The Derozio Memorial Speech Contest took place on 28th July 2017 at Frank Anthony Public School, Beniapukur Street. A total of twenty five schools participated in the Contest from all over the city. A total of twenty five schools participated in the contest from all over the city. The participants were given the topics at 9.00 a.m. One hour was given for preparation. Each participant had a different topic. The topics were selected by lottery system. If a participant was not confident about the selected topic, he/she was given a second chance to choose another topic but that topic would not be changed. Several participants took a second chance, some of them got better topics while the others were stuck with a worse topic. Even the sequence of speech was decided by lottery system.
The participants were instructed not to use the internet, instead, we were given a library for reference from various books. We were clearly told that it was not necessary to follow the “debate format”. We were told that most topics would not be debatable and even if they are, we could speak both, FOR and AGAINST the topic.
The contest started with a speech of the principal of Frank Anthony Public School who stated that it was a “REACH FOR THE STAR CONTEST”, referring to the star on the trophy. The participants spoke on several interesting topics such as, “Ways to a healthier brain”, “Discipline is not bad”, “Manners matter”, “Women are better managers” and so on. My topic was “Your Personal Robot”. All the speakers spoke extremely well with full confidence. Some of them made their speech humorous while the others tried to dramatise it.
We were given two and a half minutes to speak on the topic. At the end of two minutes a bell was rung to indicate that we have half a minute to conclude our speech. The audience proved to be patient listeners and helped in cheering the participants. At the end, the three judges Dr. Sen, Mr. L.W. Hartnett and Miss Raica O’Brien expressed their views on the extempore contest. They said that they were pleased and happy to see such young speakers delivering speeches in public with confidence.
Ananya Shree Tiwari from Welland Gouldsmith School, B.B. Ganguly Street was given the First Prize. Judged as the Best Speaker, She was given the trophy and an incredible collection of books. Ananya Dutta from Mahadevi Birla World Academy was the 1st Runner Up and the participant from La Martiniere for Girls was the 2nd Runner Up. Both of them were given a number of books.
In a nutshell, it was an incredible experience that I will cherish for the ret of my life. Also it helped me learn about new things and increase my knowledge. All the schools including Don Bosco, Park Circus, La Martiniere for Boys and Girls, St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Loreto House, Loreto Day, Pratt Memorial School and even the host school Frank Anthony Public School did extremely well.
REPORTED BY:- ANANYA SHREE TIWARI – X -D
