The Grand Finale of ‘Young Speaker 2014’ was held on the 27th of March at the Kingsbury Hotel. Organised by Adventus Education and British School of Colombo, the event was the first of its kind in scale and involvement. It provided a platform for students of international schools to hone their speech-making skills and better their ability to convey their ideas effectively.

His Excellency John Rankin, the British High Commissioner was chief guest. Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Mr.G.T Jeyaseelan, Mr.Tissa Jayatilaka, Mr.Mohamed Adamaly and Ms.Savitri Rodrigo made up the panel of judges. Dr. John Scarth, principal of The British School in Colombo and Mr. Chris Price, CEO of Adventus Education, were also among the personages as well as Mr. Victor Ramanan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Adventus Education.

The six finalists were Keshya Amarasinghe (Colombo International School), Pasindu Samaranayake (Lyceum International School, Wattala), Mohamed Naleef (Gateway International School, Kandy), Anish Fonseka (Gateway International School, Colombo), Mishka Fernando (OKI International School), Dahami Fonseka (Lyceum International School, Panadura).

The dignitaries were ushered in with a traditional procession of drums, and then the lighting of the oil lamp took place. Arun Dias Bandaranaike was an effective compere. Dr. John Scarth addressed the audience first, and observed that young people require more from education than academics alone, as they will be leaders one day. Poking fun at the reliance we have on technology, he pointed out that there exists no app for public speaking.

The criteria for judging the speakers included content, originality, engagement of the audience, eloquence and overall impression and presentation. The first round of the competition had each participant deliver a 5 minute long prepared speech, and the second round had them deliver an impromptu 3 minute long speech.

The performances by the students of the British School Colombo in-between rounds were refreshing. John Rankin’s address was a delightful mix of light heartedness and solemnity. He spoke about how speech is a key part of his job – the exchanging of ideas – and how the power of spoken words has remained as important as it ever was. He also said that he spies future diplomats among the contestants. He highlighted some of the greatest speech-makers of our world, and their words that has touched millions – J.F Kennedy, Wintson Churchill, Nelson Mandela and even Kumar Sangakkara’s 2011 Spirit of Cricket speech. He ended by saying that speechmaking at its best is fun and enjoyable.

The judges then delivered their thoughts. They felt that the impromptu speech was more vibrant while the prepared speech was better in every other respect, and overall there was a gap between content and presentation – a gap that would be closed with experience. They expressed the need to focus on grammar and enunciation, and expound rather than repeat. Overall however, they said that it has been a pleasure and that all the participants should keep competing.

The results were as follows -

Winner - Keshya Amarasinghe (Who won a return air ticket from Sri Lanka Airlines and a cash prize worth of Rs. 100,000)

1st Runner Up – Anish Fonseka (Who received a cash prize of Rs. 50,000)

2nd Runner Up – Dahami Fonseka (Who received a cash prize of Rs. 25,000)

Young Speaker 2015 is already being organised, and there are plans underway to involved local schools as well. Visit their Facebook page for more information and speak to Anurangi Jayathilake on 0777 991 899 or email her [email protected] to register for Young Speaker 2015.

By Marissa van Eyck