Elevating Voices: Meet KLU's Public Speaking Club
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Forced into hibernation during the Covid pandemic, student initiative KLU Thinks Big eventually saw the light of day again last year. The stage is now set is restore its public speaking events to their former glories, say club co-leads Oleksandra Shvets and Paul Scharlau. These events are not only a great platform for students and staff members to present topics they are passionate about, they explain, but also for club members to hone their organizational and networking skills.
Tell us a little about KLU Thinks Big.
Oleksandra: KLU Thinks Big was established in 2018, and there was one big event each year that people looked forward to. Then Covid happened and KLU Thinks Big faded away a little bit. Last year when we joined KLU, me, Paul, and some other classmates were really excited about the idea and revived it.
Paul: In November we had one event and it’s basically like a Ted talk initiative, so there are multiple speakers who talk about anything that interests them or that could be interesting to students. That's what we went with again this year, and we have pretty much everyone on there, so it could be students, PhD candidates, and professors. We are also trying to get staff members doing it as well, but they seem to be a bit shy.
Oleksandra: We’re searching for people who are passionate about something and really want to share about something they learned, or they do every day, and we're providing them the stage. We want to hear their voices.
What were some of the topics people spoke about at the last event?
Oleksandra: We had lots of interesting, diverse topics. A student from India spoke about life in Germany, for example. We also had talks about predefined roles and individuality, what can you learn from professional European football for starting your next job, and there was a very interesting presentation about gratitude from a student from Vietnam. We also did some mindfulness practices during this speech, so it was also very interactive.
Paul: We had a student that was very interested in sustainable maritime transport. For his age and grade level, he was really informed about it. We also had professors talk about plastic renewable packaging, which was really interesting.
What kind of people should get involved in the club?
Paul: First of all, people who like event organizing on a really big scale, for the whole university. What we do is a unique thing at the university.
Oleksandra: Exactly. Our motivation is to bridge the gap between everybody, all the students, so we need motivated students who want to connect professors, students, and staff, to help make KLU an even more transparent and nicer place.
What does the future hold for the club?
Paul: We want to bring KLU Thinks Big back to the size and popularity of what it was before. Normally at universities professors are always the ones that give the talks about what they're passionate about, so we also want to shine the light on different people and their passions. That’s not to say professors can’t give talks at KLU Thinks Big, but they might do a talk on something different from their research or field of study.
Oleksandra: We also considering the option to have an event this semester. So, we would have two events in one year, because people really liked speaking on stage and sharing their topics. And, of course, we have the room for improvement. We realized lots of things after the first event we did in 2023 and have immense potential to grow.
What advice would you give students wanting to join a club?
Paul: The advantages are that you engage in university life, you meet students outside of your year, and maybe also on a different track than yours. They can advise you, they may have a different perspective and come from a different part of the world, and you may make great friends in the clubs with people that you wouldn't have met if you hadn’t joined. With you KLU Thinks Big, you also have to step out of your comfort zone, because when we have these big events, they have to be on that date, so you can learn to handle very strict deadlines. I have to say being part of a KLU club is a great experience.
Follow KLU Thinks Big at Facebook.