Posted by Freddie Daniells
Earlier this year, I spent a day at a school in Putney helping deliver a days speech training to Year 10 students. At the end of our days training, we held a contest amongst the students for the best speaker. Each student was to deliver a short speech using the techniques that we had taught.
Towards the end of the contest a quiet girl stood to deliver her speech. She told us about how she knew no English when she arrived in the country 5 years ago. She was tormented by other children who thought of her as 'thick'. She became determined to learn English. We learnt how, after school, she watched young children's cartoons - this was the only English she could understand. We heard that bit by bit, through sheer determination her English had improved. Today, whilst still making the occasional mistake, she was no longer regarded as thick by her fellow classmates. She finished with a plea asking that other young people not judge people new to English as stupid, but rather understand.
It was a powerful speech. It covered the struggle and eventual victory that we see in many Toastmasters speeches. It had a message that was strong for those in her age group. Needless to say, we voted her the winner.
And then a strange thing happened. As we announced she had won, we saw her shock, surprise and finally emotion. It suddenly occurred to us, the judges, that this was the end of a journey for her. She had come to a foreign country, mastered a language, and then beaten her classmates in that language. At that second I felt tremendously proud for her and honoured that I had been a part of giving her such a moment. We had helped make her day and she had made ours.
I tell you this because it is typical of the great work of the organisations behind these training days - The Jack Petchey Foundation and SpeakersBank.
Set up by Sue Warner, former Toastie at London Communicators, SpeakersBank is a charitable organisation that helps people get access to formal public speaking training that may not otherwise be able to get it. These include people in schools and the voluntary sectors.
The programme I was on is called the Jack Petchey Speak Out challenge. Paid for by the Jack Petchey Foundation, this programme gives two days of public speaking training to children at 550 schools across London and Essex .
The winners from each school compete in a Borough final. The winners from each Borough then go forward to compete in the Gala Grand Final. This is probably the worlds largest youth speaking contest with over 20,000 students having entered.
This year the Gala Grand Final is being held in the Mermaid Events and Conference Centre, London EC4V 3DB on the 10th July at 7.00pm. On the night 18 of the finest young speakers will `Speak Out` on any subject they feel strongly about. The winner will win a prize valued at £5,000.
Our very own Sean Kennedy of London Communicators has contacted me about the event as he would be love to see some Toastmasters come. The event is ticket only and if you would like to attend please email [email protected] asap with your name, number of tickets required and your postal address. To learn more about the project please visit www.speakoutchallenge.com.
This is one of those events that will make you feel good I can promise.
