Hundreds of students attend high-energy motivational talks on skills development
Over the last two days, Emmanuel Anthony and Kamal Ellis-Hyman from Aim a Little Higher delivered a series of 1-hour high-energy talks that encouraged our students from across all course levels to think about the skills they are developing in College with our Brilliant Futures Pledge. Hundreds of students from a wide range of A Level, T Level and vocational courses attended the engaging talks, where Emmanuel and Kamal spoke to packed-out crowds in the lecture theatre. The talks were arranged by our dedicated Careers Team as part of National Careers Week and Colleges Week, and the students had been invited to attend by their progress coaches.
Each of the engaging talks featured a mix of motivational mantras, fun games and compelling illustrations to encourage our students to take action to reach their potential.
During his talks, self-proclaimed “challenger” Emmanuel talked about the importance of “response and answer” and his firm belief that you only remember something if you say it out loud – meaning that audience participation was at the top of the agenda! Throughout the talks, students were repeatedly asked to chant the following mantra:
“Life is a game
Every game has rules
Rules lead to results.”
This was followed by a fun game of “Dis” or “Dat” (“This” or “That” in non gen-Z language), where Emmanuel and Kamal asked the audience a series of thought-provoking questions, such as “Which do you think is more important: money or enjoyment?”, “Do you prefer to ask for help or figure it out yourself?” and “Which do you think is needed most for success: hard work or luck?” Several students were then asked to explain the reasoning behind their choice.
The motivational speakers then spoke about how vision is connected to your future and that it is key to “know your vision”. They carried out a practical exercise where they asked a willing volunteer to stand on one leg and raise one arm with their eyes closed – which resulted in a bit of a wobble! This demonstrated how a lack of light makes you less balanced and can make you lose sight of you vision, and showed the importance of always keeping your vision in sight. The students were then asked to speak to a partner and decide on one key area to focus on improving on in their life – career, income, experiences, bucket list or family.
Another key theme of the talks was about staying focused, with Emmanuel and Kamal explaining how important this skill is to achieving a great future. They talked about how the eight skills in our Brilliant Futures Pledge – such as resilience, self-awareness and communication – are crucial in business, and encouraged our students to take accountability and sign up for the Brilliant Futures Pledge to develop the skills that employers want and make sure they are work-ready.
During their energetic talks, Emmanuel and Kamal also gave some practical tips on how to plan for success, and suggested a simple-yet-effective 4-stage process:
- Plan
- Execute
- Adjust
- Repeat
This section of the talk featured an entertaining re-enactment of a scene from the Karate Kid film to demonstrate the principle that “repetition gets results”. Emmanuel and Kamal also emphasised that people shouldn’t give up if things don’t go to plan, as they firmly believed that it’s “never failure, just feedback” and explained that time doesn’t wait for anyone, and so it’s important to take action now to build their dreams, rather than sleep on them!
The motivational speakers also spoke passionately about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and explained how having a fixed mindset can limit your potential. This was brought to life with a fun game of throw and catch, during which a student was confident that she could catch a ball from a short distance away, but then unsure if she could if she could catch it from further away and with her hands closed. Despite her uncertainty, she was able to catch the ball, which shows that you should be open to trying to push yourself.
As well as the motivational talks, there was also a lunch-and-learn session during the lunchtime break, where some of our student champions had the chance to get some 1-1 tips and advice from Emmanuel and Kamal. Themes covered during this session were how to motivate yourself consistently, how to best prepare for an apprenticeship interview, and how to create the right environment to push yourself.
Emmanuel and Kamal’s energetic sessions were extremely well received by those who attended, with Level 2 Food & Beverage student Jack Lewis saying that his key takeaway from the talk was to “just keep going and don’t stop until you get your dream” and his classmate Calum Wheldon saying that he found the talk “inspiring” and that it “brought important issues to life”.
A huge thank-you to Emmanuel and Kamal for inspiring our students to keep developing their skills.
Want to discuss any of our degree, higher-level, vocational, T Level, A Level and adult courses or apprenticeships with our expert team of tutors and check out our state-of-the-art facilities? Then, please come along to our next Open Event. Details on dates can be found here
