what have YOU got
to say for yourself?

Listen up!

Marianne Hicks

Debating & Public Speaking

As many of our readers know, the Debating and Public Speaking Co-curricular Program has had a big year this year.

An Dang (Year 11) won the Plain English Speaking Award for Victoria and competed in the National Finals in Brisbane - and this should be great motivation for other students to follow in her footsteps!

Her speech, called ‘The Hidden Language’ was inspirational, highlighting the importance of Australian Sign Language and the richness of the the Australian deaf community. Basing it on her 2018 Chatterbox winning speech, An developed her speech to a final length of eight minutes, signing, as well as speaking, her entire speech. As a part of the competition, An also gave an impromptu speech of three minutes, with just four minutes notice (to prepare) at the regional, state and national finals. We are wonderfully proud of An’s achievements in public speaking and know that she will make an excellent School Captain in 2020!

Chatterbox

The BSC Annual Chatterbox Public Speaking Competition was held in August this year with seven students competing from across Years 8 to 11. All students are eligible to enter Chatterbox, with no experience or prerequisite required.

Our winner from the junior competition was Sienna Calvani (Year 8), speaking on “A Teacher’s Influence”, Lu Galante le Cornu (Year 10) won the senior competition with her speech entitled “The Day my Vagina Turned 16” – a controversial title for a speech concerned with questioning society’s behavioural expectations for women. Both well deserved wins! The coveted People’s Choice award went to Julia De Vere (Year 10) for her speech entitled ‘Get that Bread’.

All participants delivered their speeches very well and covered a range of topics from democracy to delayed gratification and to rethinking how we recycle. It was a wonderful evening.

Special thanks to our judging panel of Ms Harris, Heather Secomb and Viv Tellefson. The evening was also sponsored by Cornelius Cheesemongers who provided a deliciously divine cheese platter and the thank you gifts for our judges.

Junior Debating...

the team hits the ground running!

Our Senior Debating season finished up in August, while our Junior Competition season began with a win for our Year 7/8 team of Sienna Calvani (Year 8), Thomas Gillespie (Year 7) and Samuel Richards (Year 8). That was a great start to the competition season!

The BSC team successfully convinced the adjudicator and audience that we should ban junk food in schools - using convincing logic and evidence, rebuttal of their opponent’s arguments and exceptional public speaking flair!

The team faced their second round of competition on the October 23, and they had the challenge of arguing that we should value literature more than science. The result was another victory for the Brunswick Team and Sienna being tapped as the Best Speaker.

The team's final debate on November 6 saw them arguing that we should not restrict the drivers licenses of senior citizens. Good solid research and excellent presentation delivered yet another win to this hard-working team, with Sam and Sienna both awarded as Best Speaker.

Seven schools competed in these heats and we extend special congratulations to Sienna Calvani whose efforts earned her the overall highest number of points across the local competition.

Speak YOUR mind

If you’re interested in joining the Debating team or competing in a public speaking competition in 2020, speak to Dr Hicks as soon as possible! Senior Debating (Years 9-12) also runs in first and second term, so sign up to make sure you can join in!

Public speaking competitions are run early in the year and it’s always good to be prepared.

If you are keen to extend your public speaking experience, consider participating in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition.

Registration for this prestigious event closes in February 2020 - but you will have plenty of time to prepare as the competition only heats up in May. Register your interest!

And to follow An's example, the Plain English Speaking Competitionis a national competition, aimed at encouraging students from government, Catholic and independent schools to speak to their peers on topics they are passionate about.

For details regarding registration, go to the PESA website.

UN Youth Voice is a public speaking competition that sees participants from across Years 7 to 10 propose solutions to pressing global issues, to lobby for their consideration, and to defend their validity.