Our season of public speaking competitions concluded at the end of the semester with great success for both of our Year 12 entrants, Demi Markakis who won the Regional Final and Pia Graham who placed third. 

The VCAA: Plain English Speaking Award is one of the most prestigious public speaking competitions, not least because it is run by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, but also because it often reflects several years of effort by students who genuinely concentrate on refining their public speaking skills. This was certainly the case with the speech delivered by Demi (a previous entrant in this competition) who spoke on the tall poppy syndrome. Pia’s speech on the contentious issue of Islamophobia in society was equally thoughtful. Both students were required to respond to the impromptu topic, The Weakest Link. Adjudicators are often interested in students offering a personal and unique perspective on a theme. Clearly, in this case, they were impressed with both students’ handling of both the prepared and impromptu subject matter. 

Both Demi and Pia are experienced debaters whose dexterity in public speaking has been honed through their participation in several debating and public speaking competitions such as the British Parliamentary Competition and Rostrum: Voice of Youth to name a few.