Youth Speaker 2011

Our Youth Speaker 2011 final was held in September 2011. It was an extremely impressive competition with some fantastic speeches. Leah Nye from Tara Anglican College took first place with her speech about Type 1 Diabetes, which included a heartwarming promise that when she becomes a teacher she will ensure all protocols are in place and no child will have difficulties brought on as a result of having this condition. Alex Wood from Rouse Hill Anglican college took second place and Sophie Keen from Loreto Normanhurst came third.

For the first time, there was a formal Impromptu Speaking contest and Nicholas Newling from Normanhurst Boys' High gave a superb, articulate speech on the topic "Is Technology the friend or enemy of communication?" All students were given 2 minutes to prepare their thoughts, but were not allowed pen or paper. Leah Nye took second place and Mei Gong from McArthur Girls' High School came third. Dianne Sammut, Contest Co-ordinator for SpeakersBank Australia, said that the standard of speeches was very high and that it was obvious that the students had worked very hard to deliver such high quality presentations on the night.

All finalists were presented with a copy of Dale Beaumont's book "Secrets of Young Achievers Exposed" and the winner of the speech contest was awarded a personal trophy and $350 cash.