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VIAT Speaks
Sarah in 11C sent this report:
The fourth VIAT Speaks competition was held on Wednesday, 17 April, and was an opportunity for the previous winners of public speaking competitions to reunite and speak on their four prepared topics of “Peace”, “Climate”, “Travel”, and “Food” as well as the unseen topics of “Inspiration”, “Music”, “Time”, and the rather ambiguous “Yellow”.
The competition was hosted by SST, and we were privileged to hear an eclectic range of speeches: they varied in dress with the introduction of props and superhero costumes (we were all overjoyed to be spoken to by Spiderman himself), and in form. This year, particularly moving speeches from two Valley Park students utilised spoken-word poetry to communicate the issues outlined in the briefs, constructing a personal and relatable narrative which played on the structure of the ‘keynote’ speech: instead of introducing an unexpected truth as part of the speech’s content, these students interwove the passage of time with rich and emotive imagery capitalising on the element of surprise through the unique formatting of their speeches, which paired with their purposeful cadence and clear passion for public speaking touched us all.
Humour balanced the earnest tone established by some pieces, which was particularly prominent during the unseen round. Students used the ambiguous prompt "yellow" to discuss the fine line between connotations and stereotypes, to make us jealous of the golden fries they would be buying after the competition, and to disgust us with the ever-present threat of yellow snow in winter. Towards the end of the final round, speeches became surrealist -- two students amalgamated all 4 prompts, using the bizarre mix of topics to expose our lack of understanding about what is truly inspiring in one case, and eliciting laughter from the audience in the other.
Congratulations to Maanaswini in 9A for winning her category, and to Miriam in Frank 1, for participating in every possible public speaking opportunity over the last seven years. Thank you to Dr Millgate and Mrs Young for organising such a wonderful event, to the Judges for dedicating their time to this competition.
