Kirby Cup Speaking Competition

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As part of life at International House residents are encouraged to embrace Uni life and participate in various university run functions and competitions throughout the year.

Several IH residents decided to test their public speaking skills in the highly prestigious Kirby Cup Public Speaking competition. Four of five finalists were IH residents!

The competition, named in honour of High Court Judge and USYD alumnus Michael Kirby, is in its third year running and rapidly gaining popularity. To increase variation of speakers, in this year's competition USU (University of Sydney Union) cleverly introduced two separate streams, one for native speakers and the other for ESL (English as Second Language) speakers. This innovation proved to be extremely successful as the number of participants and attendees increased considerably.

The competition is set out in four initial heats and then a semi and grand final. In the Grand Finals each of the 12 participants must give a 5-minute prepared speech on one of three set topics as well as give a 3-minute impromptu speech. Under the critical eyes of 150 spectators and a panel of judges consisting of champion public speakers, USU Board Directors and barristers the participants had a challenging and nerve-racking task.

All four IH participants, Wei-Jia, Mana, Charlie and Lisa did a fantastic job and offered an original take on their respective topics. The speakers daunted even the chair of the judging panel and USU Board Director Patrick Bateman: "The standard in this competition is remarkable and I applaud all competitors".

Congratulations to Wei-Jia whose exposition on Facebook convinced both the audience and the judges, enabling her to win the ESL stream and pocket $1,500 prize money and the trophy!

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