CARLYLE - Jessica Cooper of Carlyle recently won bronze during a public speaking competition in Saskatoon at the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Kelsey campus.
Cooper says she was always a talker since she was young.
“I would share everything I had in my brain and still do. At this time, I was very scared about preforming, so I didn't get out on a stage until Grade 6 when I became involved in drama,” said Cooper
Cooper was introduced to speaking competitions through the air cadet program, where Cooper was encouraged to try out for their effective speaking competition.
“I did very well, so when our school offered a similar program, I jumped at it,” said Cooper.
Cooper enjoys the performance aspect of public speaking.
“I love preforming. It's something I've always done whether through speaking, drama or piano,” said Cooper. “The act of sharing what I think and having people listen is something I really enjoy.”
The recent speaking showdown in Saskatoon was a trades competition (carpentry, plumbing, drafting, hair styling, etc.) with public speaking as a category.
“I wanted to do it because I don't get to compete for my school often as I am not an athletic competitor, and felt this was my chance,” said Cooper.
It took a lot of preparation for Cooper who was given her topic a few weeks ahead of time.
“My prompt was Throughout Canadian history, there have been many silenced voices. With this in mind, how can we encourage them to join the trades industry?' Using this, I created a five-to-seven-minute speech I would present,” said Cooper.
“This is the prepared segment; the second segment is an impromptu speech. The impromptu question is given to each competitor one at a time,” continued Cooper. “They have two minutes to create a two-to-three-minute speech. That morning, they had us tour the other trades and asked the question, 'What stood out to you most?' I mainly focused on the precision, passion and future of trades for my three sections.”
“The competition was stiff; I had six competitors with five of them being Grade 12 students. I felt nervous because I seemed so inexperienced compared to them. The actual competition was less nerve-racking: it was a small crowd with three judges,” said Cooper.
Cooper received bronze at the competition.
“The results weren't announced right away. I waited for hours being hopefully optimistic. I was proud of how I did and hoped to achieve the top three. I was so excited when my name was called. It was such a huge moment,” said Cooper.
Receiving bronze made Cooper want to work harder next year.
“Looking back, I could have done better; this only makes me want to join again next year, and hopefully get to nationals,” said Cooper.
