Experience

Public Speaking Awards

By Matthijs Maas, V5E

When I initially entered the BBC speaking awards, I wasn't sure what to expect. While I was confident about writing a piece, I was rather less sure about presenting it. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot since-winning or losing-it was bound to be an interesting experience. What followed were weeks of brainstorming, writing, discussing, revising, revising again, and practising. Finally-through the help and great support of my English teacher-I had composed a speech for the topic 'New Horizons, New Frontiers'. My focus: the role and impact of the internet on our society and future.
At last the deadline for the preliminary rounds arrived; Saturday, March 1st, the four of us-Akhila, me, my teacher, and Heleen Bolle, who reached the Finals last year-took the train to Eindhoven. When we arrived at the venue, my mood was one of anticipation, excitement and uncertainty at the same time. In an opening meeting, all the candidates-some 20 in total, from various schools-were welcomed, informed of the procedure and rules (as if we didn't already know them by heart), and divided over three different heats. The best three of each heat would make it to the semi-finals. After one more hurried rehearsal and some final advice, the time had come for us to expose our work to the audience. Luckily, the chairman of our jury had a good sense of humour and managed to create a relaxed atmosphere which put us at ease. I was fourth to speak, and as they called me forward, I suddenly found myself to be surprisingly calm and confident about it; I had practised so many times, I knew what I wanted to say, and how to say it. My speech went fine, and I think I handled the question round- which had really bothered me during preparations-in a satisfactory way. After the last speeches had been made, the jury retreated to discuss our performances, while we were shown video fragments of last year's BBC Public Speaking and Young Writers finals. The tension rose when the members of the jury entered the stage to comment on the performances and to announce their preferred three candidates. The results were simply incredible: Akhila and I ranked on top, securing our place in the semi-finals. We had both put a lot of effort into this, and in the end, it paid off, though I couldn't help feeling a bit sad for the other candidates who did not make it to the next round but who were just as passionate and determined as we were.

The semi-finals-on Saturday 29th March-will certainly not be easy, but then again, there wouldn't be much point in participating in the BBC Speaking Awards if they were.

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