The Fermanagh heat of the annual Soroptimist International Public Speaking Competition has seen pupils from Enniskillen Royal excel once again this year.
Six Year 13 pupils took to the podium to deliver a six minute speech for a panel of judges and a packed audience in Fermanagh House last Thursday evening.
With an eclectic selection of topics to pick from, Ella Forsythe, Tamzin Hall, Skye McCabe, Jessica Noble, Ella Prior-Jones and Jessica Stronge did themselves – and the school – proud as they showcased their ability to use persuasive language, pathos, statistics, research, anecdotes and humour to impress the panel of Soroptimists and professionals.
Chosen to represent the areas in which Soroptimist International is involved, the topics were varied and ripe for discussion:
PEOPLE (chosen by Ella Forsythe and Tamzin Hall) With so much social media why are we all so lonely?
PROSPERITY (Skye McCabe and Jessica Noble) United Nations predict it will be 300 years to reach gender equality – seriously!
PARTNERSHIP (chosen by Ella Prior-Jones)
The internet and Artificial Intelligence have made us a more connected and democratic world.
HEALTH (chosen by Jessica Stronge) In health “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
PEACE Does Society need to change how we deal with migration?
PLANET Can we extinguish climate change in the 21st century?
The chair of the judging panel, Mr Frank McHugh, noted the extremely high standard of all entrants and stressed how close so many girls were to being awarded the ‘bronze medal’ position. In the end, our own Jessica Noble emerged triumphant following her entertaining and insightful exposition on how it should not be another 300 years before we reach gender equality!
Mr Andrew Elliott, English department, who helped the girls prepare for the competition said, “To choose to enter; to add to their busy schedules; to prepare and rehearse; to stand up in a formal setting with a large audience and deliver their speeches with such enthusiasm and conviction shows what these girls are made of. The real success has been seeing how proud they are of themselves, of what they achieved on the night, of the skills and experience they’ve gained in the process, regardless of whether they were placed in the top three or not.”
Jessica Noble now goes on to represent the school in the Northern Ireland final in Royal Hillsborough in February
