Singapore Red Cross' (SRC) Marketing Communications and Partnerships intern, Nico Basalamah, 19, shared his internship experience preparing and attending a Volunteer Skills Training - Writing, Interviewing and Editing Techniques for Impactful and Inspiring Stories 'Writing, Interviewing and Editing Techniques for Impactful and Inspiring Stories' held at YWCA on 20 May 2023. 

As an intern with the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) Marketing Communications and Partnerships team, I prepared the logistics for a workshop a few days before the event. Besides sending email reminders to the attendees to remind them to attend the workshop, I prepared the attendee registration list, and the signages, ensured that the table arrangement was according to the plan and printed the reference reading materials for the attendees. Though I had planned and organised workshops in school for students, it was my first experience organising a workshop in a professional work setting. I did not know what to expect, as it was my first time. 

Attendees were Eager to Learn

I was invited to join the workshop to pick up some useful writing, interviewing, and editing tips. I did not know how the turnout would be, since the workshop was conducted on a Saturday morning. I was -genuinely surprised by a great turnout on a Saturday morning. Twenty-nine people attended the workshop on 20 May 2023. Despite being exhausted from a long week at work, they prioritised the workshop over resting at home. The attendees arrived punctually. All the attendees had a smile on their faces and were eager to get the workshop going. It was heartening to see so many volunteers spending their Saturday morning gathering tips to hone their writing proficiency.

Singapore Red Cross Platforms, House Style

To kick off the workshop, SRC Marketing Communications and Partnerships Senior Executive, Sondra Foo, shared SRC's social media platforms and the house style, a guide that volunteers can refer to when they write stories. 

"It will be good to replace insensitive words with acceptable words when referring to someone or a group of people. Some examples include replacing "disabled persons" with "persons with disabilities", "blind" with "persons with visual impairment", "alcoholic" with "persons with an alcohol addiction" or "mentally ill" with "mental health condition"," Sondra said. 

Creative Writing

The next segment was prepared by a volunteer copyeditor Heidi Boon, who had graduated from English and was teaching English. As Heidi could not join the session due to some exigencies, Sondra presented the different creative writing techniques on behalf of Heidi. 

"It is important to share common knowledge or experiences that resonate with the readers, painting the personality of the profile through impactful quotes, describing the environment, people based on the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell), portraying the emotions, struggles and personality of the profile," Sondra said.

The segment also covered the choice of words, sentence structure, paragraphing, organisation and flow, and authenticity, and ending the story with an impact so the readers will take away some key messages, and be inspired to act. 

I thought that the writing techniques would be very useful and applicable to stories I was assigned to write, whether they were SRC-related or essays in school. As someone passionate about writing, I found that these techniques improved my writing since attending the workshop. I will make a conscious effort to apply what I learnt because it is very beneficial. 

Editing Techniques

Next, volunteer copyeditor Ruth Lee, who has edited several web stories for the Singapore Red Cross, shared the segment on Editing Techniques. The segment had input from Keval Singh, a volunteer copyeditor who is a news writer and editor and Heidi Boon, a volunteer copyeditor. 

"We can edit the narrative to elicit the right emotions, ensuring factual accuracy, projecting a friendly, approachable and community-oriented tone, and ensuring there are no abrupt transitions or leaps of logic. We can create an ending that not only includes recommendations, call to action, key issues, important points or a summary of the points, but also touches the hearts and minds of people and inspires them to act," said Ruth, a Strategic Communications Lead at Doyobi.

Handy Interview Skills

Doreen Tan, a volunteer who was deployed on SRC’s humanitarian missions overseas, shared the segment on Handy Interview Skills. Having been deployed on SRC’s humanitarian missions overseas, Doreen has accumulated a wealth of experience managing challenging situations and interviewing people who lived through disasters. Doreen's experience and wisdom were portrayed as the tips shared were very useful, and she explained them in-depth. 

"Some handy interview tips are to understand the brief, ascertain the point of view of the write-up, understand the profile, tailor the questions based on the profile, understand the cultural norms and customs, take copious amounts of notes, and overcome the language barrier," Doreen said. 

The role-playing segment stood out. Personally, it was the most captivating and enjoyable segment of the entire workshop. Lots were drawn for teams (segregated by the table number) to participate in the role play. The representatives from the selected tables re-enacted a scenario where an interviewer was interviewing someone who had just lost his home, family, and everything important to him. A scribe noted the strengths and areas of improvement of the interview. 

When the role-play began, the room fell silent. Everyone was focused on the conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee. Although it was a role play, the tension in the room was palpable. The volunteer who played the role of an interviewee who had lost his home, and family was emotional and was not keen to be interviewed. The interviewer's compassion and sincerity were evident through his tone of voice and the words used. His reference to help others like the interviewee struck a chord and touched everyone’s heart. Even though it was just a role play, the scenario was based on real-life experiences that people had to undergo. It felt realistic. 

My experience at the workshop, was enjoyable and interesting. We learnt about writing and editing web articles and interviewing profiles. Besides the key takeaways, it was fascinating to see how passionate the volunteers were and how active they were in the group discussions. Though the attendees hail from all walks of life, with different competency levels, and varying strengths and weaknesses, they shared the common goal of giving back and helping those in need. Their genuine interest and passion shone through.

I would recommend students who are seeking internship opportunities to intern with the Singapore Red Cross if they are interested in giving back to the community. Not only will they pick up organisational and interpersonal skills, but they will also glean enriching and insightful insights that will stand you in good stead for the future while collaborating with like-minded individuals keen on working for the common good of everyone.

By Nico Basalamah, Intern