The reason behind keener "speech night" by- savannah westeinde

I'm sure many other keeners have felt the same way, but when I first came to keeners and heard that there was speech night every monday... well, you can say I was not enthusiastic. I think for me and many other people the thought of public speaking just isn't that appealing. It's scary and intimidating. Before keeners last year whenever I had to do a speech in public, or even talk to new people who I didn't know, my face would often turn bright red and my hands would get all shaky. The first speech night I spent the whole night before worrying about my face turning red and all that other stuff happening, but it actually went well, and after that I started to get more comfortable with speaking in public. It really made me more confident. After keeners ended I realized that because of speech night and situations like that, I had changed as a person. I was able to talk to new people and make new friends. I was able to do really well in a lot of presentations that I had at school which got me better grades, and I was just way more confident in myself and my ability to communicate with other people. Another thing that I personally take out of speech night is the fact that it actually helps me to get to know the people that are in my session. The first speech night, which is kind of an icebreaker, gives a bit of insight and background on everybody and their home life. This is really helpful for becoming close with these people, because you already have learnt a fair bit about them from the first night. So for any new keeners, or even returning keeners who think that speech night is stupid or just don't understand why we are forced to participate in it, remember that it really is important and it will help you later on in life so take it seriously and listen to other people's speeches, and learn from them. Now this year, when I am back at keeners, it is way less intimidating and scary.