The four day workshop was designed for Radio TV Brunei RTB by AIDB together with the consultants up their request for one focusing on Image Building and Presentation Techniques.

About 21 participants signed up for this program from RTB, almost all being TV Hosts, both in studio and on location presenters, with a. broad range in terms of seniority and experience, some having only recently started out and others being veterans. There were one or two producers, and one person representing Radio presenters.

Attendance varied a lot, due it would appear because of clashes with work obligations and probably also due to the fact that it was during the holy month of Ramadan and all participants were Muslim and presumably fasting.

Those who did attend were very enthusiastic and responsive and really enjoyed themselves it would appear. We were touched at the lengths some of them went to, to participate, from their cars or while on duty but not actively working, and even from beside a hospital bed of the participants ailing father.

The Workshop was divided into four parts over four days as follows:

1. Day One:

Introduction and the importance of image for a presenter with Voice Workshop and Body Language.

2. Day Two:

6 Traits of a Good Presenter

3. Day Three:

Personal Image and Branding – Make-up and Wardrobe for television

4. Day Four:

Storytelling with The River of Life

Day One:

Introduction and the importance of image for a presenter with Voice Workshop and Body Language.

Led by Sandra Sodhy & Chacko Vadaketh

The Workshop kicked off with a warm welcome by Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, Director of AIBD and the introduction of the two Consultants for the day who have a wide range of experiences in both the acting, presenting, training and voice over worlds as well as in the corporate world. Chacko was a litigation lawyer previously and Sandra an economics lecturer.

The participants were asked to introduce themselves and share what challenges they faced in their work that they could work on during this program. They were frank about having issues about improvising on the spot, keeping focused, dealing with nervousness and the mind going blank, dealing with tiredness, mumbling, stuttering, finding interesting angles on a topic, or finding new topics to discuss on their shows and dealing with sudden changes in the situation while on air.

They were then led on a warm up of the body, followed by that of the face and breath. After the break they were led on focused voice warm up, working on consonants, vowels, projection and using tongue twisters. The participants had a lot of fun with these exercises often used by actors before they go on stage or on set.

After a break they were invited to explore body language and to show what ones body is saying just from the way it is positioned. Is the person engaged, bored, angry, indifferent, confused, horrified?

Then there was a discussion of the importance of branding and one’s image. Some iconic presenters were looked at, their photographs and or video clips to see what kind of distinct branding they embodied. This included, Trevor Noah, Anderson Cooper, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Aznil Nawawi, Mahadzir Lokman, Melissa Idris.

Some case studies were explored on professional images of icons like Will Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Simon Cowell. One’s personal life and behavious can impact on one’s professional image and branding.

Three learning outcomes were aimed for on Day One:

1. Speak with stronger, clearer, supported, and more expressive voices.
2. Recognize the importance of body language in communication.
3. Understand the need for a good Professional Image.

Day Two:

6 Traits of a Good Presenter

Led by Sandra Sodhy

Day Two began again with warm-ups. This is to instill warming up as an habit for the participants and to get them ready to be their best selves for the day in the workshop.

The six traits focus on the effective use of:

1. Eye Contact
2. Smiling
3. Stance
4. Voice
5. Gestures
6. Feet

Participants were invited to use these traits, two at a time, and were given simple topics to speak on for 30 seconds at time. Topics given could be things like: favourite food, best friend, hobby, why I love my job and so on. They thus learnt the importance of these traits experientially.

The day ended with participants sharing what they learnt and what they could use in their work and it was gratifying to see that participants found it very helpful to enhance their performance as presenters.

Day Three:

Personal Image and Branding – Make-up and Wardrobe for television

Led by Wenddi Teng

This practical and informative day-long session explored the importance of colour for make-up and wardrobe for a tv presenter. The sets also are important.

Participants were told after assessment by the trainer, what colour palette suited them best, what colours were appropriate for different types of shows and what type of clothes were appropriate in different circumstances.

Day Four:

Storytelling with The River of Life

Led by Chacko Vadaketh

This day the aim was to find stories from one’s life and using them in your work. It started with a quick warm up of the voice and the body.

The concept of the River of Life was introduced and the trainer demonstrated his personal River of Life and took the participants on a quick tour of it. Participants, who had been asked to bring coloured marker pens and two A4 sheets joined together to make a bigger sheet, were then invited to spend some time looking back on their life and to draw their own River of Life. Thereafter they were invited to share their rivers with a partner in a break out room.

The workshop then went onto find stories from these rivers and to hone them into, vivid, succinct 90 second long stories with a teachable point to them, which participants could use in their working life, be it when presenting or in meetings with guests or with staff. And to incorporate the 6 traits of a good presenter as well.

Participants would give constructive feedback each time someone presented their story. They then explored how and where they could use their stories in their work.

The Day ended with a joint debrief  of the whole four day workshop with Sandra Sodhy joining Chacko Vadaketh for this final segment with an overview of the past four days.