The competition is heating up in the arena of the Lions Club's annual Student Speaker Contest.
First, there's the Club Level, then Zone, Region and District.
The Garden Grove Lions Club hosted the “Zone Level,” for its area, of the annual Student Speaker Contest last Friday at the group’s club building, 9860 Larson Ave. in Garden Grove.
Two well-prepared young men, dressed in suits, gave extremely well-planned-out talks on the topic of, “How do we create and keep jobs in America?”
The competition is heating up in the arena of the Lions Club's annual Student Speaker Contest.
First, there's the Club Level, then Zone, Region and District.
The Garden Grove Lions Club hosted the “Zone Level,” for its area, of the annual Student Speaker Contest last Friday at the group’s club building, 9860 Larson Ave. in Garden Grove.
Two well-prepared young men, dressed in suits, gave extremely well-planned-out talks on the topic of, “How do we create and keep jobs in America?”
Until all of the contest levels have been completed, strict Lions International rules do not allow for any portion of the speakers’ talks to be published.
Competing that evening were Phillip Jarrell, 17, a Cypress resident, attending the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, sponsored by the Stanton Lions Club and William Hong, 17, a Los Alamitos resident, who attends Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, who was sponsored by the Seal Beach Lions Club.
Family members, friends, and Lions Club members listened intently to the two high school speakers.
One overall winner is chosen by a panel of judges who are not allowed to be Lions members; that honor went to Jarrell.
The next step for Jarrell is to give his speech again at the Region Level, slated for March 12 at the Brea Boy Scouts Center, 401 S. Brea St. in Brea.
At the Club Level, all speakers receive money for their participation; however, at all of the other levels of competition, only the top winner receives money.
All speeches are timed by three people in the room, and three judges who are not members of the Lions Club judge the speeches.
The talks are required to be at least five minutes long, but no longer than 10 minutes, and they are judged on delivery, thought content, and the effectiveness of the talk, along with how well-rounded, logical and persuasive the talk is.
The competition is open to all high school-aged students, with the purpose being to offer competitive public speaking among students on a subject of vital interest to the contestants and to the American people.
The competition is also to stimulate self-expression and in-depth thinking to present to the public through the speaking program.
The contest takes in problems surrounding the maintenance of the country as a free nation and seeks to have the speakers consider the means at our disposal of meeting the present and future world problems.
After the competition, one of the judges said he was impressed with the program that is being provided for the youth through the Lions clubs.
“I am impressed with the level of expression and the concise way the speakers present their ideas,” he said. “These young people will be the leaders; the ones who have the great ideas.”
Loreen Berlin can be reached at loreenberlin@verizon.net.
