Next round bound in public speaking comp

THE Ballarat district round of the Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition was held last week at St Patrick’s College.

Aiming to enhance the oral communication and public speaking skills of students aged 12 to 15, and help them appreciate the ideals of voluntary service, caring, comradeship and remembrance, the LJPSC hosted competitors from secondary schools across Ballarat.

Each entrant presented a prepared five-minute speech on a topic of their choice, and then an impromptu two-minute speech on a topic chosen by organisers. For this second presentation, the competitors had five minutes preparation.

Loreto College students, Sapphire Osman and Lexi Ryan were announced as winners. Runner up was Carly Rotizis from Ballarat High School.

Sapphire and Lexi will head to the Regional Preliminary Final on Tuesday, 17 September at Legacy House, Ballarat. At this round, competitors from across the Western half of Victoria will vie for one of two spots in the state final.

LJPSC Coordinator for Ballarat, Allan Mckinnon said the local Legacy branch gets a huge amount of pleasure from running the contest.

“With these kids that come through and speak, for the next 12 months they’re guaranteed a number of speaking engagements, which helps them with their confidence. It also raises the profile of what Legacy does, and the profile of their schools,” he said.

It’s expected that students who have been successful at the district and regional rounds will speak at the Remembrance Day service at the Ballarat Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial.

The LJPSC is run throughout the country with 1500 entrants annually. It began in Melbourne in 1988.