Senior students at the Sri Lankan International School in Jeddah (SLISJ) have showcased their public speaking skills in the presence of school officials, parents and members of various toastmasters clubs, during the school’s gavel club grand finale that was held at the Saudi German Hospital Auditorium recently.

According to Ramesh Menon, one of the judges of the grand finale who is also President of the PACE Toastmasters Club and Division K Secretary, “their performance was marvellous! The judges were finding it very hard to choose who should be given the first place. The gavel club is a great initiative being undertaken by the school, and I wish them good luck moving forward from here".

“The children outdid the adults in every way,” said Anitha Beevi Kooloth, another judge at the event who is also the president of the Voice Club. “Their confidence level, gestures, vocabulary, body language and fresh ideas were amazing.”

As part of the session, six students delivered prepared speeches, each of which were evaluated by other students. An improvised topics session was closely followed with participants being called to express their thoughts on the spot to assess their spontaneous speech making abilities.

Avinash Rowland was determined to be the best prepared speaker for his “Personal Anthem” speech, while Senura Ranjan was named best evaluator, and Insaf Hassan won the award for the best improvised topic.

“This is the proudest moment of my life,” said winner Avinash Rowland. “I just want to thank God, my wonderful parents, teachers and all those who helped me climb the ladder to achieve this.”

Counselor coaches for the SLISJ gavel club, Mohamed Fawzi, Zaharan Abusahid and Nihmatullah Lebbe, were recognized for their efforts in training the students and bringing the school’s club to a renowned position in the community.

Sri Lankan Consul General Adambawa Utumalebbe, the chief guest, was impressed with the student’s talents that he encouraged the school to continue with the program to strengthen the character and personality of the youth in their quest to succeed in life.

In his speech, Mohamed Ilyas, the chairman of the Board of Management at SLISJ, mentioned that the school has given the students a great platform to magnify their speaking skills, and to work out and organise intelligently their thoughts and ideas. “This not only helps develop speaking capabilities but also helps in building their self-confidence and making them independent leaders of tomorrow.”

Adnan Niyas, gavel speech winner of the Saudi Arabian Toastmasters Annual Conference (SATAC) for 2014 that was held early this year, and Noha Nazeer, third place winner at the Inter-School Gavel Club Speech Contest organized by Toastmasters International, were also recognized for their achievements at the event.