The Pinnacle of Public Speaking
On Wednesday evening, June 27th, the tenth ̨ž³UUApp Public Speaking Competition took place in the Sadler Centre. Students had mixed emotions of nervousness and excited anticipation. There were 42 competitors in 5 separate heats, which ran concurrently, followed by 7 students participating in the impromptu speech competition. The evening was a great success providing the audience with entertaining and inspiring speeches. I would like to commend all the speakers who took up the challenge to speak publicly. They can be very proud of their achievements. The skills of public speaking acquired over Terms 1 and 2 will stand them in good stead in the years to come.
An evening such as this would not be possible without the support of so many people. Thank you to the parents and families of the students for their ongoing support and for being such an enthusiastic audience. Thanks to all the adjudicators on the evening; past students Sean Yoong, Mallorie Gan, Daniel Thomas, Wai Sin Wan, Tiarna Petterson, Rebekah Craggs, Brielle Petterson and Olivia Fuderer. It is wonderful to see these young adults return to the College and once again assist on the evening, which has become a real tradition for this competition. The task to choose winners and runners up was daunting, with many adjudicators commenting on the high standard of the speeches. In addition, I would like to thank Corran O’Brien and Jessica De Freitas Basilio who were the Masters of Ceremony for the evening. Corran’s jokes and Jessica’s ‘getting to know you’ activities kept the audience amused when there was a lull between speakers. Other student leaders; Kayla Weekes, Natasha Uniewicz and Charli Lill carried out so many roles including chairing, setting up and time keeping. Many thanks to those students.
The most prestigious award for Public Speaking by the College is the Excellence in Public Speaking Trophy. It acknowledges a student’s ability to construct a speech that impacts not only on the intellect but also on the emotion. It also recognises a student who is successful in both the College competitions as well as external competitions such as Rostrum and Plain English Speaking. It is my pleasure to announce that this year, there were two recipients of this award; Year 11 students, Ike Adesanya and Rachael Dellaca. Both students have exceptional public speaking skills and have shown remarkable talent in impromptu speaking. Rachael reached the zone final in the Rotary 4 Way Test Competition in February this year, while Ike represented the College in the semi final of the Plain English Speaking Award in June. They are truly worthy recipients of this award.
In other news in Public Speaking, the State Final of the Rostrum Voice of Youth will take place on Saturday June 30th. ̨ž³UUApp will be represented by Ike Adesanya, Rachael Dellaca, and Mosaia McDonald will participate in the Senior Section of the competition and Gianni Petta will participate in the Junior Section. Their dedication to prepare a new speech in a matter of weeks after the semi- finals and keep up with school work and assessments is nothing less than inspirational. On behalf of the College community, I would like to wish them well for the competition.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Year 12 student Emma Shine for her efforts in coaching a group of Year 7 students. Emma gave generously of her time and expertise, which enabled many Year 7 students to become involved in Public Speaking.
I am also very grateful to Mrs Manuela Piscetek, Mr Michael Royall and Ms Melanie Bird for their support and assistance in coaching students this year. The time and energy they devoted to this after school activity cannot be underestimated. Without the help of these wonderful people, the opportunity for so many students to be involved in Public Speaking would not have been possible. My sincere thanks are extended to all.
Public Speaking will be available again next year in Semester One. I look forward to seeing all the students back again for another exciting year.
Mrs Noreen Stevenson
Coordinator
