On September 5, from 9:30am-12:00pm, the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) members helped run the annual Masterclass 2020 hosted by United Speakers of America and Toastmaster Club.
Masterclass is a conference that brings together expert rhetoricians and young uprising speakers in a 2.5 hour long seminar, a global event for public speaking that showcases both youth speakers and professional speakers from all around the continent. Our program will spotlight select young students to give their own formal and informal speeches with direct feedback straight from the masters. Other students will get the chance to evaluate the masters themselves and be able to take away valuable information about public speaking and how to give an effective oration. Masterclass is a great opportunity for both attendees and students to learn and improve their elocution.
The topic of Masterclass 2020 is Leadership, with a vision of making new leaders. It is to encourage a new generation of public speakers through a friendly mentor-student environment, one that can be made available to everyone. By moving to a virtual setting, this year’s event expanded the audience and increased the diversity of participants. Three invited speakers were Mario Lewis, George Yen, Diana Chao, and three student speakers from Montgomery, Milburn, and Vancouver. The Masterclass 2020 saw over 100 attendees from all around the world.
Many GPA members participated in this event, while Alissa Wu was part of the planning committee and the Table Topics Master. She has been attending 2 hour long meetings 6 times a week prior to the event to design the flyer, reaching out to other Toastmasters clubs. Alissa ran the table topics in audition, technical dry run, content dry run, and final event. She gave each person impromptu questions for Table Topics speeches as well. Her topics were well thought out and very relatable to the youth. She received strong feedback from the professional speakers and students during their evaluation. Alissa was in charge of selecting and designing gifts for the invited speakers. She also solicited participation from several groups and her network.
Service Dates & Hours: 8/23, 2 hrs; 8/24, 2 hr; 8/25, 2 hrs; 8/26, 2 hrs; 8/27, 2 hrs; 8/28, 2 hrs; 8/29, 2 hrs; 8/30, 2 hrs; 8/31, 2 hrs; 9/1, 2 hrs; 9/2, 2 hrs; 9/3, 2 hrs; 9/4, 2 hrs; 9/5, 2.5 hrs
