Baybay City, Leyte - Talking in front or speaking to an audience is still a challenge among agricultural extension workers especially for those who are new to the job. Basically, AEWs are in the forefront in providing extension services to farmers. Thus, talking, presenting, and facilitating are key skills one should have in the exigency of their service. The skills may be there, however, confidence is still the issue that hinders them in exposing their full potential.
The Agricultural Training Institute, being the lead agency in providing agricultural extension aims to capacitate these extension workers with the skills in presentation and facilitation so that information and agricultural technology can be clearly disseminated in the AEW-farmer level. Thus, for Region 8, ATI-RTC 8 conducted the Training on Facilitation and Presentation Skills.
The 3-day training enabled participants to learn about the importance of communication skills in agricultural extension. Participants were also able to understand the qualities of a good presenter and the techniques in managing anxiety during a presentation. Visual aids are also important during presentations that is why through various workshops, participants appreciated the use of the different visual aids in different training situations.
Despite being a technician for 5 years, it was a realization for Gladys Saco that she needed to learn more when it comes to presentation especially in the preparation of PowerPoint and other visual aids. “It really is important to apply the correct way of making VAs so that our clients will easily understand our audiences the ideas, the technologies, and the learnings that we want to convey to them.” she said. Gladys recalled her experiences attending online trainings during the pandemic but haven’t had the experience of presenting online. During the training, they were also given a task to present a topic online. “I am thankful to have learned how to present online with the help of my group members who are equally participative during our workshops.” she added.
Novy Jean Beler on the other hand, expressed her interest to join the training online through Facebook. “I didn’t regret joining this training because it is a very big help for me.” shared Novy. She admitted that she was a very shy person especially when presenting in front of people. “This training helped me boost my confidence to face and communicate with my clients, especially our farmers.”
ATI-RTC 8 Center Director, Ms. Hazel Grace Taganas shared that life is like an open book exam especially for AEWs. “We can only give as much as we have. Every time you come up in front, you are not to impress someone but to express something.” She encouraged the participants to express to impress.
Eighteen (18) participants attended the Training on Presentation and Facilitation Skills held on August 9-11, 2022 at ATI-RTC 8. They also were credited 9 CPD points for completing the said training.
