By Anson Sat, DTM BA Econ
The Rude Awakening
“Hey Anson! What are you doing here? Are you subbing for this class??”
My friend (name withheld) noticed that I was headed towards a certain English class and leapt out of his class to intercept me. “Brother, come over here. We have to pray!”
The way that he grabbed my arm and whisked me into an empty classroom, I knew he was not joking. “DEAR GOD! Please PROTECT Anson when he teaches that class.” Was it that serious? I demanded an answer.
“Anson, that class is out of control. Trust me. You’re going to get eaten alive.” Eaten alive?! From a distance, it looked like any other 10 year olds in a cram school class. Sure, any student would be a little fidgety after spending a whole day in regular school only to spend another few hours in another school after school.
I have never seen so much darkness in a well-lit classroom. No semblance of order or authority existed. Children screamed like hyenas running around desks arranged as if a 9.0 magnitude earthquake had just struck.
“Hey. Hey! HEY!”, my larynx boomed as I mustered as much Qi as possible.
For a moment, the students momentarily stopped to see who had dared interrupt their time of joy.
“Excuse me. This is an English class. A classroom is for learning! Don’t you want to learn something? Don’t you want to grow?”
The students smiled as they paused and pondered upon such a profound question. Three. Two. One.
“NOOOOO!”
The Cram School Conundrum
I obviously survived that class and many others over my 20-year career as an ESL teacher. Today, as a Growth Mindset and Public Speaking Coach Growing up in Canada, I tell my students about similar experiences growing up in an Asian family. Pent up frustration builds up from never ending monotonous learning, reviewing and practicing.
Every parent wants their children to get that “ticket” to that better life. They whisk their children to cram schools to get a competitive edge over others for a better chance to enter prestigious schools, to a secure a more successful and stable career. The number of cram schools in Taiwan had increased by 4500 percent over the past 30 years (Commonweath Magazine 2020). Over 17,000 cram schools are now operating in Taiwan compared to under 3,000 in the year 2000 (Kaohsiung Education Bureau 2018).
In 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducted a survey to measure young Taiwanese high school students’ competitiveness against other nations around the world published by The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). According to the report, Taiwan scored predictably well in science and math. However, the report also sheds light on two glaring weakness in Taiwanese youth: the highest fear of failure in the world and below average life satisfaction.
How can students in Taiwan perform so well yet have a sense of low self-esteem and low motivation? This cram school teaching methods tied with constant demand for students to strive for perfection has created a pressure cooker of unwanted side-effects. Recently, a university student in a cram school round table discussion at NSYSU claimed that cram schools focus so much on scores that they are ulitmately “dream crushers” as Taiwanese youth are likely nowadays to be passive and directionless.
The reality is that the system currently supports an antiquated teacher-centric, rote-learning passive fixed mindset style of education. This is particularly prevalent in cram schools where students find it difficult to become independent, creative thinkers.
Our students would be better served by providing life and career coaching while being actively engaged in problem-solving based classes facilitated by teachers who act more like “mentors”. Cram schools should adopt a growth mindset style of learning to make school an exciting place to learn and grow rather than monotonous repetition and excessive homework.
Fixed or Growth? Life in my cram schools.
Several former students recently invited me to attend their high school reunion party. These students were practically adults and the last time I saw them they were half my size and a quarter my age. They were typical bubbly teenagers trying to find out their paths in life and discussing their challenges of passing exams. Much of the conversation was unsurprisingly in Chinese but one particular young man went out of his way to apologize. He said, “Sorry Teacher for having to ‘return’ my English to you.”
That statement hit me. Why did he apologize? At that very moment, my mind transported me back in time back to the very classroom where I opened the doors to new possibilities in English. We played games, read stories, and they always spoke English to me. They were always excited to know more and do more. Growing had become a natural tendency. I could testify that they were loving it. But, what happened in the 10 years? What stopped them from growing?
They had one thing in common: they spend all their free time at cram school. For many cram schools, whether large chains or family owned, they primarily focus on results, scores, and numbers. This is, in my opinion, a fixed mindset approach. Only a select few go against the grain where the growth of a student’s skills, personality, and thinking are considered of the utmost priority.
