Students practice interviewing with the champion of English speaking contest

Thanh Duyen is the champion of the 2022 5-country Asian English Speaking Competition (Toastmasters, dicstric 97). In addition, she is also a lecturer of English Public Speaking skills, an editor, TV MC and CICE English MC.

From her experience at international debate competitions, Thanh Duyen believes that students who want to be good at English must start by cultivating the right motivation to learn. According to her, there are three key factors.

First, learners need to understand the benefits and risks of not being good at foreign languages, because English opens the door to study, career, and international exchange. If we lack this skill, we will easily be limited, even miss many important opportunities in our career.

Second, it is necessary to create interest in the learning process. To avoid boring learning, students should combine English with personal interests such as listening to music, watching movies, reading books, or participating in community activities. This approach helps maintain motivation and makes foreign languages ​​a part of daily life.

Finally, the basic foundation always plays a decisive role. Learners need to have a firm grasp of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar - the "roots" - in order to comprehensively develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.

“Only when you have mastered the basics can you go further in your foreign language learning process,” Thanh Duyen emphasized.

Not only stopping at English, Thanh Duyen also shares many experiences about public speaking and presentation.

According to her, confidence does not come naturally, but is formed through a process of continuous practice. Instead of focusing on whether or not you will say something wrong, the speaker should focus on the message they want to convey to the audience.

“If you stumble or stutter, it is just a normal part of practicing. The important thing is to continuously supplement your knowledge and vocabulary to have a solid foundation when speaking in front of the public,” Thanh Duyen shared.

Recounting her journey of preparing for the international exam, Thanh Duyen emphasized that each candidate must clearly understand who they are, what message they want to convey, and at the same time focus on using body language to increase persuasiveness.

According to her, success does not only come from personal ability, but also depends on the ability to continuously learn, such as observing and learning from both the rights and wrongs of others.

In addition, she also discussed with students about questioning and interviewing skills - important factors for those working in the media. Feeling nervous when talking to important people, according to her, is normal, mainly due to not understanding the question or fear of making mistakes.

To overcome this, students need to clearly define the purpose and find the true value of the question. When focusing on the message and value instead of personal concerns, confidence will gradually be formed, helping the conversation become more natural and effective.

Through the meeting and practice with the 2022 Asian Debate Champion, students of the Faculty of Creative Communication not only had the opportunity to experience real interviews, but also learned how to nurture motivation to learn English, practice presentation skills, public speaking and behavior in front of a crowd.