As someone who stands up and makes speeches for a living – in Parliament, on constituency visits and after-dinner events – and having previously been a teacher, I was extremely pleased to be invited to help judge a public speaking competition for local primary school children, held at Moreton Primary School last week.
Children from four schools were involved from Epping, Moreton, Chipping Ongar and North Weald, and had been given the topic of ‘Global Goals’ for their speeches.
Those of us on the judging panel had to consider the preparation and writing of the speech, vocal production, the use of formal language and body movement and I have to say the standard was exceptional.
All speakers were passionate about their subjects, confident in their performance, and each and every topic was well researched. Most importantly the speeches were interesting and the audience was engaged throughout.
The winning team cam from St Andrew’s in North Weald, but each and every entrant should be proud of their achievement yesterday, and I will certainly be taking some of what I learnt from their speeches back to Parliament for future debates.
Thank you to Moreton Primary School for being excellent hosts, and well done to all who organised and took part in the competition.
