The resource persons for the training were Ms. Donna Aura A. Lumbo, an HROD Consultant and Executive Coach, and James Roldan S. Reyes, an Assistant Professor in Statistics, Institute of Statistics, UP Los Baños.

Ms. Lumbo discussed the basics of communication, different ways of developing and organizing presentation content, important points in preparing one’s presentation, different visual aids and support materials that a presenter can use, key tips and techniques for handling questions from the audience and managing the presentation environment.

Mr. Roldan, on the other hand, equipped the participants with the skills and knowledge to appropriately use statistical tools such as graphical presentations, summary measures and other organizational methods of presenting data onto their presentations. He also integrated Statistics in his discussion of effective presentation skills using key examples and interactive applications such as online quizzes like myquiz.com and Mentimeter (mentimeter.com).

At the end of the 4-day training, the participants lauded the training for being fun and fruitful. During the closing ceremonies, a participant praised the agency saying, “PSRTI trainings are always well-organized. The daily schedule is always followed, and time limit, always observed.” He even commended the training team when he said, “The Training team is friendly and communicative. They were able to build rapport with the participants. It felt like they are also our workmates whom we can easily bond with. They are amiable and they even interact with everybody’s jokes, but still manage to stay professional. They are also well-versed with online tools that were useful during the training. Great job, PSRTI Team!”