19 May 2023
St Peter’s College’s internal Year 9 public speaking event, the Arnold Reid Competition, took place early in Term 2. The competition, first established in 1945 and recently reinstated in 2010, allows students to build their creativity and public speaking prowess by presenting on a topic of their interest.
As part of this year’s Arnold Reid Competition our Year 9 contestants presented a short speech responding to a list of prompts, taken from Rostrum’s Voice of Youth’s topics. Students responded to concepts such as “A Change Worth Making” and “Opportunity Knocks”. Contestants spoke broadly about the importance of sustainability and accessible education. Finalists also presented a three-minute reading from a list provided.
Congratulations to all participants. Our finalists – Ethan Chen, Joshua Joshi, and Daniel Latimer – presented their speeches to a fellow Year 9 audience in Big School Room in a nail-biting final.
Ultimately, Daniel Latimer reigned victorious with an inspiring prepared speech on values in response to the prompt “A Gift that Keeps on Giving”. Similarly, Daniel’s reading of William Faulkner’s 1950 Noble Prize Acceptance Speech was emotive and powerful.
Congratulations Daniel!
Nia O’Loughlin
Coordinator of Public Speaking