World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship

On the 7th of January, four students from Island School’s Debate and Public Speaking community participated in the Hong Kong WIDPSC team trials, exhibiting skill in four different categories: Debating, Persuasive speaking, Interpretive reading, and Impromptu speaking.

The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship is an annual competition held for high school-level students worldwide. Holding trials for the Hong Kong team at Diocesan Boys’ School, Chloe Wong (10D), Luciano Suen (11D), Isabelle Woo (11W), and Vijay Narayanan (10F) took part as competitors, with Vijay making it into the Hong Kong team at 5th place and a total score of 1045 points. He will be joining the next rounds of the competition in Durban, South Africa in late March. 

“The 2023 WIDPSC trial was truly a great experience, not just because of the award, but because of the friends I made and the experiences I gained. A big thank you to Mr. Hood for his continued guidance, my fellow peers for cheering me on, and of course, the Debate Club leaders for their invaluable feedback which helped me go above and beyond in the competition”, said Vijay.

Congratulations to Vijay as well as to the rest of the team, who also made a brilliant effort in the competition! Alongside this, a massive thank you to Mr. Hood and Alexander Bray (13W), for taking part in the trials as judges and adjudicators. Well done all!

Article written by the Debate and Public Speaking Club leaders