This competition is held
every year to encourage and foster good public
speaking skills in young girls who are at senior
level in secondary school. In 2006 / 07 BPW Galway
coordinated the event. There are three stages
to the competition:
- BPW clubs hold a local
competition
- One or two (depending
on overall numbers) winning teams from the local
competitions go forward to a National competition
- Two winning teams from
the National stage compete against two teams
from Northern Ireland
For all stages of the competition
the format is the same. Each team is composed
of 3 members: a Chairperson; Guest Speaker and
Proposer of Vote of thanks. The competition takes
the form of a Committee meeting for a local association
and the Chairperson opens the meeting and alludes
to the form of business / events etc and then
introduces the Guest Speaker. The Speaker speaks
on any topic of choice. One of the 3 adjudicators
then asks one unprepared question to the speaker
who responds. Finally, the Chairperson thanks
the Speaker and asks the last member of the team
to propose a vote of thanks. The total time allotted
is 15 minutes.
Every year the teams present
a talk on a wide variety of topics and the standard
of presentation is very high. For example, topics
have included Childcare in Ireland, Women in Politics,
Relationships and Technology and Irish Music Today.
Prizes are awarded to the
Best Team, the Best Speaker and the Best Proposer
of Vote of Thanks. In 2006 the Bank of Ireland
generously sponsored the competition and the prizes
awarded at local and National levels were individual
pieces of Newbridge Silverware. The National final
was held at the National University of Ireland,
Galway. At the North / South final – at
Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast –
perpetual trophies were presented to the winners.
This stage of the competition alternates between
the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and
is a great opportunity for members of BPW from
both parts of Ireland to meet and get to know
each other.
At the North / South final
in Stormont (jointly sponsored by BT and Bank
of Ireland) 4 teams competed:
Holy Child School, Killiney,
Dublin won the Best Team award. Their topic was
Relationships and Technology.
Royal School Dungannon, Co
Tyrone won the Best Speaker award. Their topic
was Is saying no easy?
Tullamore College, Co Offaly
won the Best Chairperson award for their presentation
on Childcare in Ireland
Rathmore Grammar School,
Belfast spoke on Lifting the Veil.
BPW Galway is again
looking forward to coordinating the competition
for 2007 / 08. The local and National stages are
usually held in Autumn and the North / South final
in February of the following year.
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