The best speaker in BBC 2023, Iryna Arsenenko: "Reading is a development of mind and memory, an expansion of vocabulary"
In 2023 we have conducted regular meetings among Omega employees in our intellectual club BBC (Big Brain Club). And we have suggested our colleagues to choose the best speaker of the year. The winner was the head of distance selling to corporative clients department Iryna Arsenenko. We congratulate our winner and share an interesting conversation with her.
Roman Denysenko: We are pleased to congratulate you, Iryna, on winning among performing speakers in our Big Brain Club. This interview will give motivation and inspiration to our future speakers. Tell us, please, do you like reading?
Iryna Arsenenko: I cannot tell that I like reading, but I also won`t tell that I force myself to do it.
There is literature that brings relax, for instance, fine literature and novels. They are easy to read and help to unwind. And there is business literature, to which I push myself to read. I have a child, and I`m a role model for them in reading. Reading is a development of mind and memory, an expansion of vocabulary. I see only positive sides of reading. Before going to bed, almost every day, I read with family for 20-30 minutes.
Roman Denysenko: What is your favourite book?
Iryna Arsenenko: I really like the book "Gone with the Wind", I`ve read it something like 3 times. But each time it opens up differently. When I first read it as a teenager, I opened up a girl, who lived all her life without love; and when I read it for the second time, I opened up an egoistic girl, who couldn`t see her love, that was always near her. Each time this book uncovers in a new way for me.
Roman Denysenko: What book are you reading now?
Iryna Arsenenko: Recently I`ve finished reading "WOW! Projects" by Tom Peters. The next book I`ve been recommended is "First break all the rules. What the world`s greatest managers do differently" by Curt Coffman and Marcus Buckingham.
Roman Denysenko: Despite your busy working schedule, how much time do you usually pay to reading?
Iryna Arsenenko: If a book is easy to read, I can spend an hour or two. In case it`s difficult to read, I can read this book till the end by force, but I won`t have even a thing in my memory, except basics. On average I spend 20-30 minutes reading.
Roman Denysenko: What is important for you in preparing for BBC speech?
Iryna Arsenenko: For me, it`s important to prepare psychologically, not to lose the connection with the audience, because, in case you lose this attention, it will be really difficult to get it back; it happens sometimes that you become a background for your colleagues, who can turn their attention back, reading emails or doing their own tasks. It was important to create a unique approach and stand out from the crowd. I had an intensive book, which was hard to retell in a couple of hours, and then I recalled the Socratic Method, which you can apply for people to find the answers, given in the book, by themselves. In case it was possible to add something, I did it when possible, for example, what author recommended, what you should pay attention to, and so on. The main thing is that people won`t get bored and understand BBC as a radio.
In my opinion, the main thing is to create some interactive activities, 2 or 3, may they be short, but they will keep the audience involved.
Roman Denysenko: Maybe, you could remember some interesting moments of your speech, which you liked the best?
Iryna Arsenenko: I remember, at first there were lots of problems with Zoom, more than 100 people couldn`t join, because it was necessary to add more participants, but we managed to do it. I had some problems with my connection, but we managed to take the situation under control in time, and we solved it all right. I tried to read aloud less. Of course, it`s easier to read than to tell, because you are sure about the next word; and there was a small text on my phone, but, despite initial confusion, I managed to pull myself together.
I want to point out that it`s really difficult for me to perform in front of public, important words just disappear in an instant and the vocabulary gets considerably poor. But in general, I liked it, I was impressed.
For me, it`s new experience and new emotions, you need to go through it to unlock something new within yourself or to see yourself from outside.
Roman Denysenko: What pieces of advice would you give our future BBC speakers?
Iryna Arsenenko: Prepare in advance. For example, I`ve read the book twice, because when I read it first time, I didn`t notice some new things, comparing to when I read it for the second time. I had prepared my presentation long before the speech, but a week before I rearranged it all. If you have some ideas or experiments for your presentation, you should you them. Creative insights and expansions of your presentation will give brightness to your speech.
Roman Denysenko:Thank you for your paid attention! It was very interesting! Goodbye!