St Stanislaus College wins GBTI’s impromptu speech competition

St Stanislaus College emerged victorious on Tuesday in the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited fifth annual Inter-Secondary School Impromptu Speech Competition.
Saints defeated St Rose’s High School in the final, which was held at the bank’s recreational centre in Bel Air Park, Georgetown.  The three members of each team were given one minute to prepare after selecting one of a list of randomly chosen topics on which they had to make a two-minute presentation.

Fifteen-year-old Danyal Goodchild sealed the St Stanislaus victory with his presentation on “Beauty”.
Judging the final leg of the competition were UG lecturer Bonita Hunter; a Toastmasters Club representative Kenneth Bentinck and UG Department of Language and Culture Studies Reader, Dr Joyce Jonas.
Before announcing the winner, Hunter pointed out the difficulties experienced by the participants, noting that “extreme nervousness” caused the final presentations to be below the quality they had observed throughout the competition.
She added that the performances were “an indictment of the school system”, which highlighted that it was necessary to establish curricular activities that enable students to think outside of the box and become more creative.
Assistant Chief Officer of Education for Secondary Schools, Doodmattie Singh, who presented the winners with their trophy, commended the students and the schools for their participation. She noted that impromptu speech contests prepare students for their futures, and lauded GBTI for hosting the competition.
The education officer added that she hoped the competition would encompass more schools as it evolved, and urged students to continue to read and practise impromptu speaking in preparing for the 2013 competition.
In brief remarks, GBTI head of customer care and branch development officer, Roma Narayan Singh said the focus of the competition is youth development. She said “impromptu speaking was chosen because it fosters the development of self-confidence, leadership and communication skills, improves oral expression of thought and allows for quick thinking”. Singh said based on the feedback received and their own assessments, “this impromptu speech competition has been beneficial to the students and for that we are extremely pleased”.