Unit 2: Arts Leadership

2A - What I think makes a good leader

For my unit 2, I chose to present a workshop online to the rest of my Arts Award group on how to create a catchy hook for a song. I have firstly listed what I think makes a good leader:

• Being calm and organised
• Being interactive and interesting to listen to
• Be good at communicating ideas to groups of people
• Being confident and strong when leading/presenting

I think that currently, I am quite organised also confident when talking to people, but not very interactive or good at communicating in a way that makes people really interested in what I'm talking about. I plan to develop my leadership skills throughout running this workshop, by improving these skills and become clearer in the way I communicate, as well as getting more people involved in the project.

2B - Planning the project

The first time I led the workshop, I wrote out a plan before to read off during the session, which can be seen below. I was to be presenting the workshop on Zoom, so I didn't need to bring anything physical to the session, but I did need to provide a link to a free online piano so they could create their own hooks at the end of the session. However this time I didn't really think about how long each activity would take or if how I was presenting was the best way to communicate my ideas.

2C and D - Delivering the project and how I could further improve my leadership skills

However, after leading the workshop the first time, I went away feeling that I had spoken too briefly and not explained the concept in enough detail. I chose to write out a list of leaderships skills I showed that I was good at and the ones I needed to improve:

What went well:

• Confident in presenting - I was very confident and not quiet or nervous.
• Answering questions - I could answer any questions in a helpful and concise way.

What needs improving:

• Communicating clearly - I don't think the group fully understood the idea or what a hook actually was.
• Being organised and having a clear idea of timing etc - I thought I was good at this, but the session showed that I needed to have a more thought-out plan of how I was going to run it.

I decided to run the workshop again two weeks later.

2B - Planning for the second time

This time, I went over everything that I was going to say before the workshop and created a slideshow for the presentation. I also allocated how long each activity was going to take, wrote it out and had the plan with me when I presented to the group. This is attached below. Additionally, I thought more about where and when the session would be and wrote out this list of things to consider when presenting:

• I am presenting online, so I need to talk clearly and make sure my face is always in the camera so people can see me.
• The workshop will be about half an hour, so I need to make sure I don't run over, or skim too quickly, over any areas.
• Because we are online, people need to click "share audio" when presenting their hook so we can hear it properly. If people can't share their audio, they could post their notes on the chat.
• Some people might feel shy to offer answers to questions I ask, so I should give some examples before asking the group.

I also emailed the leader of my Arts Award group to ask if I could screen record the Zoom meeting, which I have screenshotted and included below.

2C and D for the second time

After running the session for a second time, I think my skills at presenting and communicating clearly and concisely, and not abbreviate things too much, had really improved. I also got the group much more involved and think the way I communicated was much more interesting and engaging. I also had a much clearer idea of what I was going to say and how long everything would run for, which meant that I had met the criteria for what makes a good leader that I listed at the beginning of the project.

Unfortunately, screen recording didn't work in the session that week, but I did manage to get some screenshots and photos of my computer as I was presenting:

I also asked the group to send feedback on how they found the workshop, which is attached below:

The second time I ran the workshop, it was much more interactive and I think I sparked the group's interest more successfully than the first time. I asked questions to the group more frequently, memorised much of what I was going to say so I didn't have to make it up on the spot, and had more examples of hooks prepared. This reflected in the group's response as many more of them were willing to share the hooks they created than the session before, and all of the hooks they produced were exactly what I had been aiming for.

2E

Overall, I think my leadership skills have greatly improved and really enjoyed the process. However, if I could do it again I would've liked to be in person to deliver the session as being on Zoom made it more difficult to believe that there were real people listening to me and following my instructions. If I could run the workshop for a third time, I'd love to do it in person and get the group even more involved, and perhaps have them pair up so they could share ideas and discuss how to create the best results. If I had more time to run a longer session I would also like to show the group how to add chords to the hook, something that would greatly enhance their music-making skills.

But in general, I think that running the session a second time greatly improved the workshop, and really enhanced my leadership skills. I now know that, whilst being concise and to-the-point can be good, it is also good to go into more detail and explain things, and this will reflect in the group's work as well. I also feel I have gained experience with talking to a group, something I hadn't really done before, especially to a group of people my age. I hope to do something similar again sometime soon, as I did really enjoy the process of presenting to a group on something I find interest in and would love to improve my leadership skills even further.