Speech Provincials: The Spry Six

It has been said by many untalented painters that speech is the highest form of art, and I wholeheartedly agree. Over the first weekend in May, six of Brentwood College’s most effervescent public speakers crossed the Salish Sea to journey to the foreign lands of Vancouver, where they would partake in the 100th Provincial Speech Championships, hosted by the University of British Columbia The tournament consisted of four rounds, each with different parameters and requirements of speaking skills. With their minds at the ready and Nike Frees on their feet, the Brentwood six walked through the ostentatious, revolving door of the tournament hall and prepared to give their all.  ROUND ONE Debate. Any speaker of the provincial level who prides themselves on being well-rounded must be apt in the ancient art of debate. Because of this, the first round of the speech championships was a heated debate over the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport. A-Rod would have been proud as Brentwood debaters held their own in this round and, in the end, proved their worthiness. ROUND TWO Interpretive reading. My personal choice for this category was the unsettlingly haunting Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates. Regardless of the chosen material, be it Jo B (Whittall ’17) and his hamburger scene from Tarantino’s immortal Pulp Fiction or Garey G (Whittall ’15) and his bitingly funny I’ll Eat What He’s Wearing from Sedaris himself, each student was forced to hone their own reading abilities. Tone, alternate voices, and effective pauses were all taken into account by the judges. ROUND THREE Persuasive speaking. The bard would argue that all the world’s a stage, and if that is true then every word you speak is your line. Speak it well. Contestants were forced to not only present a persuasive speech to explicate to judges, but also be sure to provide a solution towards their topics of persuasion. Delaney B, Allard ’17, created spirited interest from judges with her engaging speech on being left-handed.  ROUND FOUR Impromptu speaking. There are times in life such as when you are caught without your homework come the due date, or when you’re moving the deceased body of your ratty coworker and you bump into a police officer, when you need the power to speak well and speak without a script. In this round contestants were handed a slip of paper with three listed topics such as “singing in the shower,” “you are your own worst enemy,” and “what does it take to be a good president.” After preparing for three minutes on one of those, hopeful speech provincial championships would burst with rhetorical splendor and insightful comments on their chosen topic.  Brentwood was happy to receive the third place medal for debate (won by gluten-free Andrew W, Whittall ’17) and the fourth place medal for debate (won my everybody’s favourite Maria F, Allard ’15). Plaudits to those talented two. On behalf of all the speech contestants who attended this refulgent Vancouver trip, I thank debate coaches Mrs. Steele MacInnis and Mr. Bryant for their warm attitudes, skillful coaching, and food money; you made the trip a very pleasant one. Toby CH, Privett ‘15