“I can say with certainty that Arijana’s workshop CHANGED MY LIFE”

At the end of March, I had the pleasure of giving a workshop for TEDxUniversityofLjubljana. Last year I was one of the speakers at the event, while this year I participated in a different role, as a coach, and I held a workshop “Present like a Pro”. After the workshop and the main event, I received a beautiful review from Zala, one of this year’s speakers:

“I have become a better speaker in ways I didn’t know were possible!

Arijana is truly amazing at her job and she has an incredibly fun vibe. My coaching journey was even more valuable than I expected. Among other things, I learned how to find the essence of what I want to say and how to keep people engaged when I speak. I can now speak clearly and powerfully. And have the tools to always make my point.

I am a young researcher and a PhD student at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana. This year I was chosen as a TEDx speaker at the 11^th TEDxUniversityofLjubljana event. As a part of the preparations for the event, I attended Arijana’s workshop on presenting skills. Until then, I was dealing with a lot of nervousness and fear of public speaking – but before such a big and important event like TEDx, it was crucial to get rid of the uncontrolled nervousness. I didn’t come to the workshop with high expectations – how can three hours of the workshop help me with coping with my lifelong fear of public speaking? Oh, how wrong I was! After the end of Arijana’s workshop, her words echoed in my head for a long time, they made me think strongly. She shared with us some tricks and a lot of advice about good oral presentations, all of which were supported by real examples that we could identify with and recognize ourselves in. For the first time in my life, I started looking at public speaking from a positive point of view – I was confident at the event itself, and moreover, I truly ENJOYED speaking in front of 250 people! Of course, several months of preparation helped, but I can confirm that the real turning point in my head happened right after Arijana’s workshop.

At this point, I would like to express my gratitude to Arijana for all the advice and encouragement she has shared with us! Since I have to give many oral presentations for my work, attend many conferences and have to defend my doctoral dissertation next year, I can say with certainty that Arijana’s workshop CHANGED MY LIFE and prepared me for any challenge that is yet to come!