Public Speaking Report

Report of the Youth Leadership Graduation on the 18th and 20th June 2024

Congratulations to all the Year Five and Year Six students who graduated from the Advanced Presentation Skills Youth Leadership Course. This was the first time this program was run at SJV and I must say it was a most enjoyable experience. It is obvious to me that there is a strong support base from the teachers, the parents and the students alike. Students impressed their teachers and families with a very high standard of Prepared Speeches, Off the Cuff Speeches and Evaluations. The Audio Visual presentations were also of a very high standard and perfectly timed.

All students were awarded certificates of completion and trophies were awarded to:

Best Speech

Kester Ewing - 5/6A

Thisath Nagodawithana - 5/6J

TysonTruong-Ho - 5/6L

Angela Vu - 5/6N

Jessica Ho - 5/6O

Best Off the Cuff Speaker

Thomas Begazo - 5/6A

Aiden Pham - 5/6J

Rohin Gulati - 5/6L

Zibo Yao - 5/6N

Stevie Efthimiadis - 5/6O

Best Evaluator

Nethuli Dharmasena - 5/6A

Liam D’Silva - 5/6J

Estella Chum - 5/6L

Ricky Truong - 5/6N

Krishay Sathiyasuthan - 5/6O

Most Improved

Jasmine Zdziech - 5/6A

Noura Abdel Samad  - 5/6J

Alexander Karagiannis - 5/6L

Patrick Feleppa - 5/6N

Alisha Suman - 5/6O

All prepared speeches were of a very high standard and students utilised eye contact, gestures and vocal variety. Best of all they also incorporated some humor which the audience appreciated.

Special thanks to all the Masters of Ceremonies Thomas, Alisha, Kristy, Anthony and Alexander for their fine efforts, and to the Off the Cuff Presenters, Shanaya, Paxton, Patrick, Destiny and Alyana for their excellent work. We had some very funny jokes at each of the classes. These certainly added to the mood of the meetings.

A very big thank you to all of the teachers who encouraged and supported the students' work and helped make the program a success. The graduation reflected the hard work and growth over the eight week period, with confident, passionate speeches and also great use of humour. Congratulations to all of our students' brave efforts in controlling their nervousness, giving generously of themselves and demonstrating their resilience and persistence. Thank you to Mrs Willmott, Mr Rooney, Mrs Sablinskis and Miss Ella for being on the panel of judges and helping decide who the trophies should be awarded to. One of the audience members (Liam’s Mum) responded to an “Off the Cuff” question. We thank you for your participation and we were so glad that many parents were able to attend to witness the students in action.

The team efforts of the students and teachers alike was much appreciated. I have enjoyed being entertained with many interesting stories. I hope all participants enjoyed the whole experience as much as I did. You certainly did yourselves, your families and your school proud.

In finishing I would just like to thank all the families for their support of their children, the school and this program. I hope that this training stands all students in good stead for their future.

Sandra de Geest

Advanced Presentation Skills