Public Speaking

Legacy Junior Speaking Award

The Regional round of the Legacy Junior Speaking Award was held on 23 August with Celia Watson representing SCEGGS. This was again on Zoom where contestants can view each other for the prepared speech but we do not get to hear the impromptu speeches.

While Celia did a great job in eloquently delivering her speeches she did not progress to the semi-finals. Well done Celia congratulations on getting to the regional level.

Sandra Carter
Public Speaking Co-ordinator

UN Negotiation Competition

This term, SCEGGS began competing in the NSW Youth United Nations Negotiations Competition with five teams of two representing the school – Emma Juneja, Leyla Ozen, Catherine Park, Nicola Allen, Julia Richards, Hannah Guest, Sybilla Hooke, Lucy Thomsen, Helena Piazza and myself. The preliminary rounds were held over Zoom in the beginning weeks of the term, with teams first representing Ethiopia in negotiations with Sudan over the disputed Al-Fashaga region, and then representing either France or Australia in negotiations over the failed submarine deal between the countries. All teams worked hard at understanding these complex international issues and upholding the needs of the country they represented in negotiations, speaking eloquently to propose mutually beneficial solutions to disputes. A huge congratulations to all teams on their commitment and passion to this activity, especially given this was the first year SCEGGS competed.

Of the over 75 teams across the state, 8 teams were selected to make the semi-finals on Monday 29 August at UTS. Helena and I gained a place in the semi-finals, representing Turkey in a negotiation with Greece regarding the dispute over the sovereignty of the Aegean Sea. We were then one of two teams to progress to the Grand Final. We had 30 minutes to prepare to represent Pakistan in a negotiation against India regarding the ongoing conflict in the Kashmir and Jammu regions. This involved researching the nature of the conflict and the interests of Pakistan which we should prioritise in our case. Despite ultimately losing the Grand Final, we placed second overall in the state, which is a huge achievement, and we are very proud of how far we made it in the competition!

Youth UN was an incredibly exciting new public speaking opportunity for SCEGGS, and I hope that the enthusiasm for it will continue next year.

Bibi Kuo
Public Speaking Captain