Alfi Huda, a Year 10 student born in Bangladesh, won the senior category of the 2021 Wynspeak youth public speaking competition on Zoom, with an impassioned speech about arranged child marriages. Like all participants in the Wynspeak competition, Alfi found her voice and presents maturely in front of an audience. The positive impact this program has on the lives of school students can be viewed online, and you might like to consider them as possible speakers at your meetings.
Rotarians know that it can be a struggle to find good speakers so having a Wynspeaker present at your club could be part of the solution. Generally, the students have some kind of lived experience of their topic. Alfie’s grandmother was engaged to be married at only eight months old. Another Year 10 student, Tayla Buller, also resonated deeply with her subject, which was How to Live Life to the Fullest. When Tayla was 14 months old her mother died due to an aneurism.
Having engaging speakers is a vital part of membership growth and retention; a chicken dinner and a yarn may not be enough to give people a reason to keep up attendance at the weekly meetings. Speakers bring a different life perspective. Hearing about extreme experiences like cycling across Europe, the latest in biotechnology, or the challenges of working in indigenous communities can be educational and enriching; a stimulus for conversation and Rotary projects.
Year 7 junior category winner Sam Brooker made a cogent case for never using a single item of plastic, revealing the devastating cycle of what happens when one piece ends up in the sea. These thoughtful young people could be a part of your speaker program.
District 9800 has three public speaking competitions; Wynspeak, the Ainger Peck Public Speaking Awards run by Rotary Richmond, and Bayspeak Competition organised by Rotary Brighton in conjunction with neighbouring Rotary clubs. These competitions are nurturing our young ones towards developing a skill for life and the hope is that more clubs will run similar school competitions. You can view some of these impressive 5-minute talks via the new Wynspeak website at www.wynspeak.org and see how meaningful this activity is for students.
“My experience of Wynspeak was really exciting as I am not generally an outgoing person. When I found out that I had made the top six… I was really excited to present at assembly. It was daunting at first, and the rush of adrenalin made me really nervous, but I think it was worth it in the end. I would strongly encourage others to participate in Wynspeak, especially if you have never tried something like this before,” said a Year 7 student.
Wynspeak is a partnership project between Rotary Club of Hoppers Crossing and Hoppers Crossing Apex Club. For further information contact the following District Youth Public Speaking Ambassadors:
Des O’Shanassy (Rotary Hoppers Crossing)
M: 0401 287050 E: desoshanassy@hotmail.com
Ben Hosking (Rotary Richmond) M: 0437 232 880 E: bhosking@bigpond.net.au