We spoke to Deborah and Aleena, EY Foundation programme alumni, about their experience hosting our Youth Voice Forum.

When presenting at the event they had to manage a panel discussion, on-the-spot polls with the audience, keeping the event to time and on track, and feeding back audience comments and questions to the panel – and they did a great job!

So, what did they learn and how did they get past the nerves?

Hi Deborah and Aleena, let’s start with you telling us why you were interested in presenting at the youth voice event? 

Deborah: I was interested because I had an amazing experience during my internship with EY Foundation in April 2022. I really enjoyed how friendly everyone was and it was always good vibes. I wanted to help let others know about the greatness of EY Foundation.

Aleena: Because of the topics that were going to be covered in the event. They are topics that I feel very strongly about and feel need to be spoken about more in businesses and amongst young people.

That’s great to hear! How did you find the experience?

Aleena: The experience overall was very fun. The practise calls [where we ran through the event and the guideline script] helped me to learn how to present before the actual event and get feedback on my presenting skills and the brainstorming ideas allowed me to give my thoughts about what should be included in the event, such as polls to make it more interactive.

Deborah: The experience was good. I felt somewhat involved and heard when saying my opinions, and these were reflected in the event. Everyone was very helpful in keeping things running smoothly.

Did you develop any skills throughout the process?

Deborah: I was definitely able to improve my confidence and I feel as if my communication skills improved as well.

Aleena: Skills that I felt I was able to improve were my communication and presenting skills. I am not the most confident person and even during the event there were times where I was quite scared but the event allowed me to grow in these skills and at the end, I felt very proud with what I had achieved.

You should be proud. You both did a fantastic job as presenters. So, how did you feel leading up to the event? 

Deborah: I felt excited but also nervous because I didn’t want anything to go wrong from my side of things.

Aleena: Very excited, but also nervous for the big event. I was looking forward to all the discussions about the topics and also the answer to the polls by the audience.

Thank you for answering our questions Deborah and Aleena!

Did you miss our Youth Voice Forum? Watch on-demand: https://bit.ly/3tsfLED

You’ll hear from your peers and our panellists about their opinions on diversity in the workplace, what the future of work looks like, and social mobility.