Rotary Youth Speaks Competition

Eager students waiting their turn on stage, with host Stuart Shepherd

The Rotary Club of Ilminster Youth Speaks Junior Competition, held annually at Swanmead School, has been going for as long as anyone can remember. For the club, it is one of the key events of the years that specifically focuses on community involvement.

Sponsored by Greenslade Taylor Hunt, with Charles Clark as Chair of the adjudicating panel, it is a hotly contested competition as schools battle it out to win. Also on the adjudicating panel are Anna Bowerman, stalwart of The Warehouse Theatre, and Richard D’Rozario, Head of English at Wadham School.

The competition is aimed at encouraging young people, in teams of three, to learn how to argue their case for issues they care about. They may talk on any subject of their choice, as long as they do not cause offence! 

This year 8 teams from 6 schools took part, and although each member of the team is judged separately, they are also judged for the way in which they have prepared their topic, and provide support for each other when facing the daunting prospect of speaking on a stage in front of an audience of 100, made up of teachers, parents and supporters.

Hosted by Rotarian Stuart Shepherd, guests were greeted by President-Elect Veronica Horman, and Linda Piggott-Vijeh, last year’s President, had this to say, ‘I have been involved in Youth Speaks for over 15 years and I can honestly say that the standard has never been higher than it was this year. The passion with which these young people were able to state their case, their enthusiasm, and the well thought out arguments are a lesson to us all. These local students were smartly dressed, and spoke confidently, with few notes. I know from my own experiences that it is no mean feat to speak in front of such a large audience; certainly, some of our politicians would do well to take lessons from such talented youngsters.

As serious subjects were debated, at times we laughed (table tennis bats used to get us to clap to order), and at other times we were entertained with weird and wonderful facts and figures (comparing the cost of a new runway at Heathrow to the price of chicken nuggets). The selected topics were pertinent and relevant. The speech given by this year’s winning team from Neroche School, given my recent involvement with a women’s literacy project in India, was something I could readily identify with on a personal level.

At the end of each speech the speaker was asked a challenging question by a member of the audience, and the responses showed a high level of competence. Of course, none of this could be achieved without the support of teachers and parents.

Whilst in this modern world there is a need to focus on achieving good exam results, education has far more to offer than that, and public speaking skills should be at the top of the list. It was interesting to note that morning after there was a news item on how actor Orlando Bloom is being invited into schools to help students sharpen up their acting and presentation skills; with the workplace now being so competitive such skills have never been more important.

Impressed? How could those of us who witnessed this competition fail to be so; if our future is in the hands of such a talented bunch of individuals, then we can sleep safe in our beds at night.’