On Sunday, September 21, Year 5 student Harper Paroissien secured the title of state champion at the Lions’ junior public speaking final, held at Kialla West Primary School in Shepparton.
While she’s far from a gloater, Harper said her victory was exciting.
“I was very happy, but I didn’t want to make anyone else feel bad,” she said.
“I was really hoping that I would (win), but I didn’t really know because when it comes to this level, everybody already knows their speech really well, so it sort of comes down to the impromptu one.”
The competition, split into the two categories of Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6, featured two components for the latter category.
The first was the prepared speech, which, this year, responded to the topic of fast-moving technology and its impacts on our lives and the environment.
“When our teacher first showed us the topic, I immediately went, ‘oh no, this is a very hard topic to write about’,” Harper said.
“But I found as I was typing and writing it, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I chose to (argue) that I think it is too fast-moving for the environment.”
The second component, the impromptu speech, gave participants 10 minutes to respond to a topic they had not previously prepared for.
Assistant principal Penelope Jones said this was an aspect of the competition that Harper excelled in.
“Throughout all of the competitions, all of the different judges have really spoken about how well (Harper) spoke in the impromptu section,” Ms Jones said.
“That’s where you’re given 10 minutes to plan the topic and develop a speech, and you just have to be quick thinking and be able to speak fluently with very little preparation. That really seemed to be one of her great strengths in this process.”
While it was Harper’s gift of the gab that helped her to achieve the title, the school’s involvement with the program, as facilitated by the Lions Club of Barooga, created the foundation for her public speaking skills.
From Year 3, it’s in the curriculum for Barooga Primary School students to take part in the program, competing at different levels, from a class level, school level and then the Lions’ levels, throughout the school year.
Ms Jones said the school was an avid participant because it saw the value of forging public speaking skills at a young age.
“We think it gives a really authentic audience for the children to learn the necessary skills of preparing different ranges of writing and presentations,” she said.
“We know that, for so many adults, public speaking is frightening, so we feel really passionate about developing our children’s confidence and for them to be prepared to step outside their comfort zone so that they can develop that skill.”
While Harper seems to have an innate talent for talking, saying, “I do like to talk, that’s what my mum always says,” the advice she gives to other students is to put in the work and step outside your comfort zone.
“When we chose people to practise with, lots of people just went to pair with their friends, but I would find somebody who, I didn’t not like them, but they weren’t my best friend,” she said.
“On the actual day, when you do it in front of lots of people, the only people you’re really going to know are the people that you came with, and for most people that’s just their parents and family.
“When you’ve just been practising with people that you do know, it makes it a little bit harder to do on the day.”
Harper is hoping to use the skills she’s learnt during the program in future leadership roles, with the Year 5 having her eyes on the role of school captain next year.
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