PUBLIC SPEAKING

ROSTRUM VOICE OF YOUTH

On Sunday 1 June, twelve McKinnon Secondary students competed in the 2025 annual Rostrum Voice of Youth Public Speaking Competition, held at Mount Scopus Memorial College. 

Speakers had to present pre-prepared speeches that they have been working really hard on for months. There was a junior section, Years 7-9, requiring a 6-minute speech, in which the following Year 7 students participated: Siyana Manjunath, Solai Sharavanan, Angie Quach, Anthony Villegas, Iris Sun, Sofia Papalexiou, Benji Sherrand Ayda Savran. 

The senior section (Years 10-12, 8-minute speech) saw the following students compete: Gracie Tran, Lynn Ly, Krithik Venkatesh Prem (all Year 10), and Amelie Ciddor (Year 11). 

All of these students got to experience some very enlightening public speaking from students across a wide range of schools and got to meet lots of new people. 

The McKinnon students that made it past their heat and into the semifinals were Siyana Manjunath and Angie Quach (Junior semifinals), and Amelie Ciddor (Senior semifinals). Here, they had to present their speech again, as well as complete an impromptu speech with only fifteen minutes to prepare. It was a very fun-filled day packed with lots of tension and excitement! 

Siyana Manjunath & Solai Sharavanan

Year 7 Students

VCAA PLAIN ENGLISH-SPEAKING AWARD

On Thursday 29 May, two students from the McKinnon Public Speaking program competed in the VCAA Plain English-Speaking Award at St Bede’s College. 

Below are excerpts of their thoughts about the day.

Nesrene Barakat

Public Speaking Co-ordinator

In addition to giving me a platform to share an idea that I found compelling, the Plain English-Speaking Award provided me with a great opportunity to observe how other people speak and learn what it's like to articulate myself in a way that not only piques people's interest but also makes them feel something. I also made some close friends; thus it was a good socialising experience as well. The judges' thoughtful critique, from content to delivery, was tailored to everyone specifically, and was one of the nicest aspects. I'm grateful that I got the opportunity to represent the school. 

Hitansh Shah, Year 11

The Plain English-Speaking Award (PESA) was an amazing experience as I was able to speak passionately about a topic of my choosing, and I was also able to hear speeches presented by other students from a variety of schools. Not only did we get to present our prepared 6-minute speeches, but we were also required to present an impromptu speech, in which we had 4 minutes of preparation time to then present a 2–3-minute speech. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, and I look forward to hopefully returning again to PESA next year! 

Amelie Ciddor, Year 11