“How to Speak Like a Star” is a PBL course open to G9 and G10 students that helps build public speaking skills as well as confidence. In class, the instructor not only covers the basic techniques used in public speaking, but also encourages students to think and share their opinions. The final project of this course tasked individual students with delivering a 100% original speech to an audience, as well as a panel of judges, in a competition setting.

After the first round of elimination, Leo Feng from 9(11), Brandon Wu from 9(10), Jessie Wang from 9(5), Kevin from 10(5), and Ethan from 10(8) stood out as the top five students who would move on to the final presentation. During the lunch period on June 10th, the five students gave their speeches in the Black Box Theatre. In order to make the competition more impartial, a panel of seven English teachers, who had never heard their speeches, were invited to be the judges. Though their speeches were all different, each of the contestants showed confidence and top-notch public speaking skills, demonstrating clear speech and logic.

Both the audience and the judges enjoyed their presentations, and the contestants learned a lot from each other. Finally, the course presentation ended with round of big applause for all the participants.

(Written by 9(11)  Feng Ziyue           Pictures by Liao Hui)