Speaking in front of a crowd is ranked as one of the most common fears - more so than heights, or even spiders - despite being an essential skill for building confidence, resilience, and even leadership skills. Yet, the Year 8 students, Cameron (bravely taking part when we lacked a candidate for Kirkman), Daniel, Joanne, Kendra, and Lily, who took part in the Public Speaking Assembly, stood up in front of all their peers, delivering with confidence beyond their years!

The Public Speaking competition was a wonderful opportunity for Year 8 to demonstrate not only their hard work in class, but offer them a chance to share this with their perspectives and personalities to their whole year group, and of course, Ms Adeaga and their form tutors, as well as the judges: Mr Griffin, me, Hope, and Siena. Judging this reminded me of my first time partaking in public speaking in Year 8 as well, bringing me back to the overwhelmingly daunting challenge of even standing in front of a crowd - making it even more impressive to see the genuinely spectacular delivery and composure of this year’s speakers. Their speeches were carefully crafted, with each student putting thought into their content, structure, and delivery, making our job as judges incredibly difficult.

Every student captivated the audience, each bringing something unique to the stage. Kendra started with a wonderfully delivered speech on the importance of education, which incorporated audience interaction and persuasive techniques, thoroughly engaging the crowd. Cameron followed on with an insightful discussion on the uses of AI, backed up with plenty of statistical data and a positive message. Joanne brought energy and humour with an amusing and extremely lively speech on why we shouldn’t judge the use of slang, and Lily explored the impact of stereotypes and labelling people, encouraging deeper reflection on how we perceive others. Finally, Daniel closed with infectious enthusiasm, making a passionate case for why summer is the best season of all.

With such a diverse range of topics and exceptional delivery from each speaker, choosing a winner was no easy task. However, after much deliberation, we came to the decision to award Kendra first place for her outstanding ability to engage the audience and present her ideas with amazing clarity and confidence, utilising a striking range of techniques to fully communicate her message.

Overall, the Public Speaking competition was a brilliant display of courage, creativity, and talent. Every student who participated should be incredibly proud of themselves for stepping up to the challenge - this event has undoubtedly demonstrated the strength of public speaking within Year 8!

Celine Pan, Year 12

Order of results:

1. Kendra (discussed the importance of school)
2. Daniel (why summer is the best season)
3. Joanne (interesting thoughts on slang)
4. Lily (labelling and stereotypes)
5. Cameron (positive discussion on AI)