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Year 8 students compete in "DC Talks" house event

At Doha College, we know how important it is to learn public speaking at a young age. It teaches students how to organize their thoughts, use body language to convey meaning, and engage an audience. By practising public speaking, students develop critical thinking skills, as they learn to analyse and present information in a logical and persuasive manner.

In an endeavour to guide students towards achieving these ambitious goals, Doha College invited the Year 8 cohort to talk in front of an audience of their peers about any topic they felt passionate about. The aim was to give them the opportunity to practise public speaking in an environment that was simultaneously supportive, challenging and tuned to their interests.

Six speakers from each DC house were selected to take to the stage, and they were scored for the thoroughness of their research, the engagement with the audience, the relevance of their chosen topic and more. The judging panel included Principal Martin George, Deputy Principal Nick Taylor, House Coordinator Joanne Taylor and English Enrichment Coordinator Alexandra North.

The 30 participating students selected a hugely varied range of topics: some controversial, some provoking, some polarising, but what they all had in common was the ability to stir a reaction in the audience. One of the most impactful speeches rose the issue of Physical Education, namely the need for teenagers to engage a lot more in PE and lead a healthy lifestyle.

In third place was Oryx allegiant Amy Austwick, who spoke fervently about conserving the environment by discontinuing the use of plastic. Second place went to Eagle house member Delilah, whose light-hearted topic – pickles! - and presentation style brought a smile to everyone’s faces, irrespective of where they stood on the appreciation of the briny vegetable. The competition winner was Ayaan Thakrar of the Eagle house, who chose a very interesting subject indeed: adults learning from children. Although appearing to challenge the status quo, Ayaan had everyone agree with the concept he proposed, particularly that he backed it up with solid, well-researched arguments.

 

A huge cheer to all who took the daunting challenge of speaking in front of hundreds of people, spent hours researching their topics and rehearsing their delivery. Listen to them here 👇