BPW Public Speaking Competition

On Thursday 23rd November, three Year 14 students took part in the Ballymena heat of BPW Northern Ireland Public Speaking Competition. The team was comprised of Peter McElroy (Chair,) Annie McCrory (Speaker) and Michael McPeake (Expresser of Thanks).
This competition mirrors the form of a public meeting and tests the students’ improvisation skills. Annie was teamed with the Chair and Expresser of Thanks from another school, whilst Peter and Michael were teamed with a different speaker. The marks from each student from St Louis were combine to arrive at an overall total for each school’s team.

Annie took to the floor with pupils from Ballymena Academy. Annie’s speech focused on the challenging topic of ‘Objectivity in and she received glowing feedback on her performance.

Both Peter and Michael were excellent in their roles as Chair and Expresser of Thanks respectively. Peter confidently introduced a speaker from Ballymena Academy who delivered a speech on the topic, ‘Why I believe Mental Health should be prioritised just as much as physical health in schools’. Peter also managed questions from the audience to the speaker, as well as posing questions himself. As the Expresser of Thanks, Michael charismatically summarised and expanded on the speech from Ballymena Academy.

The standard of all teams on the night was very high, and we are thrilled that St Louis Grammar is one of two teams who now progress to the NI final in February. We wish them all the best as they prepare for this event!