Plain English Speaking Competition
Jade Lin (Year 11) and Eleanor Lawton-Wade (Year 10) placed first and second in the Regional Finals of the ‘Plain English’ Speaking Competition, and will proceed to the State Finals to be held in late May. Below, Eleanor Lawton-Wade writes of her experience in the competition.
"Participating in the Plain English competition for 2016 was an amazing and insightful experience, for which I am truly grateful. This event is a public speaking competition, open to students in Years 10-12. As part of the competition, we were each required to prepare and deliver an eight-minute speech on a topic of our choosing. We were then required to deliver a three-minute impromptu speech, prepared in just three minutes, on the topic ‘Assume if you do not know’.
This year’s event this was held at Ashfield Boys’ High School and involved students from lots of different schools. Part of what made the day so wonderful was the diversity of each of these students’ speeches. Over the course of the day we heard speeches on everything from promoting veganism; discussions on the how Donald Trump was beneficial to democracy; critiques on current terrorism and refugee models, to a school captain who discussed how race influences viewpoints on achievement.
Jade Lin and I were fortunate enough to be this year’s representatives, and I write on behalf of both of us in saying that we had a wonderful day. In the lunch breaks and time before speeches we were able to share stories and make friends with our fellow competitors. We were also both fortunate to have the complete support of Ms Bennetts and the Speech House throughout the process. It is because of all of their time and effort that Jade and I took first and second place, and will be progressing to the State finals. Thank you to all who were involved in making such a wonderful day happen. To anyone else who has an enquiring mind or a voice that they wish to be heard, Plain English is an incredible opportunity – I can’t recommend it enough."
Image: Jade Lin (second from right) and Eleanor Lawton-Wade (third from right) placed second and third respectively in the Regional Finals of the Plain English Speaking Competition.
Jasmine Lin and Eleanor lawton-Wade (2nd and 3rd from right)came second and third in the Regional Finals of the Plain English Speaking Competition
Jasmine Lin and Eleanor lawton-Wade (2nd and 3rd from right)came second and third in the Regional Finals of the Plain English Speaking Competition
Jasmine Lin and Eleanor lawton-Wade (2nd and 3rd from right)came second and third in the Regional Finals of the Plain English Speaking Competition
Jasmine Lin and Eleanor lawton-Wade (2nd and 3rd from right)came second and third in the Regional Finals of the Plain English Speaking Competition