The open selection trials for the Hong Kong WIDPSC Team took place on January 7, 2023 at Diocesan Boys’ School, with the aim to select a10-member team to represent Hong Kong joining the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship in Durban, South Africa. 

Leveraging on her experience last year, 4B Mary Thewe was again selected to compete for the spot in WIDPSC. She prepared a persuasive speech on the topic ‘Mental Health: From Stigmatised to Glamourised’. For this speech, she placed 9th in the competition. Her performance has also improved overall in the other three categories, including debating, interpretive reading and impromptu speaking, placing her 23rd overall in the competition. Hopefully, next year, she will be able to place in the top 10 and secure a place on the Hong Kong team.

As a preparation for the WIDPSC open trials, three of our junior form students were also invited to join its Junior Indivs Public Speaking Competition. 

Let’s hear from the participant about her experience: 

“In the Junior Indivs competition, there are three parts: persuasive speaking, interpretive reading, and impromptu speaking. The most challenging part would be the impromptu speaking section, where we only had 3 minutes to prepare after being given three topics. After that, we needed to throw away our notes and give a 3-5 minute speech. It was really hard to think of things that are related to the topic in just 3 minutes and give the speech right after. However, I overcame this challenge and it was quite fun. In this competition I witnessed how others perform and I have learnt a lot from them. It was a really great experience.”

– Lydia Chow Ching Shun, 3A