Due to quarantine restrictions caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the large-scale scientific event was held online. However, these circumstances did not hinder the establishment of constructive dialogue during professional communication and effective teamwork among the participants.
Throughout the intensive five-day program, 30 researchers from various countries improved their practical skills in the art of public speaking. The project also included students and interns, university lecturers from European institutions, youth and community organization workers, a climbing coach, and even a member of the Georgian Parliament.
Anna Pavelieva, representing the Faculty of Humanities at the National University "Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic," actively participated in the international project aimed at engaging young people and representatives of youth organizations in discussions on pressing contemporary issues. Key objectives included encouraging dialogue through public speeches and teaching participants how to structure their oral presentations effectively to achieve specific goals. The project focused on practical skill development, featuring diverse exercises and both individual and team tasks.
On the first day of training, project coordinator Chrisie Doluay explained the key stages of creating public speeches – from the report format to using proper expressions, signposting words, gestures, and facial expressions. Participants introduced themselves, presented their organizations, and shared their expectations for the project. Using Zoom's breakout rooms feature, participants were divided into individual rooms where each was tasked with writing a story on one of two suggested topics, incorporating the theoretical material provided by the coach.
The coordinator regularly "visited" the participants' rooms, listened to their stories, provided valuable advice, and gave practical feedback. Participants were then paired to share their written stories with each other, collaboratively working on improvements. In the third stage, participants formed groups of three, where they retold the revised stories to two other listeners and evaluated each other based on a set of criteria shared in the chat.
"On the first day, I worked with a student from India and an intern from Finland who is a climbing coach and currently interning in Limassol, Cyprus. After completing all tasks, we had the opportunity to discuss the educational systems in our respective countries.
In the following days, I collaborated on team projects with participants from Italy, Spain, Greece, Georgia, Cyprus, and Ukraine. It was impressive that the project 'Speak Up, We Are Listening' was 90% practice-oriented. Throughout the workweek, I spent 5-6 hours daily communicating in English with colleagues from different countries. We completed tasks, delivered speeches, provided feedback, asked questions, created stories, commented, critiqued, exchanged experiences, and shared information about our countries and organizations. These were incredibly productive five days; I filled almost an entire notebook with notes and can't wait to apply the new methods and exercises in my classes with translation students," said Anna Pavelieva.
On the second day, participants were divided into groups of four to eight people and tasked with composing and sharing stories on socio-political topics such as racial discrimination, feminism, or child abuse. Topics were assigned randomly, and participants had to persuade their "audience" of their viewpoints.
On the third day, groups of eight participants not only created individual stories and presented them but also collaborated on an impromptu group story – each person contributing one sentence at a time to form a coherent narrative on a topic provided by the coach. Using various apps, participants recorded their stories as audio files and created video presentations through platforms like "Making History Projects," "Creative Narrations," and "Story Center".
Group work continued with the task of creating a profile of the ideal youth worker and coach. Participants drew portraits and, through brainstorming, listed qualities under categories such as "knowledge," "skills," and "attitudes." The final assignment involved designing a comprehensive workshop or training project, similar to the one they participated in, covering details from time, location, and target audience to goals, competencies, and expected outcomes, presented in PowerPoint format.
"Participating in the project provided me with a wealth of knowledge and practical soft skills that I will definitely share with my students and colleagues. In my opinion, skills in storytelling, teamwork, the ability to respond to constructive criticism, and a desire for personal development are key factors in the growth of a young researcher. The training sessions also offered additional opportunities to practice communication skills and engage with native speakers," shared Anna Pavelieva.
Previously, the teacher, along with fifty translation students, explored strategies for preparing for English language exams, and she has authored a textbook on linguocultural studies for the Faculty of Humanities.
Media Center of
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
