We at ESU Scotland were very excited at being given the opportunity to host the last World Members’ Conference in Edinburgh in September 2008. Over 250 delegates from 31 countries attended.

 ESU World 2008
PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITIONS
ESU Scotland runs an annual National Schools Public Speaking Competition. This competition is primarily for school students in S3-S4 and is entered by around 70 schools in Scotland each year. For details of the upcoming 2011-12 competition, please call Stephen at the office on 0131 229 1528 or email debates@esuscotland.org.uk.

2011-12 Schools Public Speaking Competition

The 2011-12 Public Speaking Competition will take place in early 2012 with the regional heats. Details of this year's competition will be available at the end of November.

The 2012 Edinburgh Competition Festival

If you are interested in other forms of public speaking, then the Edinburgh Competition Festival Association runs an annual festival which provides an opportunity for amateur musicians and speakers of all ages to perform their pieces in a friendly environment and, along with other performers of a similar ability, receive constructive feedback and advice from a specialist adjudicator There are different categories to enter, for verse, prose reading, drama and reading from Sacred Texts. The competition takes place on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th March 2012, and the closing date for entries is 30th November 2011. For more details, and to download the entry form, please go to the ECFest website.

2010-11 Schools Public Speaking Competition

On June 14th the best eight speakers from the regional heats of the ESU Schools Public Speaking Competition competed to become Scottish Champion at Edinburgh University's beautiful Playfair Library, Edinburgh. The topic for discussion was 'The Arab Spring' In addition to the generous support already received from HSBC. in hosting the preliminary rounds, the final of this year's competition was generously supported by The Edinburgh Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, which aims to encourage a deeper understanding of Islam throughout the UK and beyond via outreach projects and research. After eight fascinating and varied speeches from all speakers, Ricky Owens from Clyde Valley High School, Wishaw won the competition, with Aparna Potluru of Craigmount High School, Edinburgh finishing as runner up.

This competition is generously sponsored by HSBC.

Past competitions

In 2009 the Scottish Champions were the team from George Heriot's School. In 2008, the Scottish competition was won by the team from Jedburgh Grammar School. In 2007, ESU Scotland also ran a Public Speaking Tournament as part of the ESU European Parliament Project.

© ESU Scotland 2008. All rights reserved