Leaving a public speaking legacy

A STATE final of the annual Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition was held at Ballarat Legacy House last week.

The competition’s aim is to strengthen the oral presentation skills of 12-to-15-year-old students, and to encourage them to engage with the ideals of Legacy.

Four local young people representing Loreto College and Phoenix College competed against students from Portland, Timboon, and Hamilton.

They presented prepared five-minute speeches linked to the ideals of voluntary service, care, comradeship or remembrance, and a two-minute impromptu speech on a topic chosen by the chief judge.

Phoenix College’s Dee Matthews-Wood said standing up to share her ideas with the audience was rewarding.

“It upped my confidence by so much and made me feel so much more safe within myself to do what I want to do, and know that I can do it,” she said.

“I would like to work in a public-facing role and do something that requires talking to not only the people I work with, but the general public.

“The topic of my prepared speech was ‘the point of prison.’ Criminology has always been a passion of mine, and I’m interested in the reasons why people end up there. I’ve always been a ‘why’ person.”

The competition was adjudicated by chief judge Barb Dunlop, alongside Garry Taylor and Andrew Dunwoodie.

Ms Dunlop said all contestants performed wonderfully and being able to watch so many young women speak so well was thrilling.

“Thank goodness Ballarat Legacy has continued with this public speaking. We were so impressed with everyone, but where do you go from here?” she said.

“You’ve got to seize opportunities to speak in public. You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘how can I improve my skills and use them?’

“When your sports coach or house mistress is completing sporting events, stand up and thank them. When your grandparent has a birthday… you get up and congratulate them too.

“Make opportunities to use your skills. It’s not just a school skill, it’s a lifetime skill.”

Portland Secondary College students, sisters Daisy and Milly Bayona, were respectively awarded first and second place. Daisy will attend the national final in Launceston, Tasmania in November.