Thank you for joining us at the Spring 2024 Competition! We look forward to welcoming you back next year.
The theme of this year's competition was How My Cultural Identity Has Shaped Me. Each COMM 131 (Public Speaking) section selected a student with the best informative speech. From there, 6 finalists were chosen to compete. Once selected, each contestant was required to use the Public Communication Center to ensure their speech was competition ready. First, second, and third place won a prize of monetary value.
Ryan Riddell
Rose Kinder
Ikechukwu Ihejirika
Towson University's first annual Public Speaking Competition took place on April 16th,
2019. Competitor’s had to prepare a 5-8 minute persuasive speech which addresses at
least one of the core tenets of the Department of Communication Studies curriculum:
advocacy and public discourse, identity and culture, and leadership and organizational
communication.
Rebecca preformed a moving speech titled “Read My Lips.” Malstrom illustrates how her experience as a member of the deaf community is shaped by the expectation that she reads the lips of the hearing individuals around her.
Brandon gave his speech titled “Sneaker Culture.” He captured the audience by describing the relationship between sneaker culture and the African American culture.
Ilya demonstrated how one can defy the odds by “Ignoring the What If’s.” Ilya compares his own experience to the expectations of society, and shows the audience what is possible if they believe in themselves and ignore preconceived notions.
The judges were Marissa Berk-Smith, Ron Matlon, Erin Miller and Bethany Pace. The Public Speaking Competition was sponsored by the Department of Communication Studies and the COFAC Diversity and Inclusion Committee.