RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Tx –
A public speaking course that originated at Lackland Air Force Base's Robert D. Gaylor Non-commissioned Officers Academy at Lackland is now being offered at Randolph and will soon begin at Fort Sam Houston.
The course, available at Lackland for about a year, became a Joint Base San Antonio venture in April 2010. It was created to provide basic speaking principles to Department of Defense staff. The class is usually attended by NCOs, SNCOs and civilian personnel
in managerial positions, but is available for everyone.
The regime for the class includes clear organization of effective speaking, how to write an outline, the various patterns and strategies of speaking and how to mask nervousness.
"Learning to become an effective speaker starts after the course is taught," said Master Sgt Richard Ray, Gaylor NCO Academy superintendent. "It is now time for each member to take those skills and refine them through practice."
All of the instructors at the NCO Academy rotate to facilitate the course.
"Our primary responsibility is educating tech sergeants; however, our instructors volunteer to provide additional information to JBSA personnel as the courses are scheduled," Sergeant Ray said.
The structure of the course was developed by Master Sgt Erica Gage, former superintendent of the Gaylor NCO Academy.
At Lackland the class is taught once during a six-week period because the classes can accommodate more students. However, due to limited space at Randolph, the course is currently being offered two to three times during a six-week period. The course is tentatively slated to begin at Fort Sam Houston within the next several months.
Staff Sgt Teron Mobley, 902nd Security Forces Squadron unit training manager, said he was "pretty confident about public speaking prior to taking the course, but you're never 100 percent."
"I was looking forward to learning something I didn't know and the course gave me that," he said.
The most valuable feedback that Sergeant Ray has received from instructing this eight-hour course is that "it is not long enough."
Sergeant Mobley said he feels the course improved the speaking skills he already possessed.
"I'm more confident than I was initially," he said. "The best part of the course was having to prepare and present your own briefing. It is one thing to sit down and absorb knowledge. It is another to have to demonstrate what you've learned and be critiqued. It was rewarding to recognize that the entire class absorbed the additional skills taught and now have the capacity to use them in the future."
Sergeant Ray said the most rewarding part of teaching people to become stronger speakers is
"seeing each member leave the course with additional tools in their toolbox in order to walk through the door when opportunity comes knocking. I challenge those members who may have a fear of speaking in public to sign up."
To register for future courses, use the JBSA Professional Development CoP link: https://afkm.wpafb.af.mil/community/views/home.aspx?Filter=oo-ED-AE-15. Under "register online,", select "Randolph AFB Public Speaking Seminar." Choose class date and then select "register."
If unable to register, contact Master Sgt Terri Harmon, 902 Force Support Squadron base career adviser, at 652-2525.