16 September 2022
This year marks the 75th year of the W H Irwin Public Speaking Competition. The annual event offers an opportunity for senior students to develop and perfect their public speaking skills. Years 11 and 12 students eagerly compete for the St Peter’s College Reverend W H Irwin Memorial Prize for Public Speaking.
The three finalists this year included Year 11 student Gunin Singhal and Year 12 students Nathan Choi and Rajiv Paranavithana. All three competitors impressed both their Year 10 audience and the judges, Ms Jan Tollner and Mr Nicholas Browne, with their five-minute prepared speeches on their chosen topics. Students presented on diverse subjects, raising awareness for a range of causes, and using the opportunity to encourage positive change.
As well as the prepared speech, competitors presented a short impromptu speech written on the day in response one of the three topics: ‘Shades of Grey’, ‘Dress to Impress’, ‘Summer Days’. It was wonderful to see each contestant respond to a different prompt, making the topics relevant to their own context.
Congratulations to Nathan Choi, our 2022 winner. Nathan presented an impactful prepared speech tackling the culture of sexism at our school. Similarly, his impromptu speech, responding to the prompt ‘Dress to Impress’, was highly impressive, raising concerns of elitism in society.
Well done Nathan!
Nia O’Loughlin
Coordinator of Public Speaking