Youth Speaks

20th November. Each year Shepperton Aurora Rotary Club organises the first round of Youth Speaks in Spelthorne. This is a public speaking competition for schools and we regularly have between 8 and 12 teams competing in it. This year we had 4 Intermediate teams (aged 11-13) and 5 senior teams (aged 14-17) so it was going to be a busy evening. The event was held, as usual, in the superb surroundings of the Spelthorne Borough Council Chamber. This is a prestigious venue, and speaking there is a great experience for the youngsters, so we always arrange the date of our competition around the availability of the Chamber. With a scheduled start time of 6.30 p.m. we needed to be there from 5 p.m. to prepare the room and organise refreshments for competitors and their supporters.  I’m afraid to say that no concessions were made for me as Consort to the District Governor, and I was expected to carry things in and out of the building, erect banners and display stands, just like the ordinary Rotarians.

                                                    Spelthorne Council Chamber

Earlier in the day we had visitors from the USA in the form of my nephew Alex and his lovely wife Leigh Anne. Alex and Leigh Anne had lunch with us and we had a very pleasant few hours with them reminiscing about the past, including the fact that our wedding had to be put back by a month due to Alex inconveniently being born on the original date we had chosen. He’s never been allowed to forget that. They live in Wisconsin and are here for just over a week, during which they have spent the entire time visiting relatives at various locations in the country, and have allowed themselves no time for sightseeing. Hoping to add some local colour to their trip, I invited them both along to Youth Speaks in the evening, but they declined, as they had a long drive back to Alex’s sister in Northampton, where they were staying. I was a little disappointed, because I was planning to enlist their help with some of the menial tasks I had been given, thus freeing up my time to swan around  meet and greet VIP guests, which would have been  more appropriate for someone of my status.

                                                  The DG with Leigh Anne, Alex and Daisy

The format of the competition is that each team comprises a Chairman, a Speaker and a Proposer of Vote of Thanks. It is not a debate, rather an opportunity for teams to talk on a subject of their choice. Firstly the Chairman introduces the team and the subject they are speaking on, and he or she has a maximum of 2 minutes to do this. The Speaker then gives a presentation on the subject matter, for which there is a maximum 6 minutes allowed, and finally the Proposer of Vote of Thanks has a maximum of 2 minutes. Time keeping is very strict, and we have two timekeepers who operate a green, amber and red light system to assist the competitors. Following the speaker’s presentation, there will be a question from the floor, which will test the speaker’s knowledge of his / her subject. A panel of 3 adjudicators will assess each competitor and decide on individual winners and overall team winners.

                                             Laurie Burrell and Jean Dumbrell, our timekeepers (note the lights)

Each of the teams is allocated a Rotary Club member to look after them during the evening, and also each VIP guest has a Rotarian to look after them. I’m not sure who was allocated to look after me, as they didn’t make themselves known to me all night. Rather than make an official complaint I will just mention it discreetly to Lyn Derrington, who will probably haul someone over the coals as a result.

                                                          Almost ready to start

One of the key jobs on the evening is that of questioner, the person who asks each speaker a question based on their presentation. I have done this job on 2 occasions, and I think it is the hardest job there is in Youth Speaks. After all, everybody else has hours, days, even weeks to prepare what they will say on the evening, but the poor questioner has just a few minutes to come up with a question to test the speakers knowledge of the subject, which has to be perspicacious, challenging, and something not covered already. I can remember occasions when I had a super question ready to ask, only to find that the speaker covered it with virtually his last sentence. Since then, I have endeavoured to have a second question ready, just in case. Another problem I experienced when I was the questioner is that the subject matter may be technology-based, which every teenager in the country fully understands, but it is quite possible that I may not. In such cases I have asked a question that I hoped would show that I understand the subject, when really I don’t. For instance, when we once had a speech about some obscure (to me) social media site (I can’t remember what) I asked ‘What makes this site more attractive than Facebook?’ thus demonstrating a wide knowledge of different social media offerings (or so I thought).

