On Thursday 6 February, the Students’ Office of TSM (BDE) organised the very first edition of its speech competition, an event dedicated to public speaking.
This edition brought together nine participants and over 120 attendees, reflecting the enthusiasm generated by the event and students’ interest in this type of competition.
A speech competition on the theme of student life
For this inaugural edition, the nine candidates had to respond to one central question:
“What does a fulfilling student life mean to you?”
Each participant had five minutes to convince a jury composed of:
- Julien Grobert, Dean of TSM
- Isabelle Sole Laporte, Head of the Bachelor 3 in Management at TSM and Co-Head of the Law and Management Bachelor
- Emmanuelle Bach, Head of the Management 1 Bachelor at TSM
- Melvin Stephan, student in Master 1 Sports Management and competition organiser and Events Coordinator at BDE TSM RAMS
The overall standard of performances, particularly high for a first edition, surprised both the jury and the audience. Each candidate demonstrated great confidence in public speaking and used relevant arguments to defend their point of view. This resulted in authentic speeches delivered by all participants.
Once all the candidates had presented, the audience voted for their “favourite” through a live vote. The chosen candidate automatically secured a place in the final. The second finalist was selected by the jury, based on a predefined scoring grid, to face the other finalist in a head-to-head final.
A face-to-face final in the form of a "battle"
The two finalists competed in a duel in the form of a “battle”. This format requires greater adaptability from the candidates, as it relies heavily on improvisation.
Two topics were proposed:
- Is ambition a flaw?
- Can someone be a leader and still be a good person?
Before starting, each participant drew lots to determine whether they had to argue “for” or “against” the chosen topic.
The final led to a dynamic and unconventional debate.
Indeed, for this final, two students with the same first name competed against each other.
One was a member of TSM Consulting association, the other a member of TSM BDE, creating a friendly and humorous sense of rivalry among the audience!
A unifying event for student life at TSM
At the end of the final, the jury announced the winner of this first major speech competition, who was awarded a prize.
Beyond the competition itself, the evening mainly served to promote and encourage public speaking, an exercise that can sometimes feel intimidating and requires courage and self-confidence.
This competition also strengthened the vibrancy of TSM student community through an event organised by students, for students.
More importantly, it highlights how committed all our associations are to campus student life and how they work to deliver increasingly innovative events for our students!
So, see you at the next edition?
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