UN Youth Association Voice Competition

Max, one of our Year 10 students, recently competed in the United Nations Youth Association's 'Voice' competition:

Since 2011, the UN Youth Organisation of Australia has been running the UN Voice Competition, a speech competition aimed at not only building public speaking skills but encouraging participants to take some of our world's biggest challenges head on and find an innovative lateral solution.

This year in early September, with the school paying for my entry fee, I participated in Western Australia's largest speaking competition.

All the competitors and I were given four challenges to propose a solution to, and write a five minute speech for.

Among the topics of LGBT rights, climate change and sustainable development, I decided to propose a solution to increasing engagement with the Asian Pacific Region.

Through a crammed four days of research, drafting, thorough impromptu question practice and exhausting keyboard smashing my solution manifested itself as an idea to establish a festival that would celebrate the best of Asian Pacific culture and a supplementary social network.

To aid me with the writing of my speech, the UN Voice Competition invited competitors to a free public speaking workshop down at UWA, with the special guest, founder of IGNITE.

My round was held on the following Monday night, a bare three days after.

Following the delivery of my speech, the panel of three judges asked me two impromptu questions to test the research of my subject and idea.

Seven more nights of the competition were held, and regional rounds will be held in late September and the results of my speech and competition will be announced in November.

Max (Year 10)