                                                       A fine array of trophies to be won

Anyway I was relieved that Lyn had sourced a questioner, Tracy Good, from among her friends, so the pressure was off me, or so I thought.  As 6 o’clock came and went, Sylvia Courtney, Lyn’s assistant organiser advised that Tracy had not yet arrived, and asked me if I would  deputise for her if she didn’t turn up. Of course I agreed, but I was in something of a panic for the next 5 minutes, as I grabbed a copy of the programme to see whether I could come up with any questions before we start. I failed to come up with anything, so was resigned to playing it by ear as I have always done, when, miraculously, Tracy arrived. Rarely have I greeted anyone so enthusiastically, and I resorted to hyperbole, telling her that I have never been so pleased to see somebody as I was to see her.

The competition kicked off on time, as David Catt-Camfield , our Master of Ceremonies (another job I have done twice before, although never as well as David) introduced the Mayor of Spelthorne, Suzy Webb, and other dignitaries.  I was gratified to find myself seated among the VIPs, with one of the adjudicators, Police Inspector Ian St John, on my right, and Leader of Spelthorne Council Robert Watts on my left.  I was determined to maintain a dignified air, as befits my position, and condescended to speak briefly to one of the Intermediate teams sitting behind me, wishing them well for the competition. I expect it was the highlight of their evening.

                                                     Ken Howe instructs one of the teams on the procedure

                                                    The DG offers words of encouragement

As ever, we were all extremely impressed with the quality of the speaking from all contestants. When I consider myself at that age, I would have been terrified to even enter the Council Chamber, never mind speaking for several minutes to an audience which included the Mayor, Council Leader and Consort to the District Governor. Some of the senior teams seemed very mature for their age, in fact I thought one of the Bishop Wand team was a teacher, until he went up to the podium to speak, so he couldn’t have been older than 17. The subjects ranged from ‘Celebrities as Role Models’ to ‘Votes for Young People’ among the Intermediate Teams, and from ‘The Death of Journalism’ to ‘Any Last Words?’ from the Senior Teams. I was particularly impressed with St Paul’s Catholic School’s Senior Team, who reflected on this being the 100^th anniversary of the start of the Great War, and spoke very movingly about the sacrifices made.

                                                     The adjudicators are ready

When all the teams had finished speaking, and the DG had awarded certificates to every member of each team, the adjudicators retired to their room to consider their verdicts (Joe Delahunty announced they would be locked in their room until white smoke appeared), whilst everyone else  partook of the excellent refreshments prepared by Gill Fawcett, Janet Matthews and their team. Not having much contact with teenagers, I had forgotten how they descend on food like a swarm of locusts. Fortunately we were prepared for this, and there was plenty for everyone - contestants, parents, teachers, Rotarians and VIPs. There were probably about 70 people present, and I enjoyed speaking to parents and teachers, and shared their justifiable pride in the efforts of their children. Evenings such as these show Rotary in a positive light, and I try to take the opportunity to tell people about what we do, and invite them to our meetings, in the hope they may want to join us.

                                                    The DG hands out certificates

After a particularly long interval (clearly the adjudicators had difficulty separating the winners) we were all called back into the Council Chamber to hear the verdict. Chairman of the adjudicators Janet Shell gave a very good overview on the art of Public Speaking, with some invaluable pointers  towards future success for our contestants. The team winners were then announced, with  Matthew Arnold School winning the team award for the Intermediate Section speaking on ‘Fitness fanatics’, and Halliford School winning the Senior Section on ‘What makes us British?’. Amid great excitement, individual awards were made for best speaker, best Chairman and best Proposer of Vote of Thanks. The winning teams now go forward to the District Final, and if successful there, they will go on to the Regional Final and then the National Final. Last year Halliford School got all the way to the National Final, before being narrowly beaten, so we are hoping for a similar run for either, or both of our winning teams this year. Mayor Suzy Webb said afterwards that she enjoyed the evening so much she would come again next year as a spectator, even though she would no longer be Mayor.

                                                          Mayor Suzy Webb congratulates the winners