Environmental and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana. She lectured us on what waste is, the impact of waste on climate and the environment, and gave us a real eye-opener on some interesting statistics about waste and waste management.

3^rd session

The third session was about communication skills led by team leader Katrin and mentor Jacob. It was a session full of fun, practicality and there were lot of things learnt. Participants were taken through the 3 levels of communication, information transfer and distortions. Thereafter was lunch.

4th session

Public speaking came next. Participants were taught the skills of public speaking led by mentors Kweku and Emma. They were taken through ways to manage fear and anxiety during public speaking and presentations. We also learnt skills such as diaphragmatic breathing exercise, progressive muscle relaxation and how to channel ones anxiety into useful advantage during presentation. Participants were also given guidelines about public speaking and presentation. Some of which were, do not be late for a presentation, familiarize yourself with the environment, learn to improvise, work within time, just to mention a few.Furthermore, participants were enlightened on how to uses body language, gestures, facial expression and eye contact. A video was watched to throw more light on the subject.

Finally, we had dinner after mentor Emma talked briefly on how to build your speech, the was a some socialization and we called it a day. It’s been a great day 2 for recycle up Ghana summer camp 2016 Accra we still rocking it!!!!