St Edward’s College student Jessica Xuereb recently won the English-Speaking Union of Malta’s public speaking competition held at Le Méridien, St Julian’s. The contest followed a three-day academy that trained 24 post-secondary students through interactive workshops and one-to-one sessions in the skills required for effective oration.

The 15 competitors had to give a three-minute talk on the theme A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand. They took various slants to the topic. Some explored the setting in which the original phrase was coined, while others looked at various forms of division, such as marital separation, civil wars, the fight for the environment, racism, alcoholism and inner conflict.

Xuereb’s winning speech was entitled Why do we Stand Alone, When we Can Stand All Together?

In second place came St Aloysius College Sixth Form student Naomi Bugre with a speech entitled Beyond Colour to Real World Challenges, while another St Edward’s Sixth Form student Soufian Hagul placed third with a speech entitled Time Heals all Wounds. The judges were Giuliana Fenech, Robert Cachia and Lou Ghirlando.

Xuereb is now preparing to deliver her speech at the International Public Speaking Competition in London, to be held between tomorrow and Friday. She will compete against ESU Public Speaking Competition winners from over 50 countries.