Ask any employer or HR recruiter what intangible qualities they look out for in a prospective candidate and among them you will surely find the ability to communicate confidently, eloquently and using critical thinking. These are all qualities imparted by two keystone programmes of the English-Speaking Union of Malta (ESU Malta) for more than a decade – Public Speaking and Debating.
Teenagers and young adults in our sixth forms and even at university are given the opportunity to take part in these two highly stimulating and engaging programmes. In the past year alone, these have been admitted as part of the Systems of Knowledge curriculum and have been taught virtually to students of Junior College, St Aloysius, St Martin’s and De La Salle.
Students had the option of either focusing on Public Speaking or to combine Public Speaking and Debating. Covid has hit our teenagers and young people hard. They have transitioned very quickly to online learning and for many it has dealt a tough blow to their self-confidence. ESU Malta was ahead of the curve and, as early as last May, our director of studies anticipating that schools and colleges would not be fully opened in the next scholastic year, started converting all the content of the public speaking and debating academies to an online format.
She also devised a second alternative, to hold smaller and possibly more frequent courses either on- or off-site, depending on regulations and recommendations by the Health Authorities vis-à-vis schools. She added ‘modules’ and streamlined others, including online presentation skills. She also devised a short course for teachers to help improve their online skills.
With the start of the last academic year, came the decision that all courses and events would be held online. And we were ready and there with the content and delivery modes that were required, just as we were with our live, online programme to teach English in the context of play to children at Zabbar Primary School A.
ESU Malta delivers public speaking and debating techniques workshops to prepare participants in the National Youth Parliament, and we are extremely proud that one of the persons our director of studies coached, Anthony Galea, went on to win the national, European and world public speaking competitions organised by Junior Chamber International.
Similarly, students of the Public Speaking Academy are given the opportunity to take part in a national Public Speaking Competition with the prize being participation in the International Public Speaking Competition (IPSC), organised by ESU London. Last year, due to covid, the IPSC was cancelled so last year’s winner took part in this year’s competition – held virtually.
Still, our winner, Erika Mifsud, acquitted herself well and, although she did not make it to the final round, received favourable comments from the adjudicators. Participation in the IPSC, as those who have travelled to London in previous years can attest, enables them to form lifelong friendships and build their global network with their peers from over 50 countries.
Debating is another core skill that ESU attempts to foster in our young people. ESU follows the ‘classical’ style of debating, where a team of three speak in favour of a motion and another team of three speak against. There is protected time and, in between, opposing sides can make points of order.
It makes for an interesting, highly concentrated contest in which the teams have to battle against the clock and use the force of argument to ‘win’ the day. This year’s debating academy and competition saw 24 students in eight teams take part, so they had plenty of opportunity to hone their skills.
ESU Malta does not wish to stop there and has exciting plans for expansion adopting other formulae tested successfully by the ESU in England – but more on that in due course.