The training course held the opening ceremonies with a special message given by the President of the PSAI and National Statistician & Civil Registrar General of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Mapa.  This was followed by the welcome remarks given on behalf of the PSRTI Executive Director III, Dr. Josefina V. Almeda, by the Chief Statistical Specialist of the Training Division, Ms. Maria Praxedes R. Peña.

The course had lectures and discussions on communications and effective presentation. The participants were given exercises and workshops throughout the 4-day training, which concluded with a final presentation and critique giving.

The resource persons were Mr. Joseph Anthony C. Ayllón and Ms. Czarinne Antoinette A. Antonio. Mr. Ayllón, a Communications Management Specialist and Business Management Consultant, led the discussions on the various concepts in communication and expounded on good practices in effective presentation skills. On the other hand, Ms. Antonio is a professor in the UP Diliman School of Statistics. She covered the topics on statistics such as organizing content using different presentation tools in Statistics (tables, charts, etc.).

The basics of communication, as discussed by Mr. Ayllón differentiated verbal and non-verbal communication. Then he proceeded to discuss the four Ps that make a good presentation: Plan, Prepare, Practice and Present. He touched base on building a presentation, preparing one’s notes, using MS Powerpoint, and dressing up and grooming for one’s presentation, among others. Professor Antonio, on the other hand, discussed how one could maximize and effectively use charts, tables and other statistical tools in presentations. Lastly, Mr. Ayllón wrapped up the training by giving key tips in presenting, where he encouraged the participants by addressing them to “aim for progress, not for perfection.”

Overall, the participants enjoyed the training course and noted that they learned quite a lot from the competent resource persons. One person even said, “I felt their eagerness to impart their knowledge and they were passionate on every topic that they were discussing. In sum, they all felt with the  impression of one participant that said, “The general organization of the training was outstanding.”