Year 11 Jaan Wins GDST Chrystall Carter Public Speaking Prize!

13 March 2024 | Share:

A huge congratulations to Year 11 Jaan W for winning the prestigious GDST Chrystall Carter Prize for Public Speaking 2024!

Having negotiated the regional semi-final in January, Jaan travelled to Croydon High School last Thursday where she gave a brilliant speech for 7 minutes on: “Is Art a necessity or luxury?”

Her speech was then followed by a 5 mins Q&A from the audience. Speeches were judged on speakers’ ability to engage an audience, appropriateness of style and language, grasp of subject matter, clarity of expression, effective use of time and ability to deal with questions.

The judges praised Jaan’s ability for speaking without any notes or prompts, and for adeptly supporting her responses in the Q&A section with further research and relevant theory.

Well done to fellow finalists from Blackheath High School, Nottingham High School, Shrewsbury High School and Wimbledon High School for excellent speeches on a wide variety of topics, including ineffective management of funds for SEND children, moral evolution, social media is undoing our society and the importance of representation of immigrants in the media. Also, a big thank you to Croydon High School for hosting and the photographs.

Miss Gordon, our Public Speaking Co-Ordinator said, ‘I was so thrilled for Jaan that she ended up winning the overall competition. The final was made all the more special in that she got the opportunity to meet Chrystall Carter’s husband in person, who had set-up the GDST competition in honour of his wife, who was Legal Adviser to the GDST for nine years before her untimely death in 1999. Chrystall Carter had a powerful belief in the power of reasoned argument and public speaking. It was especially poignant, therefore, that all the finalists were able to meet her husband, and showcase their confidence and desire to have their ideas and voices heard.

Jaan had done several practice sessions, refining her speech, and honing her delivery skills for months leading up to the competition, having won a hard-fought audition round to get her spot. She not only completely memorized her entire 7 minute speech but also really took on board advice on voice control, gestures, pace and intonation in some challenging ”stop, start” sessions. I know that Jaan was very nervous waiting for her turn, both in the semi-final and final, but did very well to embrace her nerves and channel them into delivering a thought-provoking, engaging speech. The other finalists also spoke with such conviction and passion, so congratulations to them all – a true testament to their efforts of going out of their comfort zones and honing new skills.’

We asked Jaan about her amazing experience:

What did you learn about the whole competition?

‘It was firstly fascinating to learn about the origins of the Chrystal Carter prize and the amazing woman in whose name it was created. On the day, I was grateful to learn more surrounding the many prevalent topics that were present in the other finalists’ interesting speeches such as funds for SEND children and the evolution of morals.’

What was the hardest or nerve-wracking part?

‘For me, the most challenging task was keeping calm whilst waiting for my turn to speak to come; the longer I waited the increasingly nervous I became! However, the nerves faded when I began my speech and I hope my passion for art shone through instead. The most enjoyable and fun part of the experience was being allowed to, and given the platform to ramble on for seven minutes about a topic I am really interested in and state my views. I am so grateful that people enjoyed the speech and will hopefully also become interested in the subject.’

Will you continue your public speaking into the Sixth Form?

‘Yes, I hope to continue practicing and developing skills of public speaking and elocution as they are valuable skills and will aim to improve wherever I can during my time at Sixth Form.’