Testimonials

Julia, Year 13

“As I was doing this course all I could think was, I wish certain people could hear these things and learn these and if they did there would be less conflict in their lives. I know myself better (personality). I know how to control situations with people so that I get the best outcome. I think this would benefit boys, help them learn ways to communicate, and it would benefit them in the future eg relationships and success with working with others as males lack these skills. Boys put girls under a lot of stress as they don’t fully understand how to communicate in ways that help both people”.

I found  "Say It Clearly" through advertising on the Southland Chamber of Commerce. I contacted Miriam by e-mail, and she booked an appointment to meet. I was taking another English course, but the course was not helping improve myself. The first benefit that I identified in the "Say It Clearly" was that the training is focused on my gaps, customised to me.

Miriam helped me to develop a Cover Letter and a CV based on Kiwi employer profile. And it makes all difference.

Besides that, Miriam is more than a teacher. She is a coach; she helps me to improve my English, my posture and how to approach the subjects during the interview. As well as look for job opportunities aligned with my background and knowledge.

After the training, I feel self-confident to attend interviews and was successful in winning a role in my career.

Katie, Year 13

“I know myself better than I used to. I have strategies to use to control my anxiety and other emotions. I also learn to use my assertive behaviour and tell my opinion in a positive matter to influence. I win, you win factor. I think boys would benefit from this i.e especially *BHS because they put girls in situations where I think that if they took this course the ‘situations’ could be much better”.

Thank you so much for the skills you have sent me away to work on.

For the first time in weeks I feel that I can go forth and cope.

My class have really enjoyed your speech programme. They like the continuity of the weekly focus. They have told me that they like trying out the 'silly sentences' and ask to link the sound to a blend of the week. If we miss it for a timetable change, they ask to do it later. 

I have a couple of kids who have quite severe speech issures and have used the programme at home and it has made a big difference in their improvement over the year. A lot of the class used the programme at school too and it was great how it reached the wider community.

Polly, Invercargill.

This from Pam, a Resource Teacher of Literacy in NZ..."The Say It Clearly programme is an effective tool for both teachers and students.

The video clips are short bursts of knowledge that are specific to a speech sound which means that the programme can be catered to individual needs.

They give students direct assistance in helping with the correct production of speech sounds in isolation, within words and then sentences and along with the handouts help raise teacher's knowledge in learning how to assist children to speak clearly"                    Wow! Thanks Pam 

Tenei te mihi kia koa a Miriam McKenzie, I have the utmost respect for you .

Your mentorship and guidance helped me achieve my goals with my final Degree year of studies.

Your business acumen and sheer passion in your work and the determination to share your knowledge to help others is inspiring. I learned so much from you and I feel this will be a lifetime of connection of a valued relationship.

I found Miriam’s training to be very thorough and a good mix of exercises and theory.

The training package is comprehensive and includes written material which is good resource to refer to. Miriam has a very personable approach to presentation skills and clearly sets out areas where ‘work is required’ in a positive way.

I personally found the training was very helpful to my presentations and I continue to use the lessons learnt from her training.

I would strongly recommend her training to other organisations.

“Very easy to understand the steps to building resilience and minimise anxiety” Tina, Te Anau, NZ

“I think the booklet will be a very valuable tool as it has everything we talked about and more. Great to look back on and refresh. Excellent everyday strategies to take home and implement” Kirsty, Te Anau, NZ

Emma, Year 12

“I feel stronger now after starting this course and I have learnt strategies to manage my anxiety and how to feel good about myself as a person and that I am worth something. I have also learnt that I don’t need to follow other people and copy them. I need to do things by myself instead of trying to please each other”.