Public Speaking: A New Club

All about the new Public Speaking Club

The+founders+of+the+Public+Speaking+club%2C+juniors+Meghana+Divi+%28left%29+and+Ananya+Khanna+%28right%29

Photo by: Haley Hausam

The founders of the Public Speaking club, juniors Meghana Divi (left) and Ananya Khanna (right)

by Haley Hausam, Reporter

Heart racing, blood rushing, palms sweating- Most people know this feeling all too well. According to the National Library of Public Medicine, public speaking is a fear that more than half of our world’s population experiences. This is why juniors Ananya Khanna and Meghana Divi formed the Public Speaking Club.

The Public Speaking Club is a new student-led organization that focuses on helping students overcome their fears of public speaking. The first meeting was after school on Sept. 7 in room 1116. At this meeting, members announced the club’s officers, discussed the structure of the meetings, and participated in team-building activities. 

Our ultimate goal for the club is to have a large group of motivated students who are working to improve the important life skill of public speaking in a fun and friendly environment,” Khanna said. “We will come together to help out our community, build our portfolio, and make new friends.”

Khanna said she is excited to finally be able to start this club and welcomes everyone to join. 

“Many people say that they don’t want to join the club because they’re not good at public speaking,” Khanna said. “And I find that crazy because that is the point of the club. I just say, ‘Dude, that’s why you should join, to grow that skill and become better [at public speaking].’ Because right now you’re in high school. You have the time to get better in these four years before adulthood.”

Khanna has spent her whole life doing public speaking. Growing up she participated in competitions and pageants. Her love for public speaking has only continued to grow.  

“I’ve been wanting to start this club since maybe sophomore year,” Khanna said. “I had all the planning ready, got the google classroom stuff done. I just didn’t know how to get people to join and I wasn’t too confident. This summer, maybe a week or two before school started, [Meghana] came over, and I just pitched the idea to her. She was [unsure] at first but then she was like, ‘yeah, let me help out.’ So together, we [started the club].”

Every semester members of the Public Speaking Club plan to produce The Lion Pride Spotlight, a video-style newsletter that will focus on informing students of current events in our community. This newsletter will also help club members work on their speaking skills.