The Difference Between Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset
Fixed mindset or growth mindset are merely attitudes toward learning. Fixed mindset tends to get a bad reputation in books and in cyberspace. I want to be clear that fixed mindset is perspective and everyone is entitled to his or her views. However, I am in the growth mindset camp because I agree with Confucius that “Learning is a lifelong journey.” There is no ultimate goal in learning. Therefore, discovering new knowledge is a process that should never cease.
Distinguishing cram schools and students as to if they are fixed mindset or growth mindset is relatively simple. Dr. Carol Dweck, who developed and popularized this theory from her book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”, emphasizes that students’ learning is motivated by their perceptions on intelligence. The literature on this subject is ever growing. However, my perspectives of these two mindsets can really be distilled into two statements.
Fixed mindset learners demonstrate their value in results and achievement. My recent high school student responded to a challenging question with “I’m sorry Teacher, I’m never good at this.” In this particular instance, the student believed that his intelligence is fixed. Therefore, he could not improve and felt demotivated as the question was seen as a threat of receiving negative feedback rather than being a learning opportunity. He resigned to evaluate (reject) himself poorly before anyone could to as a self-protection mechanism.
Valuing results, ranking, or any performance indicators over learning is considered Fixed Mindset. The students’ motivation is from external sources.
Growth Mindset learners value the importance of gaining skills. Just a few weeks ago, a first grader just completed a recording of her performance for a speech contest. When asked “What do you find more important? Being the winner or getting better?” She answered, “Getting better.” She obviously embraced the challenge and saw that gaining skills and learning from the experience were the top priorities.
Valuing learning and increasing skill sets over results
When self-worth and self-identity is already high and results are mere indicators to where one could improve is Growth Mindset. The students’ motivation comes from within.
The Signs of a Fixed Mindset Cram School.
Results. Results! RESULTS!
The signs are everywhere. Cram schools all over the island are adorned with huge colored signs announcing their top performing students “Grace 100, Jonny 100, Joe 100, Michelle 100, Peter is #1 at XX school”. Some owners choose to cover entire window fronts with score results, providing onlookers with hard evidence that students come out of that school a winner.
What’s wrong with high grades? If the primary motivator is a score, like a teacher who values a stable salary, motivation will fall off a cliff. Most start off with a fiery attitude to conquer the world but after memorizing thousands of words, repeating conversations, and endless English exercises, it only takes a semester or two before a lack of interest begins to set in.
A great amount of effort is required to motivate fixed mindset students. Last year, I asked a group of junior high and high school students “Why are you in this English course?” They silently slouch and stare back with glazed eyes. After an uncomfortable silence, the truth comes out. “My mom.”
Fixed Mindset Culture of Taiwan’s Traditional Cram schools
The Business of Success
Cram schools are businesses at its very core. They provide supplemental education but the key is to make a profit and grow. Their marketing and drive is to remedy the pain point of Taiwanese parents: prevent their children from falling behind and to score higher rankings.
Owners are eager to fill their classrooms and push students to prove that attending their school was the right choice. Success becomes the very center of education. Thus, care for detailed learning and curiosity becomes less significant. Some merely have children do endless mock tests and be equipped with test-taking strategies.
This fear of lagging behind mentality is the beginning of a fixed mindset student. When new parents enroll their children at a cram school, it’s usually because a child needs “supplementary” instruction. It’s no different from walking into a pharmacy. One goes to a pharmacy because of some medical issue. Children go to a cram school to have “supplemental” learning.
Interestingly enough, the word 「補」bu3 in Chinese Mandarin means “to supplement”, like vitamins or medicine. The word 「補」 gives a negative connotation that one is lacking. Teachers are then pressured to provide the necessary instruction that they would not “lack”. But, removing that “lack” does not mean creating enthusiasm to grow.
Foreign teachers in Taiwan in blogs they post, state that it is difficult to have orderly instruction in these types of classes because students do not feel involved in the process of learning. They just feel disillusioned feeling forced to learn, attend these extra classes, and be assigned homework on top of those assigned from regular school.
Fixed Mindset: The Comparison Trap
The fixed mindset culture of a cram school gets exacerbated when teachers gather together and gossip about performance. Children despise being compared to others. Even for high performing students, these situations still prompt teachers to uncover some area of weakness. Children may feel, and even worse, believe that they are inadequate. It is tantamount to mainstream media: bad news garners attention. It causes stress and fear that students are not able to “get things together”. Students get used to just “making it”: making the cut, the grade, the ranking, the schools. Everything becomes results centric.
