If you’ve never tried teaching storytelling to eight young people over Zoom at dinner time… it’s equal parts chaos, brilliance and pure magic.
One person is muted.One person is unmuted… and really shouldn’t be.A dog wanders into frame and immediately becomes the star of the show.Someone’s WiFi freezes on the perfect “deep thinking” face.And somehow, in the middle of all that beautifully real life, something powerful begins to take shape.For a month of Wednesday nights, eight Yalari Alumni logged in from Brisbane, Sydney, Darwin, Moree, Canberra, regional Victoria, and a few places that were definitely halfway between work and home, to learn not performance, but leadership.Because speaking isn’t performance.Speaking is leadership.And leadership starts long before anyone steps onto a stage.We went back to the basics: breathe, ground, tell the truth.We worked through the 5Ps, Presence, Purpose, Pathways, People, Practice, and the final one, Power, which asks: What do I leave behind?Some nights were meaningful. Some were messy. Some were unexpectedly hilarious. And some were quietly courageous, like the first reads that started shaky and finished steady, or the moment a sentence finally sounded like it belonged to the person speaking it.
And then came showcase morning at QPAC.
Watching them step out from the wings was one of the proudest moments of my career. Their nerves were real. You could see it in their hands and their breath.But they didn’t let nerves choose the moment.They let intention choose it.Feet grounded.Gaze soft.Exhale longer than inhale.And then… step forward.I deserve to be here.And just like that, their voices stretched out across a sea of unfamiliar faces. The room softened. People leaned in. They didn’t just listen, they witnessed. That’s what story does. That’s what presence does. That’s what courage does.
These eight alumni, teachers, creatives, future lawyers and economists, community advocates and storytellers, are a credit to Yalari. Some graduated last year, others a decade ago, and all of them are still on the learning journey Yalari began with them: one grounded in confidence, cultural pride and possibility.
You don’t need to be louder.You don’t need to be perfect.You don’t need permission.You need intention.When you speak to be heard, you inform.When you speak to connect, you transform.
What’s Next and How You Can Support Them
For the next eight Mondays, we’ll be sharing a snippet from each alumni’s speech, one story each week, straight from the QPAC stage.Each of these young people deserves to be seen.Each deserves to be heard.Each deserves encouragement as they continue stepping into their voice.When you see their posts come through, I’d love you to cheer them on, comment, share, send a kind word. Their courage deserves to be met with community.
Thank you for walking alongside us.
