Mastering the art of oration

Intelligent, confident and courteous were the three words that came to mind while chatting up young Aditya Pillai, one of the NSW state finalists for this year’s Multicultural Perspective Public Speaking Competition.

On November 21, the competition’s Years 5 and 6 final was held at the Eugene Goossens Hall in the ABC Centre at Ultimo, where Aditya represented Quakers Hill East Public School after successfully advancing through the school, interschool and the regional divisions. He received a coveted silver medal for his speech on ‘Multiculturalism on the internet’ and an impromptu speech on the ‘London Olympics’.

The Multicultural Public Speaking Competition is organised by the Arts Unit and the Multicultural Programs Unit every year, with one division each for Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6. The contestants are required to deliver a prepared four-minute speech selected from a list of topics provided. In addition, an impromptu speech must also be delivered on a topic provided by the adjudicators with a limited preparation time of five minutes. Both sections carry equal rating. A total of more than 2000 children entered this year’s competition with 81 local finals held in schools all over the state. Aditya was one of 12 articulate youngsters who proved their mettle to secure a place in the final.

Aditya is a veteran of the Multicultural Public Speaking Competition. His mum read about the contest in the school newsletter and encouraged him to participate when he was in Year 4. Since then he has been trying and improving every year. In Years 4 and 5 he reached the interschool level, and was amongst the highly commended.

Asked how he prepared for the topic for the final, Aditya said, “Mum and I wrote the speech on ‘Multiculturalism on the internet’. She used to be a TV journalist so while

I wrote a lot of it, she added and edited. I used all sorts of resources like the internet, the Sydney Morning Herald and media to research the subject.”

Some of the key points of the speech included current affairs, how the internet influences us, the positive and negatives of using this medium and quotes from famous personalities like Kofi Annan and others.

12 year old Aditya generously shared some tips with Indian Link readers for delivering an effective

“It is most important to remain focussed on the audience’s reaction. Memorising the entire speech is also the key. You must keep calm because otherwise you will have too many thoughts and your mind will go blank. Always remember to project your voice so that even the people at the back can hear you clearly,” he stated.

Aditya routinely practises his speeches on his younger sister and close family and friends, and insists he gets great feedback about his performance from them. But this was the first time he made it into the state finals of the Multicultural Perspective Public Speaking Competition and the experience was enlightening. “It was a good opportunity to see other people deliver their speeches and learn from them. I have taken a lot back from this experience and will use it to improve my techniques,” he said.

Aditya has been active through his primary school years, with being School Captain and bagging the Young Scientist of the Year award in 2009 as some of his achievements. He engages in learning to play Carnatic violin and karate after school. He loves reading and building things. His favourite subject is Maths and his ambition is to be an architect.

Aditya is excited about attending high school in 2013, which he hopes will open up a world of opportunities for him. He is already planning on entering other public speaking competitions like the Junior Legacy and the Sydney Morning Herald Plain English Speaking Award. In the meantime, proud mum Sheila has booked a trip to Malaysia as a present and in celebration of Aditya’s success.