2020 VCAA PLAIN ENGLISH-SPEAKING AWARD (PESA)

Bassam Sahib (left) and Osayd Kashoa each received from the school a $50 book voucher for their participation in the PESA.

In May, my schoolmate Osayd Kashoa and I participated in the Victorian Heats of the VCAA Plain English Speaking Award (PESA) which is a public-speaking competition that covers students' communication and speaking skills in front of a general audience. The competition itself is split into two components: the prepared speech and an impromptu topic. The prepared speech was delivered in six minutes, where we talked about an issue that we face.

I chose the issue of poor education standards in low socioeconomic areas, while other students from multiple schools chose topics I wouldn’t have thought of, like the ‘power of words’. The impromptu segment of the competition involved the competitors delivering a speech on a general topic with four minutes of preparation and three minutes to present. The impromptu topic this year was ‘the best of both worlds’, and it gave the adjudicators a sense of how our minds function when responding to any topic given without preparation, and is ‘off the spot’.

This year was different to the past years, due to COVID-19. Our speech was presented via video conferencing, in the comfort of our own homes, rather than travelling to schools hosting state heats.

The PESA competition is a really great experience, and I look forward to seeing students considering to participate next year!

On behalf of Sirius College Meadow Fair Campus, I would like to thank VCAA for hosting such events which give insight into the multiple societal issues that we are facing, all in the form of plain English.