Preserving the art of public speaking in the age of social networks \u2013 what a challenge! But ESSARP (the English-Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate) marked their centenary in style at the British Embassy residence last Tuesday with the final of this year\u2019s Argentina National Public Speaking Competition, also organised by the English-Speaking Union (ESU) \u2013 a later arrival in Argentina some 40 years ago on the initiative of St. Catherine\u2019s Moorlands school co-founder Mabel Mazzini.<\/p>\n
The event commenced with some remarks by British Ambassador David Cairns hosting the competition on the various learning curves required for public speaking. Then followed an introduction by ESSARP President Ian Tate (a former headmaster at St George\u2019s Quilmes), who explained how the contest was making its first comeback since 2019 after a long hiatus imposed by the pandemic lockdown. Despite the growing dominance of digital expression since then, there were more contestants than ever, he reported \u2013 37 secondary school students, narrowed down to a semi-final dozen on Monday and the six Tuesday finalists.<\/p>\n
The competition was then prefaced by a video on the ESSARP centenary (last March 18, to be exact) before the speeches began \u2013 five minutes each, followed by three minutes for questions from a panel trio and the audience at large, all judged by Joanna Richardson, Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Montenegro and Sebasti\u00e1n Iribarne.<\/p>\n
The topic chosen for their speeches could hardly have been more random. One might have expected something like \u201cThe benefits and dangers of Artificial Intelligence\u201d or \u201cThe central role of fossil fuel energy today versus climate change\u201d or \u201cThe populist challenge to democracy.\u201d But no \u2013 the teenagers were asked to build their speeches around the haiku: \u201cThe light of a candle is transferred to another candle \u2013 spring twilight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speakers were remarkably successful in adapting these inscrutably Oriental words to their young Argentine lives, mostly on the basis of expanding on transfer between generations. Each of them was as good as the other with possibly one exception in this reporter\u2019s opinion although there could only be one winner \u2013 Juan Cruz Labombarda, making a distinction between inheritance and legacy. They were all also strikingly good at thinking on their feet in the question session \u2013 some of their responses were even more interesting or profound than the contents of their speeches.<\/p>\n
Catalina Badaracco, Bautista Casabal, Bianca Loreta Palamenghi, Mar\u00eda Josefina Touron and Santiago Verriotis completed a talented sextet raising hopes that all is not lost, not only for public speaking but also a younger generation facing unprecedented changes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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