The Lack of Critical Thinking
Taiwanese students are afraid of letting people down by “underperforming”. Scores and achievements takes precedence over HOW one prepares and grows, children are not instructed to dig deeper, to discover the finer details. There is so much pressure at home and at school that the side-effect has created children who become less inquisitive and more robotic.
Should we just focus solely on the process of building skill sets? That would be mildly extreme. Growth mindset students do value results, but they also value their questions and problems being answered and solved. Results provide them the indicators of what works or not. The by-product of this perspective is curiosity and creativity. They require little to no motivation from teachers as they solve or get a full understanding of whatever task is at hand.
Fixed mindset students rarely ask questions as to why things happen or how. Recently, in a communications class at a high school in Kaohsiung, only ONE student out of 30 asked a question during a Q&A. As a professional speaker, I can tell from their body language that they do want to ask but are hindered by their lack of self-esteem, possibly afraid to ask a “stupid” question.
The growth mindset students, on the other hand, have no problem raising their hands and breaking the silence with their answers. Even if they get the answers wrong, they do not feel ashamed. In fact, they are proud to get more out of the class by actively engaging and participating. When fixed mindset students compare themselves with the more outgoing students, they feel inferior and sometimes blame themselves or others for their lack of competitiveness.
Pressure on Teachers: Instant Success!
Cram school teachers are at the mercy of the owners business philosophy. They obviously must turn a profit. Thus, staff and students are required to work hard to satisfy the parents. It is not enough for parents to hear “Your child is improving.” They want to see their investments produce results. These are typically measured through homework, memorization, and practice tests.
The pressure on the teacher can be quite high especially if the student count is low. There is typically demand from managers/owners to produce more results to ensure the class stays open and to use the testimony of successful students to market to new parents. Should a class become unprofitable, it could be shut down (or the school could shut down!) resulting in fewer teaching hours and a lower salary. All parties are pressured to work together to ensure that enrollment is healthy with a steady stream of new students maintained.
Parents who enroll their children and are new to the English language sometimes do not understand that the process of learning a new language takes time and practice. Some ask the cram school as to why their children are unwilling or unable to speak English after 2 to 3 weeks of instruction. The teacher is then under pressure to have the child memorize so many words and phrases without truly absorbing the meaning or context in using them. Children, in turn, are no longer interested in the language, but fixed on producing results for their parents.
Fixed Mindset: Eyes on Prize(s)
ESL cram schools recognize that students are easily demotivated. Underperforming students means the possibility of parents transferring them to other cram schools. Thus, schools attempt to provide rewards for children to perform well in class or on tests. Children love rewards and this becomes another motivator. In any given classroom, one would find names of students on the side of the whiteboard and stars would be scribbled next to them anytime one performs well.
This method can be beneficial at the outset, as new students would race to the glass cabinet to see what they could afford with their accumulated stars. They awe at the pencils, erasers, or whatever seems to be the latest craze for children. Winners proudly announce their treasures to parents and other classmates. Those who are unable to “afford” the prizes are typically encouraged to “work harder, or do better next time”.
Working harder is a fixed mindset response which fails to provide the spark for a student to creatively learn. Growth mindset students rarely equate learning with “work”. It is an enjoyment because every detail learned makes one better.
Game on
Modern day ESL classes have been transformed to being more interactive with the children through educational games. As educational game ideas proliferate across the internet, many teachers adopt different activities to keep the children engaged. Engagement is vital in any educational setting. However, classroom games at some cram schools have become more important than the actual core instruction. New parents who wish to enroll their children see that children are “happy” and they equate happiness with willingness to learn.
“Let’s play a game! Let’s play a game!” children would chant. And, if the teacher does not give in to their demands, the students become deflated like a leaky balloon. Motivation would be so low that teaching would be equivalent to a teacher talking to a brick wall (or students high on sleeping gas).
Playing ESL games is becoming so prevalent that one particular cram school chain prides itself on hiring foreign teachers solely to play and interact with students. Parents are able to see that children are comfortable playing and interacting with foreign teachers. Local Taiwan ESL teachers are responsible for formal instruction: grammar, vocabulary, etc.
This is a missed opportunity to nurture a growth mindset. Foreign teachers could share stories and experiences from their cultural perspectives and encourage children to discuss their perspectives, opinions, and feelings. Nowadays, children long for the feeling of adrenaline coursing through their veins whenever they think about the prizes they can get or the games that they can play.
