RMIT: Inspiration for Curious Minds – RMIT Advertising students learn through teaching

What started out as an online lecture series, created by third year RMIT Bachelor of Communication (Advertising) students for second year students during the pandemic, has evolved into an international multimedia show that is gaining a growing global audience on YouTube.

With each year that has passed, the program – Hungry Talks — has been refined and the baton passed on to a new cohort of third year advertising students.

Featuring local and international industry leaders, together with students and alumni guests, the aim of the show is for students to learn through teaching.

Segments include industry interviews, interactive games, tips on preparing for a career in advertising, and a review of an ad of the week. This year the students have chosen a Y2K theme and introduced even more new segments.

“The channel has grown to almost 4,500 views after just 13 episodes and subscribers are now growing exponentially,” said John Dingeldei, Tutor and Program Manager from RMIT’s School of Media and Communications.

“The program’s theme is ‘inspiration for curious minds’ and I am consistently inspired by the creativity and commitment demonstrated by the Hungry Talks team every episode,” he said.

“Having established a successful formula for the program, the goal from here is to grow our audience to include advertising alumni and other early career advertising professionals, as well as current students,” he said.

Emilia Lakhi, co-host and third year RMIT Advertising student, says the process of creating Hungry Talks has taught the student team industry-specific experience, such as scriptwriting, copyrighting, directing, and interacting with experts in other industries.

“Hungry Talks is like an internship without the internship. We are learning how to work as a team in high-pressure environments and with people from different professional backgrounds,” she said.

“The Hungry Talks crew includes advertising students, and students from the VE (Vocational Education) Screen and TV program. Working together as one family gives us insight into working at an advertising agency,” she said.