A new public speaking competition was launched in Perth this week. The Catenian Association of Western Australia launched the competition to allow senior school students to speak about their faith and the teachings of the Catholicism. Nine students from five eastern metropolitan schools took part and the evening was successful enough to prompt the organisers to continue the competition into 2017 with more schools in the metropolitan area involved. Adjudicators for the competition spoke very favourably about the calibre of speeches given by all the students. There was a four minute prepared speech and then the students had 2 minutes to prepare an impromptu response on a given topic.
Congratulations to Rebecca Hughes and Caitlyn McKenzie on their presentations. Caitlyn writes:
"The competition was an amazing opportunity for young Catholics to speak out (literally) and have the chance to express their voice and be heard. Not only was this a chance to express who we are as individuals and how we view the world around us, but it also gave us the opportunity to really discover ourselves in regards to our faith and our religious perspective of society. I feel that throughout the process of writing the speech, I was questioning my views and my beliefs, and constantly asking myself why these issues existed in our world. This was reflected in my set speech.
The night itself was an experience that most youth wouldn't normally be able to have. The impromptu section of the evening, whilst very challenging, allowed us to make decisions and express how we feel in the heat of the moment, to be able to say things how we see them, and not sugar coat or make our opinion seem more appealing. I personally struggled with the impromptu portion of the night, with a very limited time allocation to the planning of the speech. After the speeches had concluded, many of the candidates said how they wished for a longer time allocation to plan their speech (maybe 15 minutes or so) and to be in a private room, so people aren't staring at you whilst you're trying to think.
Other than the obvious pressure of the night, I honestly am grateful for having been involved in an event where I was able to speak about how I felt on contemporary issues in regards to Catholicism, and have people listen to me and make me feel like my opinion is relevant. I am looking forward to next year's competition, but in the mean time, I have walked away with a confidence that I didn't have before, and that's a very important thing for me; to know that I have a voice and I can use it."
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