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PKU Speech Contest: Are our students lacking creativity?
Jun 22, 2015
Peking University, June 20, 2015: On May 23, a speech contest organized by PKU’s Youth League Committee was held at the Sunshine Hall, in the Yingjie Overseas Exchange Centre. 18 contestants were expected to deliver a keynote speech, as well as an impromptu talk, based on a topic selected by the judges. In addition, they had to answer questions related to the event’s theme: dreamjourney and believe.
 
Alongside 6 teachers from various departments at Peking University, the contest organizers also invited famous TV personalities Luyu Chen, host of “A Date With Luyu” and Gehui Xu from Phoenix TV, to judge the contestants.
 
“While we are thrilled to see how the competitors utilized speech delivery techniques, improvised under time constraints and pressure, and their extensive knowledge on various subjects, none of them really touched me,” said one of the judges.
 
As a member of the audience, I could not help but feel the same way.
 
Overall, the three-minute keynote speech was the most inspiring of all performances. The contestants talked about their personal dreams that ranged from mountaineering, to reducing poverty to healing the world. The most impressive speech, that was fittingly awarded the highest mark in the first round, was delivered by Gao Ce, a student from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature. She talked about how her mother gave up her dreams to help him achieve his. He went on to say that he would do the same for his children.
 
The impromptu speech category was also quite interesting. The most discussed topics included: finding jobs, China’s Netizens, and the importance of beauty. The random selection of topics was meant to test the contestants’ ability to convincingly argue across a wide breadth of topics.
 
However, during the course of the speeches, I could not help but wonder: What is more important? The content of the speech, or the art of its delivery? My thoughts were addressed when one of the judges talked about some of the barriers he has had to overcome in his life in order to be where he is today. What struck me was the fact that although he was neither eloquent in Mandarin, nor was he was a charismatic speaker, his story tagged at the heartstrings of those present. 
 
As one of the contestants stated, speech is crucial for the spread of wisdom among humanity.
 
Thanks to this competition, my passion for spoken word has been rekindled. As for the contestants, they all have the ability to someday, become great orators. All they need is practice and time to bring out the best in them.

Reported by: Lai Huan

Edited by: Alice Namu
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