After an intense first hour of double palm striking and reclaiming NOs, in walked Dr. Clare Anderson and her lovely husband Ben. Dr. Clare is a remarkable woman who, although physically slight and soft spoken, knows how to take command of a space. Clare and Ben had offered to give up precious weekend time to introduce Dr. Clare’s academic findings on female voices in public spaces, and offer practical assistance in the art of public speaking.
The workshop began with Dr. Clare introducing herself, her work and her life to the group. Having lived in various parts of Europe, learnt other languages herself and taught English as a foreign language, Dr. Clare is fascinated by words. Her PhD research was all about exploring older female voices in society, and how society speaks to these women. Her research has shown how damaging these conversations can be: between women (google the ‘Queen Bee’ syndrome) between women and marketing campaigns (‘women: don’t embrace and be proud of the signs of your age: Hide your wrinkles! Dye your hair! You are socially unacceptable once you are passed a certain age: Women, you have a social shelf-life!’) We listened to an expert in the field break down the messages that society has for women, and all of us knew that we had heard or felt something similar at some stage in our lives. Not only this, but the Rangers were able to identify similar social messages targeted at girls in their age bracket.
The discussion ended with a consideration of how we can get our own voices heard. With participation in a BBC Civilisation Festival debate hosted at Egham Museum looming, these public speaking tips and techniques were hugely helpful. Dr. Clare and Ben took to the floor to show us how to claim the floor: don’t ‘hedge’ what you’re saying (“um…like…maybe”), don’t be apologetic (“sorry but”), finish your point (“and that is all I have to say on the matter”), don’t allow yourself to be interrupted (“I am talking, you will need to wait until I have finished making my point”) and accommodate opposing views (“I respect your opinion”). The most fascinating part of this was when we all discovered how difficult it can feel to implement these in practise. I, for example, thought that I was pretty confident in my ability to speak publicly and even I noticed how I began my point by saying ‘sorry’. We stood in a circle and experienced what it is to claim the floor, with Dr. Clare and Ben trying to sneakily reclaim the floor to challenge us and make sure we truly were debate ready.
Inspired by this workshop, we have included a ‘stand up speak out’ section in the new Libertea Badge (LaSER) where we invite other units to explore the Suffragist history where women stood up and spoke out for their belief in women having the vote, and ultimately changed society and history forever. We offer you some helpful hints and tips and hope that one day each of you know how to ‘claim the floor’ for your own.
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