After a long day of classes, I went with my friend to the Personal Enrichment workshop held at the Newman Library Building. I expected this workshop to be as dull as the Baruch Debates Diversity workshop since there were speakers involved. However, I was absolutely wrong to judge so quickly. The novelist Joseph O’Connor was captivating, humorous, and straightforward.
He kept me alert and captured my attention throughout the whole time he read his works. Before he read any of his works, he would give a brief introduction and description of it. His descriptions were short and to the point. For example, he warned that one of the works is a bit long and may take at least eight minutes to read. I liked that O’Connor introduced his works before reading them because that gave me an idea of what was to come.
He read with great emotion and used different tones that befitted the story or poem. He was not monotone which I was thankful for because if he was, I would have undoubtedly dozed off. O’Connor also had a strong Irish accent that interested me. Often, O’Connor told a joke in between readings to liven up the mood. His tactic worked, and I laughed along with the audience. In addition, O’Connor made sure to keep eye contact with the audience even while reading.
Overall, I had a pleasant experience listening to Joseph O’Connor read. I learned quite a bit of public speaking skills from this workshop. For example, make sure to keep eye contact with your audience, do not be monotone, do not fidget, and much more. O’Connor was entertaining, and his readings brightened up my night.