13 August 2008

PRESS RELEASE

Lions Clubs Young Speechmaker Finals

The national finals of the Lions Clubs Young Speechmaker contest will be held in Christchurch on Saturday. 23 August 2008

One Hundred and Sixteen students entered the contest held recently in seven Lions districts throughout the country and twenty will represent their areas in Christchurch.

Sponsored by Entertainment International Limited, the annual event has been held for over 30 years with this year’s winner receiving a trip to Canada and the United States during the Christmas holidays. Second place getter will attend an international youth camp at Lake Okataina near Rotorua.

Open to 17 to 21 year olds each entrant makes a five minute prepared speech and an impromptu speech of up to two minutes.

Contest organiser, Kerry Beach of Hamilton, is amazed at the talent of contestants. “Each year you think they can’t get any better, but they do. That’s why we need to have strict judging criteria”, he said. Judges will consider voice and grammar, speech structure, development and speech value and effectiveness.

The contest will be held at St Marks Presbyterian Church Complex, Withells Road, Christchurch and is open to the public from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm.
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