Our new Leadership Spotlight series features the most successful student group leaders from universities around the country. Get to know their outstanding organizations and see how CampusGroups is helping them make an impact on campus and beyond.

Jonathan Koo, NYU Stern School of Business MBA '18

As a second-year Marketing Specialization student at NYU Stern, Jonathan Koo stays busy with a wide range of class assignments and professional pursuits. But as a group leader on campus, he's focused on mastering one skill in particular: public speaking.

Jonathan is President of SpeechMasters, the student-led group dedicated to helping its members become better communicators. The skills developed through the group are applicable to just about every aspect of the MBA student experience, from class presentations to interviews for competitive internships.

The group hosts workshop-style events addressing specific tactics related to public speaking, with topics like Preparation, Body Language, and Calming Your Nerves. "Each workshop has a guest speaker," explains Jonathan. "It could be a Stern professor from Communications or Finance — great public speakers in general."

At the end of every event, SpeechMasters' members are invited to practice speaking in front of the group and receive feedback from their peers. Jonathan cites this opportunity for personalized feedback as one of the key benefits of the group and a core tenant of what SpeechMasters seeks to provide. As written on the group's website, "SpeechMasters offers students a friendly and supportive forum to develop these vital skills and grow professionally."

For Jonathan, being president means doing what it takes to keep the group active and engaged. "It's a smaller club, so you have to be more nimble and wear more hats," he says. The group's Marketing VP sends a weekly e-newsletter with information about upcoming events and thought-provoking prompts to inspire written speeches.

Jonathan credits CampusGroups as an important marketing tool for SpeechMasters. "We get all of our members through CampusGroups," he says. "I use it for everything the group needs."

He's been especially successful at using a combination of event pages and email blasts to keep attendance high at SpeechMasters' workshops. "CampusGroups gives us a way to set up a detailed event page where we can promote our featured speaker and include what we'll talk about in the content space." Jonathan adds: "That's the biggest way we get our numbers: the ability to create events and push them out via email."

There's no doubt that the business leaders of tomorrow will need to be excellent public speakers, and SpeechMasters' members are developing essential skills to make their voices heard. Plus, they're having a good time while doing it—just read their mission statement: "SpeechMasters assists students in gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace, and enjoys fun and good food along the way."

Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn, and learn more about SpeechMasters on their website.