The First Note

 

Think of the successful leaders you know. They probably have one trait in common – the ability to communicate effectively.

 

Students need the Communication Public Speaking Leadership Academy (CPSL Academy) program so they can grow to meet the challenges of adulthood and leadership successfully.  Communication Public Speaking Leadership Academy (CPSL Academy) helps young people build their communication and leadership skills so they may become tomorrow's leaders in business, industry and the community.

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The Participants

Each CPSL Academy program group is limited to 10 to 20 people (groups over 10 split into smaller subgroups for parts of the meeting). That way, each person receives individual attention and has the opportunity to get practical experience. Applicants submit a request to participate to the organizer. The program is not an award to honor those who already have become leaders. It’s designed for the much larger group who are still working on communication skills. Participants are selected for what they can become, not for what they already have done. Often teenagers want the course as a supplement to their high school education, or to prepare for college.

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The adult with overall responsibility for the program is the coordinator. He or she works closely with any cooperating organization and attends each meeting, conducting most of the training and counseling participants. The coordinator has an assistant who conducts discussions and substitutes for the coordinator, should he or she be unable to attend a meeting.

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How it Works

The program is presented in school semester segments during or after school, or on weekends. Each session usually lasts one hour. Activities taking place in the sessions include the following:

• Evaluation of present speaking ability

• Discussion of leadership principles

• Presentation of speeches

• Impromptu talks

• Group evaluation

• Discussion of speech organization

• Discussion and practice in listening

• Discussion of gestures in speaking

• Discussion of voice and vocabulary

• Exercise in leadership

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Generally, meetings follow an announced agenda and participants learn and practice parliamentary procedure during each meeting. Lecturing is minimal, but discussion is held during each session. Class members are assigned duties on a rotating basis, so everyone is actively involved. Participants also deliver impromptu and prepared speeches. In every meeting, participants learn to apply the principles of listening, thinking and speaking.

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