A delegation from the English-Speaking Union of Malta, consisting of its chairman, John de Giorgio and director of education Yvette Micallef, recently held a meeting with the British High Commissioner to Malta, Robert Luke, together with Jess Xuereb, who was a semi-finalist in the ESU’s Global Public Speaking Competition, which was recently held in London.

Ms Xuereb, an International Baccalaureate student at St Edward’s College, Cottonera, who had won the ESU Malta’s national public speaking competition, was given the right and funding to compete at an international level with participants from 42 other countries at Dartmouth House, the ESU’s London headquarters.

Mr Luke was interested to hear from Ms Xuereb how, despite being very anxious about speaking in public when she took part in the ESU Public Speaking Academy last February, with the training received from ESU, she was able to rise above her fears and compete first nationally and then internationally.

“The experience was formative and I would take part again if I could,” Ms Xuereb said.

“I met so many other people from different countries and cultures, who were equally fearful of speaking in public, and we have managed to keep in touch.”

Mr de Giorgio said: “It is common for almost everybody to be stressed by speaking in public. However, once you have sufficient training and exposure, it proves to be such an important horizontal skill that one can apply it to all walks of life, both in a work and social context.”

ESU Malta has already offered public speaking training to over 2,000 children in Maltese schools since October 2012, he added.

Its main aim is to strengthen the use of the English language in Malta.

It feels that competence in both English and Maltese are essential elements for society in an increasingly interconnected world, with English underpinning all the pillars of the Maltese economy, such as financial services, tourism, ICT and gaming.