Madison Rezaei '12 was met with three rounds of applause by the end of her four-minute speech at the Wednesday night VoxMasters meeting. Prompted to speak about a time when she felt particularly engaged or bored, Rezaei discussed President Barack Obama's State of the Union address and asked her peers to applaud just as the audience did Tuesday evening at the Capitol.
Rezaei is one of two co-leaders of VoxMasters, a group run through the Rockefeller Center that meets weekly to help students improve their public speaking skills.
As the meeting opened, Rezaei and co-leader Joe Styer '14 introduced the week's tip "engage your audience" and announced the topic for speeches.
Those in attendance were given approximately two minutes to outline their ideas. Then, one by one, participants spent two to four minutes at the head of the long table in Morrison Commons.
"There's not really an opportunity to be a fly on the wall," Danielle Thompson, assistant director for co-curricular programs at the Rockefeller Center, said. "To get better at public speaking, you need practice."
Following each delivered speech, audience members offered feedback, with Wednesday's criticism focusing on promoting effective audience engagement.
Participation Wednesday night had increased from the previous week, when only four students attended, according to Styer.
Typically, the number of attendees ranges from four to 30, with the great variety in the participants' public speaking experience levels.
"You have speakers that are coming that have clearly done this a lot," he said. "Then you have students that come in that clearly are coming because they want to work on this because they're not particularly good. They're nervous. They're adorable, and they get better over the term."
Sadhana Hall, deputy director of the Rockefeller Center, said she created the group in 2007 after she heard numerous alumni and Career Services officials comment that Dartmouth students were less articulate than students at comparable schools and do not "spend enough time understanding how their experiences can be translated to a potential employer."
The hallmark of VoxMasters is an environment that engenders trust, Hall said.
"Can you imagine a place where you can actually go practice and not worry about the consequences of what you say and improve?" Hall said. "Dartmouth students are smart. Can you imagine getting smart feedback to improve? I love that."
Previous prompts have required participants to defend their current or prospective majors and describe their worst speaking experiences.
Only two of the students in attendance last night had attended previous VoxMasters meetings, which tend to attract a fluctuating group of students.
Physics student Xi Yan GR '15 said she decided to attend the meeting as a platform to practice her English. A Beijing native, Yan said she was initially nervous about the experience of public speaking but hopes to return to the group next week.
Katie Bonner '15, a regular at VoxMasters meetings, said she does not consider herself a good public speaker but recognizes the importance of speaking eloquently, which will likely remain an important part of her life regardless of her plans after graduation.
"[Giving speeches] makes me a little bit uncomfortable, which is probably a good thing," Bonner said. "Hopefully when I have to give speeches one day, it'll make me feel more comfortable."
Participants who return to meetings usually improve over time, Rezaei said.
"I think it's really cool to see the progression week to week and how people improve and become more comfortable in front of an audience," she said. "My own speaking's improved. I think I'm more comfortable in front of an audience. Even though I did take the public speaking class and have done a lot of things like this before, I've gotten to explore a lot more different types of speaking here."
Thompson said she hopes that students of all majors not just government and public policy realize how much they can benefit from VoxMasters.
"Students should be thinking about the different applications of finding their voice," Thompson said. "Not everyone is going to be able to win an oratory award, but it is something that can help you get a job or share your passion with others, and I wish that more students would think of VoxMasters as a way to realize their dreams and achieve their goals."
