Can you imagine something so terrifying that it would cause you to break out in a sweat, shake like a leaf and hatch an entire flock of butterflies in your stomach? Public speaking has long been identified as a huge source of apprehension. This was first pointed out in a 1973 survey of 3,000 Americans by London’s Sunday Times. The Times survey found that 41 percent of the respondents listed “fear of public speaking” as their No. 1 fear, while only 19 percent listed “death.” Over the years these findings have been verified by numerous other studies.
“The mission of the British International School of Alkhobar (BISAK) emphasizes the importance of self-esteem and its ethos is carefully managed to allow each student to develop his or her self-confidence to the full,” said BISAK’s Principal Chris Spedding. “Our annual public speaking competition is a key part of this process.”
Spedding went on to explain that the Dr. George Saadeh Public Speaking Competition was introduced several years ago as a way of developing speaking skills among BISAK’s upper school students. The fifth annual competition was held on Sunday and proved to be extremely popular, with 80 speeches written and 28 of those chosen for presentation at the event.
The students in the 7th, 8th and 9th standards received intensive coaching in public speaking from BISAK’s Upper School English Coordinator, Sean McGlennon. After two weeks of concentrated effort, they were ready to stand at the podium and make formal presentations on the topics they’d chosen.
“One of the goals of this school is to help develop future leaders. The ability to think independently and express ideas effectively are essential skills for any leader. Public speaking grows these skills,” McGlennon said. “During the two weeks that we focused on public speaking in class, I repeatedly emphasized to the students that ‘leaders speak and followers listen.’ If these students want to lead, then they must work hard to master the art of public speaking.”
The Dr. George B. Saadeh OBE competition was definitely a challenge. The students had to stand before a panel of judges and an audience of hundreds — students, parents and teachers — and deliver a speech of at least three minutes in length, with neither a microphone nor a PowerPoint presentation for support. The reason for this is that competition isn’t about bells and whistles. What it is about is using knowledge, skill and style to convince an audience to listen to a point of view.
“These students know a lot,” said Salam Wehbe, who came to watch her daughter Maya participate in the competition. “What they need to understand is how to deliver their message. They also need to be exposed to challenges in a secure environment here at school because this gives them the opportunity to try their skills and build confidence before going out into the real world.”
And on Sunday morning the BISAK students gave their skills a major workout and built confidence aplenty. The topics of the speeches ranged from “Snakes” to “Suffragettes.”
In her speech, Zarah Khan, a student in the 8th standard, emphasized that it is essential to “Be Who You Are.”
“Everyone is born a certain way and that’s a good thing,” she said. “If everyone was a replica of each other, the world would be so boring.”
Leah Jameson, 9th standard, chose “Pessimism” as her topic.
“Pessimists make the world go round,” she asserted. “If all the people on this planet were optimistic, we’d all be raving lunatics. Optimists are always saying the sky is blue, the sea is green and whenever someone dies they’re just taking a long nap. Without pessimists who would diss Bush or say that Britney Spears has no fashion sense? The truth is that pessimists are the important people and optimists are just balls of fluff in our universe.”
The runner up in the competition was student Shayan Ahmad from the 7th standard, who delivered a humorous speech about her brother, Uzair.
“Unlike most babies Uzair didn’t cry much, but why would he? Uzair was born to make ME cry,” Shayan said with a laugh. “In my homework diary he scribbles his notes. In my bag I find his books. On my bed I find his bugs. He just won’t leave me alone and he makes me scream my head off.”
Despite Uzair being a pest, at the end of her speech Shyan did admit that she loves him very much.
The winner of the Speech Competition was 9th standard student Basil Abdel-Hadi who spoke out against school uniforms. This talented young man had the audience laughing aloud in seconds. Out of the 28 contestants, Basil was the third student to make his presentation and, due to his topic, the judges prayed that someone would best him. It was not to be. In the end, the Dr. George B. Saadeh Award was given to a student who boldly trashed one of education’s most hallowed traditions. In his speech, among other points, Basil claimed that his school uniform was so boring that the housemaid became depressed when she had to wash it!
“The mission and purpose of BISAK is to educate young people intellectually, morally and physically so that they have a proper foundation to pursue their higher education, and ultimately become decent world citizens and accomplished human beings,” said George B. Saadeh, MD, OBE, BISAK founder and chairman of the board. “Each child under our care is a potential leader — a scientist, a thinker, an artist, an educator, a business tycoon — for these youngsters the possibilities are endless. Thus, we must encourage traits of leadership, stress the conscious pursuit of individuality and stimulate the endless curiosity about the many facets of the human cultural heritage.”
He went on, “These children are the assets of the future and it behooves us to do the best for them. At BISAK we strongly believe in what the poet and philosopher Khalil Gibran wrote, ‘The true wealth of a nation lies not in its gold or silver, but in its learning, wisdom and in the uprightness of its sons.’ And I would add, its daughters, too. Gibran also reminds us that, ‘Only death can dim the lamp of knowledge that is within you.’”
