Barkers’ Booth- Real Practice

     Good music, games update, and entertainment give the 3-day Intramurals more fun and excitement. These boost up the sports fest and the visitors’ stay in the school.  But the people behind the speakers are not professionals. They are college students, aspiring to be radio DJ's in the future.

     Speakers’ Academy (SPA) of the college department holds the responsibility of looking for a qualified student who will control the booth to doll up the music scene during Intramural days. Students need to go through a screening process and training before gripping the microphone and talking on air. But what does it take to become a barker? Apart from being a Theresian, a barker must be “someone who is confident, spontaneous, witty, able to speak well/properly, articulate and know the right things to say,” according to the standards of SPA.

     Pauline Abaiz, a 3rd year MassCom student shares her experience on the barkers’ booth, “It is fun to be a barker. It is something one can be proud of. After all, your voice will be heard all over the campus. But it is also because of this that makes being a barker a responsibility. Since you will be heard by everyone, one must above all, think before you speak.” Abaiz is also a SPA member who helps in coaching qualified students to become a good barker. She is a consistent barker during the Intramurals.

     Chosen barkers welcome the day, control and mash up the music, announce the games’ results, relay messages and inform the crowd of the inside activities. In other words, a barker is the school’s DJ during Intramurals. This helps the student to be more confident to speak on public. Also, one can practice controlling the technicalities, tone modulation, organization of thoughts to come up with upright, and at the same time perky statements.

     “It’s a special and memorable learning experience.” says Zelina Rae Danao, president of SPA and a barker herself for a couple of Intramurals.

     Not only the school gets to save from hiring a DJ but barkers’ booth gives the students a solid ground to practice their talent in technicalities and public speaking. Indeed, barkers’ booth is an amazing opportunity to train students in their way to connect to the public.