UNISON activist Shipha Begum says it was the confidence skills she gained on a union course that gave her the courage to move a motion at this year’s National Black Members’ Conference (NBMC). Shipha enrolled on the young women’s confidence course shortly after joining the UNISON branch at Luton & Dunstable University Hospital, where she works as a biomedical support worker.

Shihpa said:

This was to help me approach other people in my workplace and help with recruitment as I am the young members’ officer in my branch – never had I thought I’d be on stage in front of hundreds of people speaking at conference.”

What Shipha learned on the course proved to be incredibly useful when she was elected to move the young members committee motion at NBMC, especially when it turned out that the motion was the first item of business at the conference, which was held at Liverpool’s BT Convention Centre in January.

Shipha said:

Just my luck it was the first motion to be put forward to conference – and I was on just after the Mayor of Liverpool and UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis, who I’m sure have both had enough experience of speaking in front of a large volume of people!”

As Shipha hadn’t been able to attend the Young Members Conference AGM that submitted the motion to NBMC, she used a draft speech prepared for her by UNISON’s Young Members Officer Gary Williams.

Shipha explained:

From the confidence course, I had learned it was important to read and understand what you are presenting, so when the draft speech was given to me I made sure to read it aloud at least 15 times so I understood what I was going to say as well as focus on my pitch, volume and speed.”

Shipha admits she felt nervous as she reached the platform to deliver her speech.

When I got up to the podium and introduced myself, I did say I was a first-time speaker, which got a round of applause and helped calm my nerves a little.”

I took a pause and read through my speech like I had practised: I had learned to take pauses when speaking, not to speak too fast and not rush through it (which I tend to do when I’m nervous), to think about my tone and volume so I can be heard clearly but most of all to have fun!”

All her preparation, using the skills she gained on her confidence course, definitely paid off. Not only was the motion passed, but many delegates came to find Shipha afterwards to offer their congratulations.

Shipha believes that it was the confidence course that made all the difference.

Shipha summed up:

Had I not gone on the confidence skills course, I wouldn’t have had the courage in the first place to even think about speaking in front of a crowd.”  

This story first appeared in The Learning Rep Summer 2018 edition. Download a copy here.