Money for speaking

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Annual competition awards best speeches

Public speaking is not easy for everyone and it takes a lot of practice. On March 10, the Marie Clegg-Jones Speech Contest will give students a chance to fine-tune their skills.

Communications Professor Janet Colvin, who is helping coordinate the contest, commented on the chance for experience afforded by such a competition.

“This is an opportunity for any UVU student to practice their public speaking skills, especially those who are in, or who have taken the public speaking course, Communication 1020,” Colvin said.

The competition will hold two preliminary rounds on March 10, one at 4 p.m. and the other at 5 p.m. Although these are not open to the public, the final round will be. Each of the public speaking class sections has at least one student participating.

Those wanting to compete must be registered by March 7. The winning student will win $500, second place will win $300 and third place will win $100. The speeches may be on any topic as long as they are persuasive in nature and stay within the 5-7 minute time limit. Speeches should be well-organized and well-delivered.

“Everyone will need to use public speaking skills sometime in their lives and this is a wonderful way to prepare, practice, and polish those skills,” Colvin said. “We also appreciate the willingness of Marie Clegg-Jones and her family to have provided the endowment and support for this annual competition here at UVU.”