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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