Public Speaking

Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition

The Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition was held on the 18th of June at Legacy House, Bendigo. A total of 5 schools from around the Bendigo Region competed on the day. Pooja Sabari (8 Frew) and Remus Brasier (8 Millward) were representing Girton at the competition and  were accompanied by Mrs Melinda Naughton and Rhys Pether, a fellow student and member of the Public Speaking Club.

Being first to present in both the pre-written speech and the impromtu sections, Pooja was clearly nervous but as the audience of students, teachers and Legacy members entered the hall, Pooja became calm and ready to deliver her speech on her chosen topic of Service to Others. After an audience adress from legatee Steve Lee, Pooja arrived at the lectern and delivered a powerful and insightful speech.

Remus was the third speaker, and although this was his first time to participate in the competetion he showed no sign of nerves. Remus spoke confidently, emphasising his point about social justice with pertinent examples from our own community. After Remus came five more speakers, each doing very well. After the last speaker, the audience moved back into the lounge where food was served and we had the opportunity to mingle with the other competitors.

After the snack break, those who were not speaking went back into the hall, while the speakers went into rooms for five minutes to prepare their impromptu speech. After five minutes, the first speaker, Pooja, re- introduced herself and talked about the topic, which was “If you could be an animal what would you be?” Pooja decided on a rainbow lorikeet, because they are colourful and can fly. After a the next two speeches, Remus talked about the difficulty of chosing just one animal, but ultimately decided that he would rather stay as a human for the time being. After all speakers were finished, we moved back into the lounge and ate more delicious sandwiches and pastries.

After this lunch, we moved back into the hall, and were given  helpful and useful pointers and tips from a professional public speaker. Finally, after much waiting the winners were announced and they were our very own Pooja and Remus, with a student from BSE as the  runner up. Overall, a day of fun was had, new people were met and new friends were made. Congratulations to Pooja and Remus for winning and the best of luck for the next round in September.

Rhys Pether (8 Aherne)

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