On Friday, March 13th from 13.30 to 15.00 WIB, Santa Ursula BSD’s English Club hosted a workshop on “Be a Confident News Anchor”, with 32 attending participants. This workshop was the first held by the school’s English Club hence, it became not just an experience, but a lesson for both the attending and hosting students. The workshop was led by a news anchor herself, Ms. Sekar Wanda. Ms. Sekar is a news anchor for TvOne Indonesia. The participants learned about both knowledge and experience from a professional. With this, we learned more than just from textbooks or videos, but here we learnt from real experiences.

Ms. Sekar Wanda opened the session by discussing “butterfly moments,” referring to the nervousness often experienced during public speaking. She then provided a broad explanation of what public speaking is and emphasized its importance as a skill to master. Everyone was invited to share their perspectives, highlighting  its usefulness for opportunities such as working abroad and traveling.

The session continued with practical tips on managing nervousness and improving speaking skills. Ms. Sekar Wanda explained that effective public speaking requires clarity, confidence, and composure. She encouraged participants to project confidence even when they feel nervous, reinforcing the idea of “fake it till you make it.”

She also introduced techniques to engage an audience, such as starting with a compelling story, asking questions, or sharing interesting facts. These strategies help to create a connection between the speaker and the audience. In the purpose of helping us participants visualize the act, Ms. Sekar showed several videos of herself during a live reporting session for TvOne. 

To gain a full experience, several volunteers participated in a mock interview activity to practice their public speaking skills. The exercise was lively and entertaining, providing both practice and enjoyment for everyone involved. Although the room occasionally became noisy, it was managed effectively, and Ms. Sekar Wanda appeared to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

The session ended with a few words of appreciation from the school principal, Mrs. Cicilia Budilestari to Ms. Sekar Wanda, showing our gratefulness and appreciation to her. We then continued with the closing prayer and a group selfie. 

Though not everyone may dream to be a news anchor, this workshop has guided us through a lot of tips and tricks to public speaking, a key role in chasing hopes and opportunities. One may not be naturally confident like others so with this workshop, we've been educated to help us build our confidence through a few things such as practicing at home, learning from other's experiences, and more. 

One trick in particular that has really helped many through public speaking so far is "fake it 'till you make it". It may not seem like much but confidence for some isn't just something that comes overnight. However, we also learned that you certainly can fake being assured in yourself until you really feel like you can speak in front of a crowd. To do that, surely you must master the overall topic and to be ready to go off script. 

For instance, people regularly forget the word-to-word script upon speaking in front of a crowd. So, by mastering the issue, you'll be ready to face the blanks that often come up in your head when you panic. In addition to that, be sure in what you're going to say to convince the crowd in going deeper into the issue that's brought upon them. Body language is a seemingly insignificant thing to pay attention to when practicing. However, every movement from head to toe can influence the way people perceive you. Therefore, having proper body language including eye contact, proper posture, clear pronunciation and articulation, are key aspects to public speaking in general. 

In conclusion, this workshop was a space for growth. The growth of a student’s skills, and the growth of their confidence. Not everyone may attend to become a real news anchor, or maybe some may change their minds. But the one thing that will never change is that public speaking skills and the confidence they learned will never go to waste.