Effects and consequences

By Keye Tersmette - Public Speaking Award finalist 2007

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Speech at the launch of the BBC Awards in Belgium on 5 October 2007

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Keije Tersmette and I was a finalist in the BBC Speaking Contest of 2007 in the Netherlands. I have been asked to give you a speech on the effects and consequences of my participation this year, how I prepared for this contest and how I experienced it altogether and what I achieved in the end. This speech is straight from the heart and holds my uncensored opinion, because if it didn't, it wouldn't really reflect my feelings about the contest and that would defeat the purpose of me being here.

Entering the contest was the easiest part for me having participated in a Junior Speaking Contest 2 years earlier. I had joined that Junior Contest because there was something I wanted to learn. I wanted to improve my presenting skills and my speech-writing abilities. When I was asked to enter the BBC I still felt that I had so much more to learn and still so much room to improve. Especially because the Beeb is, to say the least, so much more more mature than the earlier one. But, to be frank, this time I really, really, really wanted to win. Of course, participating is more important than actually winning, but I think that the person who is hungry to win, especially in the earlier stages of this contest, will exude some sort of confidence and be eager to take their speech and performance to the next level. l. Sure, you can join the contest without really knowing where your ambition is coming from. There were people in my heats teachers or parents had pushed them and they just went along. If that's enough for you to join, great, but I do think that it takes more than someone else wanting you to do this in order to achieve something of immense value to yourself, like winning at the BBC.

I entered and that's where things immediately got rough. As always, there were a number of topics to choose from. I recalled my 2005 Jr. Contest topic, which was freedom, and how I felt trying to think of a subject, connected to Freedom what an enormous, complicated topic for a 14 year old to grasp. This time I had the freedom of (6) choices.

Yippee ! I had been hoping that it would be easier to choose a subject when the topic wasn't as 'vague' Wrong! When I was interviewed prior to the Finals, I said that I had chosen my topic 'Everyone is an Actor' because it appeared far less boring than Security Cameras or Dynamic Earth. I must not be the only 16 year old that felt this way since it seemed about 70% of the contestants also picked this topic. Really, we are not asking to talk about our favorite pet, but there must be something that fits in between the extremes.
After much hassle I finally got my speech finished and I started rehearsing. And I rehearsed it some more. And then even more! I can't explain how important it is to me to know the speech by heart to avoid certain disasters. A number of things have been very useful to me while rehearsing. Things like my webcam and microphone: the ability to record yourself, not only audio but video too comes in quite handy when you want to practise. Sure, writing a good speech is one thing, but giving it in a nice and convincing way is another. I didn't give my speech to any people other than my wonderful coach, because I did not want too many opinions on how I was doing certain things. Even though I wanted myself to perform as well as I could, I wanted to remain natural in my delivery.

I felt pressure to perform and I didn't want to mess it up. At the first round, I found out that many had the same topic as me, but, luckily there was only one other guy in my heat who shared my fondness for actors in society. What I liked most about that round and actually all the rounds is the fact that the jury consisted out of intellectual people, people who have been in a certain type of employment where speaking, be it public or not, is important and it felt good to have people like that listening closely to your speech and asking you proper questions afterwards. During my first speech, I remember they had a smile on their face and that I was really involving them in my story. It's great instant feedback to have it like that and I must say I was pleased to have judges like them in every round.

The finals were in one word amazing. Our setting was the Academic building of the University of Utrecht is such a beautiful place to give a speech . Talking in an environment like that adds to how real and significant this contest is. It's not like just any contest could have its finals in such a building, but the BBC does. That day was presented by Aldith Hunkar, who is a newsreader on national television; there was a camera-team and the contestants had these fancy microphones. There was a jury panel with top employees of BBC, GNE and KPN. It was so professional. The contest had become so much more for me from that moment on that I thought to myself that it's a great opportunity to be able to stand there and give my speech. Even winning didn't feel that important anymore! How many people after all do get a chance like that?

I was the second speaker of that day and I am very proud to say that I was at my very best., I believed and still believe that I could not have done it in any better way. I gave it my all, everything went smoothly, I was able to answer my questions in a way that felt satisfying to myself. I was just so happy that I didn't let myself down or anyone that had helped me along the way.

And this is where I get to what I achieved by joining this contest. Even though I did not win, I feel proud of myself. I managed to get to that national final, to be one of the best 6 speakers in the Netherlands and I have learned so much more. It's the small and simple things, too, actually: I'm not really afraid to present something in front of class and I feel that I am more able to give my own opinion on something without sounding like a complete idiot. I am convinced that I will benefit even more from this contest in the future, where I am sure that any skills I developed will help me with college and job interviews and so many other things in life. I am sure that anyone that enters the Beeb will take away experiences that will prove beneficial at any stage in their lives.

But that's just my opinion ;-)

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