If it's Autumn, it must be time for Youth Speaks, the long-running and prestigious Rotary public speaking competition. Last year the Intermediate national winners were from Roundwood Park School in Harpenden. This competition provides an excellent opportunity to develop public speaking skills and exercise creativity in devising a thought-provoking and entertaining speech.
Essentially you need a team (or teams) of 3 and to decide on a topic. One person is the main speaker and has 6 minutes to deliver the topic. They are preceded by another who acts as chairman and has 2 minutes to introduce the team; they also wrap up the proceedings at the end. The third member gives a 2-minute vote of thanks. The main speaker also has to answer a question on their speech from a designated questioner in the audience.
There are two age groups, Intermediate (11-13 year olds) and Senior (14-17 year olds). The local heats for Youth Speaks are in November and the District semi-finals and final in January/February. There will be a Welwyn Hatfield heat on Thursday 17th Nov at the Baptist Church in Parkway WGC starting at 6.15pm and a Brookmans Park/Potters Bar heat on Wednesday 16th Nov at Dame Alice Owens School.
If you want to have a look at an example go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtIDSkrEfME This is a primary school group who seem to be pushing the time allocations a little but will give you a good idea of what happens in practice.
The rules and guidance and an entry form plus a poster are available by emailing midhertsrotary@ymail.com
Regards
John Walton
Chairman, Mid Herts Rotary