Cram schools try hard to equate education with happiness. It is always a delight to see children smiling. Playing educational games and rewarding students with prizes in schools are definitely important elements in a school setting. This is no different in the workplace. Companies entice new recruits with high salaries and bonuses. The challenge is for them is the same for cram schools. Is it possible to have students be motivated and grow without having to entice them with external rewards such as prizes or games? Would they be curious enough to go beyond what is required and to be the inquisitive type?
Children attend cram schools because of parents’ desire
When students become fixed on satisfying their parents and meeting their desired goals, the consequence is their detachment from the joys of learning and communicating in a second language. They often exhibit bitterness and resentment. I once tutored a tenth grader who was enrolled in the most prestigious high school in Kaohsiung. He attended cram schools everyday including Sundays. Books towered in his room with barely enough room for two people to sit. He never broke a smile and one could probably guess what was going on in his mind. He confirmed my theory with words scratched on his wall with a coin, “I HATE MY PARENTS”.
Succeed. Succeed. Succeed!
While it is noble for a parent to motivate a child to work hard and study, it often becomes disconcerting for the child when his or her desires are not heard. They need to know that the purpose of excelling in school is for their future and not for a parents’ dream or only meeting requirements for school. They become embittered that they believe that they are hard at work for reasons that they do not accept and more often than not, heated arguments arise when parents feel they did not get a sufficient return on investing in their children’s education.
Room for Growth: Perspective shift in Cram Schools
Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset: Cram Schools to Launch Pads
The cram school culture is showing signs of shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. One indication is the hiring specialized coaches. As an executive coach now specializing in public speech communication and growth mindset coaching, I have observed the shift in Taiwan hiring more coaches and trainers. Today, they have become ubiquitous in nearly all facets of its society from fitness centers, to business coaching, and now in cram schools.
This can be a positive force in Taiwan’s education as most coaches lean towards a growth mindset. Skill building and encouraging the growth process are emphasized while still keeping intact the full intention of reaching a milestone or achieving the ultimate goal itself. The problem of traditional cram schools mentioned earlier is that the purpose for enrollment is to improve grades or ranking. There is little interest in direction or long-term goals other than being qualified to enroll in a prestigious school. Many students attending current traditional cram schools look forward to completing their course in the short-term because they fail to see a long-term purpose. One strategy for traditional cram schools is to find weaknesses and provide the “supplemental” instruction.
Every Student is a Masterpiece with a Specific Mission
One of the more profound changes in my perspectives happened when I received training from Edward Chen, a coach and founder of Masterpiece Coaching. His vision is to assist students and young professionals to discover their true direction in life.
Knowing Yourself is the Key to transitioning from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
My fixed mindset changed in 2018 after going through such a coaching program when I confirmed my career direction and identity as a growth mindset and public speaking coach. There were times as an ESL teacher when I was looking for that “success” that kept me going. Students succeeding, scoring high grades, entering prestigious schools often provided me the energy and drive to continue. However, growth mindset showed me that I was looking for motivation externally. Growth mindset is when one constantly strives to expand horizons and learn as much as possible.
That was NOT what was happening before and I had no answer as to why until I realized that every person is masterpiece and is on a different mission. When that person finds his calling, it’s ALL SYSTEMS GO to learn and grow. No external motivation required. That is exactly what happened to me.
The Process: Know Your Direction and Transition to Growth Mindset
The future of cram schools could assist students in providing coaching and training that would ensure their direction and calling and thus transition to a growth mindset. Rather than just focusing on results and rankings, students would be shift to gaining skills and propel them toward their dreams.
Four fundamental stages are required for personal development. To resolve identity confusion and transform into the authentic self, we must go through the stages of self-exploration, self-identification, self-development and self-actualization.
When we all apply ourselves to what we are good at and what we enjoy doing, and turn them into a way to help improve the aspects of society we care about, we then reach the point of self-actualization.
This is how we live life to the fullest and cram schools could be transformed from providing this “supplemental” teaching and becoming the center for helping students realize their dreams. Students would certainly be motivated.
