As a follow-on from the Rookie Orientation Days that took place in Spain in January, a training workshop for those new to the LET was organised just before the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco. To prepare the Rookies for occasions when they will be required to speak in front of an audience, Dr Jassim from Rabat’s Institute for Language and Communication Studies spoke to the Rookies about the do’s and don’ts of public speaking. It is accepted that many individuals have a fear of speaking in public, but this is something professional sports people cannot avoid. The Rookies learned about the root causes of this common fear and were given a number of tips and techniques that will help them in a number of scenarios such as making a winner’s speech, delivering a clinic or attending a press conference.
Dr Jassim, who has extensive experience both as a presenter and as a tutor, said: “As a professional athlete, you will need public speaking skills in every function of your life and it’s always important to convey your key messages, but you need to communicate those messages effectively and make sure that whoever is listening to you has an emotional connection, because you can lose the audience very quickly. You need to read your audience and use the right messages.”
After the workshop, first year LET member Clara Pietri, from Switzerland, said: “The public speaking session was very useful and included interactions and tips on how to express yourself. As rookies we are not really used to the attention from the media and how to speak with them, so it was really helpful.”
Recent Terre Blanche Ladies Open champion, Marita Engzlelius, from Norway, added: “The session was very useful and although I have experienced dealing with the media, I really enjoyed our expansive discussion on the root causes of fear in relation to public speaking and how the different personality types tend to deal with situations.”
Under the banner of ‘LET’s Get Ready’, the LET runs its Rookie Orientation Programme to help those in their first year on the tour. Previous workshops have covered topics such as finance, managing your personal brand and mindfulness. The LET’s education programme aims to not only help the LET members for life on tour, but also to prepare them with dual and future careers.
