Four years ago, I coached a team from my little school to take part inthe national Crown Office andProcurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Public Speaking Competition - and we won.
The final was held in the High Court in Edinburgh, with the best teams from schools across Scotland represented.
Beforehand, I had no experience of serious public speaking (let alone debating), apart from reading fiction at a handful of spoken-word events. It wasn’t something I ever remember being invited to try when I was at school. So it was a sharp learning curve for me as well as the pupils.
The winning team we put together had a wonderful combination of qualities: Erinwas super-intelligent, confident andfiercely competitive, whileElla wasslightly younger, with a strong moral sense of outrage and a taste for dramatic delivery.
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When I say I “coached”the team, my role actually diminished as time went on. In the beginning, the pupils reliedon me for ideas and explanations, butI was pretty much told to leave them alone by the time we were in the regional finals.
I should stress thatthe efforts were shared amonga larger team of pupils from across the school, who gaveup their lunch hours and convergedon my classroom as though it were a military war room. They helped with research, rehearsals, timing andplayingdevil’s advocate, and even came along to the competitive fixtures. They sacrificedevenings at home to support their friends and classmates - it was a beautiful thing.
Soon, Erin and Ella had their speechmaking skills honed to a fine art. We’d start and end the speeches with some well-chosen, relevant quotations from famous folk. In the middle, there would be joined-up arguments, some deeply analytical stuff from Erinand some heartstring-pulling from Ella. Each round had a different theme to discuss, and the quality of argument from the girlsincreased every time. Theyhad all their pieces in hand - assembling them into the right placeswas the tricky part.
For any teachers planning on starting up a public speaking or debating club, or working with an established team, you need to know that this is hard graft. The paperwork alone, with risk assessments and letters and consent forms, is time-consuming. And justattending the fixturesmeans an extra evening out of the house every month, which isn’t always easy.
But look at the benefits: cultivating a genuine engagement with world affairs; seeing real teamwork and determination helping pupils to overcomeadversity.Plus, most schools you visit willput on a decent spread of tea and biscuits.
In so many ways,the rewards of public speaking are palpable.
Alan Gillespie is principal teacher of English at Fernhill School in Glasgow
