BATON ROUGE – Members of the 2011 LSU gymnastics team undertook media training sessions Tuesday and Thursday in an effort to enhance communication skills not only for the upcoming season but also in their everyday lives.
Dr. Shirley White of the Academic Center for Student-Athletes conducted the one-hour sessions as part of the Shaquille O’Neal CHAMPS/Life skills program to help student-athletes prepare for life after college.
“I love working with young people, and the young ladies on the gymnastics team are such a pleasure to work with,” White said. “They have such great smiles, sparkle in their eyes and such a great attitude. Since they had to evaluate themselves it will be good for them to take a look inside and see what they do really well and what areas are out there for potential growth.”
White presented the team with 10 key ideas and notes about public speaking as well as tips when being interviews. She began one-on-one interviews with the gymnasts in the first session, and the team wrapped up individual media training interviews in the second session, including peer evaluations of each gymnast’s interview.
“Dr. White did a great job helping us feel more comfortable in front of a reporter, and having our peers evaluate us was a great way to see what areas we can work on and what we are good at,” junior All-American Ashley Lee said. “I know these sessions will help us when we have interviews in the future.”
The team will continue fall practice Friday in preparation for the first intrasquad meet Oct. 29.