Growth by Application
Jungle Lion, a newer addition to the cram school community in Kaohsiung, is a recent example of this shift. First, it does not identify itself as a cram school, but rather a study center. Students are not taught in a traditional way, but they are encouraged to use their English in various applications. Similar to Western style education, students understand that every class has a specific purpose and learning application varies from debates and critical thinking, STEAM/science, and to diet and nutrition classes. Once students walk through the door, a library packed with creativity books and novels help encourage children to imagine their future in English.
As their public speaking coach, I train students with actual application of their skills such as presentations, being a Youtuber, and other scenarios involving communication. Students find the initial classes very challenging but they are not concerned at all with failure. Most quickly dispel their fears of speaking and rock the stage with their enthusiasm.
The word of mouth from parents is swiftly spreading and this growth mindset style is finally becoming more mainstream. Communication classes are now more often filled within days of open registration. Students also buck the trend of wanting courses to end, but instead are returning and asking to open new communication courses.
The key point is that the children exhibit a noticeable change in their levels of confidence. When students discover their path in life and understand that they can apply what they learn, it becomes a perfect harmony where feedback is welcome, failure is not an issue, and a desire to excel is implanted. It is truly an educator’s dream.
Coaching for Students and Parents
The apparent success at Jungle Lion is because their focus is on improving and applying skills of each student, and not just on grades. The introduction of the Masterpiece Coaching “Life Direction” class enables students to realize their paths and shift to a growth mindset.
In collaboration with Edward, the positive experience students get when they make a shift from a results oriented fixed mindset to a learning centric growth mindset. In his full day course, students participate in activities and discussions to explore and understand their values and motivations. The students exhibit more energy and excitement after completion of the discovery modules.
On the second day of this weekend long course, I host the “Dream, Plan, and Liftoff” module which gets participants to think about what they need to do to get their dreams closer to reality. They are taught about mind mapping and list possible obstacles to reaching their goals. It becomes apparent that students are far more engaged as they put the pieces of their life puzzle together while receiving full support from the coaches and parents.
Parents also are encouraged to receive coaching as to how to encourage and mentor children at home. They are trained to become facilitators and understand children better. They learn about the fundamentals of communicating and both parent and child team together to make the learning experience not only enjoyable but also to understand the learning is a lifelong journey.
Parent-Child Coaching: Growing Together
Growth is achieved by formulating key "questions" and "answers". Parents can accelerate their children's problem-solving skills, and can also enhance a healthier parent-child relationship. A fixed mindset evokes a feeling of lack until a certain result has been met. However, the feelings of healthy self-worth and trust between educators and parents are necessary foundation for a growth mindset and are pillared by four key principles:
1. Use questions instead of requests
2. Apply active listening
3. Positive support
4. Feedback without judgment
It is the parent’s responsibility to cultivate children's diverse perspectives. Coaching can foster growth mindsets by increasing a child’s growth, courage, and imagination.
Growth Mindset Development Through Competitions
More competitions being held around Taiwan is a step forward and another step away from the “get the highest ranking and scores” fixed mindset mentality. It is a welcome change for students to escape the monotony of rote-learning while emphasizing the value of deliberate practice, sharpening skills, and learning how to process feedback.
Some students in traditional cram schools have a high fear of failure because they have little to no experience with working with coaches. Good coaching can be an important part of youth training where the perspectives on failure is taught. To a fixed mindset student, failure could be devastating to one’s self-esteem. However, with training, perspectives could be altered so that failure is a mere indicator to make practice, effort, or strategy alterations.
The “I’ll never do well” attitude can be easily changed when entered in a competition. In addition, coaches can reinforce the power of practice and increase skills. Students shed their shy personality to becoming excited to tackle challenges.
Recently, a boy in the 4th grade entered in a speech competition for the first time and was extremely shy. But, just after 3 weeks of practice and 3 hours of instruction, his final outcome was beyond expectations. When asked, “How did you feel about the process?”, he replied that he was very fearful of failing but that the fear lessened through training and practice. He never once mentioned about hoping to win the championship. He enjoyed learning something that he had not done before: public speaking.
Growth Mindset teaching & Supportive Leadership
There are many books and literature about the various strategies to get students to be more growth mindset. I encourage educators and people of influence to examine the strategies from Dr. Carol Dweck, Annie Brock, Angela Duckworth and more.
Growth mindset is essentially a belief. Every class will have students with different views and values. Understanding this, I have every student at least shout out a growth mindset mantra such as “Keep going! Keep growing!” Students begin to see the value of learning and gaining new skills rather than the fixed mindset of scores and results. The notion that one is born smart or talented lessens.
