Calling all public speakers

By Shannon Sheehan | Published by March 23, 2019

The first Speech Contest hosted by the School of Communication, Media and Journalism is being held to allow students to showcase their public speaking abilities. This is a vital skill for students to have, therefore this contest will allow students to grow academically, socially and become more comfortable speaking in front of a crowd.

The incentive for being the best speaker in the contest is a grand prize of $100, which will highly benefit the winner that earns the prize.

For the event, there will be two rounds. First is the preliminary round, which is where students will present a five to seven minute persuasive speech in front of a line of panelists. This team will critique the presentations and decide on who is deserving to move to the final round. At the final round, the students will also present a persuasive speech in front of the panelists, and the grand prize winner will be chosen.

The first round will be from April 1 through 3 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Little Theatre, located in the Miron Student Center. Then, the final round will be held on May 1 from 3 to 5 p.m., also in the Little Theatre.

There is two requirement for this contest. To participate, one must have already taken the COMM 1402, which is Communication as Critical Citizenship. This will ensure that the participants have prior experience to public speaking, and that they are educated on the topic of persuasive speeches.

Participants may want to utilize the Public Speaking Lab, located on the first floor of the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons, to practice their speech and receive feedback before the contest.

If one has any questions regarding the Speech Contest, make sure to contact Professor Edgley at edgleya@kean.edu.

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