By Zika Bobby
In line with the sole aim of teaching the world to speak, the School of Eloquence will hold third edition of its annual eloquence cup competition to improve public speaking among secondary schools.
This year’s edition will commemorate the 15th year anniversary of the school.
The competition has the theme: “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian Educational System.” It is part of the School of Eloquence Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) tagged: “Catching Them Young” initiative. The aim of the initiative is to share the knowledge of public speaking to secondary school students across Nigeria.
Speaking on this year’s edition, slated to hold on November 13, 2021 in Lagos, the Registrar, Patience Essien, said the eloquence cup is an annual iconic oratory competition for government-owned senior secondary schools.
According to her, the competition would serve as a stepping stone to greatness for the students because by learning the art of public speaking early in life, they would, be able to speak with confidence in public.
Essien said: “Like it or not, students are bound to face public speaking as they will be called upon by their teachers to lead the assembly, answer questions, to represent or do some reading in front of their classmates. Some of these students will be very brilliant with mastery of key subjects but will often find it uncomfortable when put on the spot. Others will be extremely shy types doing everything possible to remain back in the classroom for fear of being noticed and called upon.
“Our students must therefore be encouraged to embrace this challenge very early in their life’s development if they are to emerge ready for the real world situations ahead of them.”
The school founded by Ubong Essien (West Africa’s only certified speaking professional). The school is reputed to have what many have termed the most comprehensive and practical course curriculum and body of work in the subject of public speaking. The school has hence become the home of public office holders and their spouses, corporate executives, business owners, clerics, sales, marketing, media, and public relations practitioners, human resources, and training professionals for the development of their communication skills.
