Friday 3rd October 2025

The workshop with Art Fabrique helped me think about public speaking and networking from a different point of view. In this session we were encouraged to think like an actor, which didn’t mean pretending to be someone else in this context but instead think about the ways to seem confident as if we’re on a stage!

Breaking the awkwardness we felt was quite a challenge but once it was shed it was really enjoyable thinking about posture and voice more. The exercise that helped open up our diaphragms when we spoke to project our voices was quite eye opening, and immediately made our voices sound much more confident.

While it’s not directly related to networking, thinking about how to present myself to others a bit better makes me want to “fake it till I make it”, even though it’s quite nerve wracking (especially since I know my posture is quite bad especially after animating

My favourite exercise to watch was when someone had to tell us either a lie or a truth about themselves, we would ask questions make guesses from there to try and tell if was true or false. Playing this game made the subconscious way we read body language come to the surface, I’m sure for those who were in front of us it really made them think a lot more about the way they speak, move, if their arms are swinging, where their legs are placed, etc.

Our final task was to roleplay a scene in which we introduce ourselves to a higher up at a company that we were interested in. When doing this I thought about what Isabel from I Like Networking had told, “we connect with people, not job roles”, so I tried to begin with breaking that ice first. It felt quite awkward acting with someone I didn’t know, especially since they knew my end goal was to give them a business card but I think it’s truly a skill that can only be refined with practice.

In general, I don’t think I’m someone who is terribly shy nor amazingly outgoing so there are areas for me to improve in, I hope that when the chance presents itself, I can use the lessons I learnt in this workshop until it becomes natural to me!