Speaker series 1: Simran Sethi

Yes, saving our environment is important. We can all agree that with the way people are treating the environment right now, resources are fast depleting and level of pollution is rapidly increasing. Renowned media journalist Simran Sethi presented on this topic as part of USC Bovard speaker series. Her goal - to spread awareness of the issue and encourage action amongst college students. While she succeeded in enlightening the audience about the environmental problems, she was not able to invoke action.

Simran's presentation lacked focus. It seemed as if she was jumping around from one point to another very quickly and was unable to make a strong appeal. The audience really had no time to fully comprehend everything she was saying. One moment, Simran gave facts. The next moment, she tried to appeal to emotion by telling the audience members to close their eyes and imagine the loss of a happy place. At the end of her speech, she made a call to action. But when an audience member inquired about specific ways to preserve the environment, she was unable to provide any. Essentially, the audience received nothing from the presentation other than the generic message about saving the environment.