Honour at inter school Declamation competition

Ralph Waldo Emerson rightly said, Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.

Our School team participated in the 54th Gowardhan Dass Memorial Inter-School Declamation Contest organided by Springdales School, Pusa Road, on 6 May 2023. The event sought the participation of around 17 prestigious schools of Delhi. Each school was represented by 2 participants. The declamation contest was adjudged by a prominent panel of judges including the celebrated alumni of the school, well-known media personalities, and professorsn. Shamit Sharma XII C and Falak Rahi XII E represented our School.

The students were given the topics half-an-hour before the commencement of the competition. The topics ranged from artificial intelligence, 'war being an idea in the mind', 'democracy, and dissent' and many more. The topics were well thought over and were relevant in the present-day context.

Our School team spoke on the topics, Has artificial intelligence eclipsed the human intellect? and Indias large coastline- an asset or a liability?. Each speaker was required to elocute for about 3 minutes. The hall reverberated with the clear and rational ideas being put forward by the 1617-year-olds. It was a treat to watch the young speakers express their opinions with great precision and confidence.

The results were announced after the 34 speakers were done. Our School team bagged the Second Runners Up Position. Our team members were felicitated with individual trophies, commendation letters and certificates of merit for their performance. The judges very poignantly referred to the dos, donts of public speaking and lauded the participants for their exuberance and well thought out ideas.

Altogether, it was an enriching experience for the children. It gave them an opportunity to understand the importance of the art of careful public speaking, using clear pronunciation and good breathing to control the voice. They learnt what Elizabeth Taylor said about public speaking, So much is said with the electricity of the eyes, the intensity of a whisper. Less is more.