50p
Melhuish Speeches 1
The second Melhuish competition of the school year concluded earlier this month with four outstanding persuasive speeches being presented to the school. Melhuish competitions were first established by Mrs Beth Melhuish, who served the Brentwood community for 20 years before her passing. The competitions, once known as Fabrications, were renamed in her honour as Melhuish competitions.
The three Melhuish competitions consist of poetry recitation, persuasive speech and a self-written poem. In January, after hard work and practice, students presented their Melhuish persuasive speeches to their English class. Each class voted on a winner, who then sent a video of their speech to Mr Collis to make the ultimate decision of the grade winners. “A strong stage presence is a strong determinator of the winner of the Melhuish. It is someone who is able to capture your attention and hold it, whether that is with their writing or their expression of it” Mr Collis emphasized.
During the process of writing a persuasive speech, students learn and apply the three techniques of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos establishes credibility using facts and statistics, pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience, and logos present the argument with logical statements. “Persuasive speaking is an important skill to learn: We all need to bravely defend our beliefs and passions in life, especially when no one else believes in it,” Mrs Reynolds strongly states.
Students take time to pick a topic they are passionate about, which results in a variety of unique and articulated speeches on presentation day. “I am always impressed by the incredible range of topics and expertise these speeches present” enthused Mr Ganley. It’s one of my favorite assignments of the year because it gives students the opportunity to address a topic they are passionate about - and they are very entertaining.”
Speaking in front of an audience may be a fear to overcome or a skill that comes easily, for most it is the former. As the day of Melhuish presentations inch closer, the nervousness is overflowing in almost every single student! Nevertheless, students fight against their fears to bravely stand in front of their class to persuade their audience. Carys C, Allard ‘25 shares her experiences, “The Melhuish competition helped me in overcoming my fear of public speaking. It has taught me to write for speaking rather than reading.” With lessons learnt and a fear overcome, students walk away from the Melhuish speeches with anticipation for the next.
Dara M, Alex, ‘24
The three Melhuish competitions consist of poetry recitation, persuasive speech and a self-written poem. In January, after hard work and practice, students presented their Melhuish persuasive speeches to their English class. Each class voted on a winner, who then sent a video of their speech to Mr Collis to make the ultimate decision of the grade winners. “A strong stage presence is a strong determinator of the winner of the Melhuish. It is someone who is able to capture your attention and hold it, whether that is with their writing or their expression of it” Mr Collis emphasized.
During the process of writing a persuasive speech, students learn and apply the three techniques of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos establishes credibility using facts and statistics, pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience, and logos present the argument with logical statements. “Persuasive speaking is an important skill to learn: We all need to bravely defend our beliefs and passions in life, especially when no one else believes in it,” Mrs Reynolds strongly states.
Students take time to pick a topic they are passionate about, which results in a variety of unique and articulated speeches on presentation day. “I am always impressed by the incredible range of topics and expertise these speeches present” enthused Mr Ganley. It’s one of my favorite assignments of the year because it gives students the opportunity to address a topic they are passionate about - and they are very entertaining.”
Speaking in front of an audience may be a fear to overcome or a skill that comes easily, for most it is the former. As the day of Melhuish presentations inch closer, the nervousness is overflowing in almost every single student! Nevertheless, students fight against their fears to bravely stand in front of their class to persuade their audience. Carys C, Allard ‘25 shares her experiences, “The Melhuish competition helped me in overcoming my fear of public speaking. It has taught me to write for speaking rather than reading.” With lessons learnt and a fear overcome, students walk away from the Melhuish speeches with anticipation for the next.
Dara M, Alex, ‘24