This philosophy is emphasized more when “the left hand, right hand” activity is employed. Inspired by Annie Brock in her book “The Growth Mindset: Classroom Ready Resource Book”, students write their names with both their right hands and left hands. This exercise shows that with deliberate and careful practice, the non-dominant hand improves. Children love to see how that relates to their brain and learning. This is by far my favorite ice-breaker to teach students growth mindset.
When challenged with a difficult student, I get to the point and ask directly “Do you WANT to get better?” Of course the response will be 100% “Yes”. It is a rhetorical question, but the question removes opportunities to blame, resist responsibilities, and other excuses. The focus is placed squarely on the student and he becomes aware that the choice is really simple.
Some students do refuse to answer the question because the reprocussions of their answer: doing work, losing free time, putting in effort. But, they realize that their growth ultimately is in their hands. It brings me joy when students are in this position because it allows me to teach them about their potential to grow. I coach them about the myths about talent. It is merely a culmination of one’s interest, focus, and careful practice. That’s why Michael Jordan is who he is. That’s why Tiger Woods is a legend. Talent is an expression of a true growth mindset: careful sharpening of one’s skills.
The Epiphany
Since the pandemic in 2020, Taiwan has become famous for helping other countries. It is something they pride themselves with and recently even adopted the international slogan “Taiwan Can Help”. This ideology is embedded in Taiwan’s society. Educators and parents undoubtedly wish to the next generation to become improve. My personal wish is that we focus on growing skills rather than chasing results. The differences between fixed mindset and growth mindset is tantamount to the phrase “It’s not about the destination, it’s the journey”.
If we coach our future youth, they will be able to take ownership of their education and their lives moving forward through a growth mindset. Taiwan will be much more than a producer of high technology products, but in fact, a place where independent leaders and thinkers thrive thrusting Taiwan into the global spotlight.
Seeds have already been planted in a new generation of cram schools that refuse to spoon-feed students information for the sole purpose of getting better grades. They understand that students are treasures filled with dreams and a purpose. They understand that students are more than just numbers that help the bottom line, but rather human beings who desire to find happiness with their destinies no matter which educational system they belong to.
This culture of education which places emphasis on scores and ranking is showing signs of change. Parents and children are becoming aware of the importance of knowing oneself and taking steps to grow. Students recognize that the benefits of engaging and discovering.
Growth mindset and life coaches like myself are equipping young minds to see the possibilities beyond numbers. Cram schools continue to shift from a teacher-centric education to interactive learning, critical thinking, STEAM and other growth mindset learning activities. Although testing will always be a part of Taiwan’s education system, a new generation of growth mindset teachers will sharpen students’ skills and encourage them to be authentic. Through training for teachers and students, the future of Taiwan will be limitless.
Growth mindset is the future for generations to come and the key to lifelong learning and happiness.
Let’s Go! Let’s Grow!
About Anson Sat, DTM BA (Econ)
Anson Sat is the Canadian founder of Rock the Stage 震宇成長營and trainer at Masterpiece Coaching傑作國際專業教練有限公司. He is a Growth Mindset Trainer and Public Speaking Coach.
Since 2017, Anson has helped professionals and academics in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Singapore grow to communicate with “rock star” confidence with his signature “Rock the Stage like a Champ” program. His executive clients from local businesses to Fortune 500 companies have since rocked the stage with killer keynote speeches, sales pitches, and presentations in the classroom, in auditoriums, or online. Anson is also proud to be involved in the local community helping young stars discover their confidence and to communicate with power!
His Growth Mindset approach and coaching the 7 steps to success in his “Dream, Plan, Launch” workshop helps students and young professionals map out and realize their dreams. Participants reignite their joy of discovering their authentic selves while cultivating change to attain happiness and success in business, relationships, and learning. Anson’s lifelong passion is to help people discover “the champion in every moment”.
Anson Sat is the 2x Taiwan champion of the 2013 and 2019 World Public Speaking Championships of Toastmasters and a TEDx keynote speaker. With over 5 years of retail banking in Canada and nearly 20 years in the education industry in Taiwan, Anson has cultivated and delivers the best learning and performance strategies to help clients bring confidence, communication, and charisma to the next level.