“Don’t care what anyone else might say, just open your mouth and speak up!” – Speak-Up 2021

By Gv. Ravindu Ranathilaka

Kicking off the series of speech workshops organized by the Gavel Club of University of Ruhuna; its first leg ‘Speak-Up 2021’ ended as a massive success on the 1st of August.

The event started off with a mysterious video of one of the Gaveliers (not me, maybe someone else who looks like me) having nightmares about public speaking followed up by another where the same Gavelier attends the session and improves massively (we would like to claim this was for marketing purposes and not in any form accurate to real life) as well as the series of posters that were circulating on the Facebook and WhatsApp platforms.

There were many people in attendance, some from the Gavel Club, some not, and some even not from the University of Ruhuna. The man of the hour was none other than DTM Yogendraprasath Sathiyaseelan who despite his busy schedule proceeded to speak, and what a speech it was. The inspirational and interactive speech which boils down to ‘don’t care what anyone else might say, just open your mouth and speak up!’ was a massive hit among the attendees. There is no doubt that there is an insistent voice in the participants’ heads (which is suspiciously similar to that of DTM Yogendraprasath) urging them to speak up!

On other notes, we would like to thank everyone whose support enabled us to organize this event including but not limited to DTM Yogendraprasath Sathiyaseelan, Prof. Kanthi Yapa and Prof. Ashoka Deepananda of the University of Ruhuna, the Department of Computer Science, the newly established Media Unit of Ruhuna Gavel and it’s many talented members, the active Gaveliers and the Project Co-Chairs (Gv. Sathma Liyanage, Gv. Chamika Ravihar, Gv. Chaithri Jayasooriya and myself).

May this success fuel many more such ventures.