• 81,725 students trained to date in public speaking and effective communication. 383,501 have heard them Speak Out
• "Great, great, great! This Challenge has built up my confidence massively!" Michael, Barnet
• £15,000 prize fund including 36 iPods and thousands of pounds worth of iTunes vouchers!
• "I've never had an iPod so thanks so much! It does so much more than I realised!!" Rianna, Chelmsford
• On track for 50,000+ unique website visitors this year
• "I completed the workshop at Mill Hill County High School in 2008. All the skills I learnt that day have helped me during sixth form and now university." Sara, Harrow
• Increase in confidence grows to 59.5%
• "Thank you ever so much for such an extraordinary experience and essential life skills training. It was certainly worth it!" Olumide, Newham
• 100% of teachers recommend the day to colleagues
• "A wonderful GCSE speaking and listening tool!" - Mr Fowler, Teacher, Islington
• 70% of schools now holding "Speak Out "Assemblies! - Over 50,000 students spectating.
• "The public speaking tips cascaded down to all Year 10 students" - Vinsia Mc Queen, London
• Students have spoken out on over 2000 topics and issues from Alcoholism to Xenophobia - here are the most recent top 5
• Stereotyping of young people, achievements, parents, knife crime and size zero
• "What we say is important... for in most cases the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." Jim Beggs

Latest Newsletter

Welcome to the Spring 2011 edition of Jack Petchey’s "Speak Out" Challenge! newsletter.

Information on this, plus lots more below. If you would like us to cover other aspects of public speaking in general or the "Speak Out" Challenge! in particular then please email us at newsletter@speakoutchallenge.com

Jack Petchey’s "Speak Out" Challenge! 2011-2014 – We are delighted to announce that, for the seventh consecutive year, funding from the Jack Petchey Foundation has been confirmed not just for one year but for THREE years, which secures the programme until 2014! An extraordinary expression of confidence from our funder in these very challenging times.

Gala Grand Final 8th July 2011 – We are very excited to announce a new venue for our Grand Final this year - the Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank, London. The complete judging panel has now been confirmed as: The Speaker, John Bercow, who will act as Chief Judge; Virginia Ironside, writer and columnist; Jeremy Nicholas, broadcaster and sports commentator; Mark Easton, BBC Home Affairs Correspondent; Janet Ellis, TV Presenter; Gemma Cairney, BBC Radio 1Xtra Breakfast Show co-host; Tracy Brabin, former Coronation Street actress; Ann Slater, Dean of the University of East London; Garry Bushell, newspaper pundit; and Malachi Talabi, UK & Ireland Toastmasters International Speech Champion 2011. Places are going quickly so if you’d like to reserve a FREE ticket please click on the following link and complete your details: http://www.speakoutchallenge.com/pages/reserveticket

FREE iPODS - PRIZES - Don’t forget there are iPods to be won every month on the "Speak Out" Challenge! website –. http://www.speakoutchallenge.com/pages/challenges. Recent winners include Nikhil Thapar from Vyners School, Hillingdon; Gajanan Theivendran from Nower Hill High School, Harrow; Rabea Popal from Twickenham Academy, Richmond; and Callum Horn from The Business Academy, Bexley. Each has won an 8GB iPod Nano! Go to the website now for your chance to win.

NUMBERS TRAINED EXCEED 75,000 – 75,014 students have now benefitted from the Jack Petchey "Speak Out" Challenge! workshops and those students have spoken out in front of an audience of 339,763 Impressive numbers, I’m sure you’ll agree. And with funding confirmed for the next THREE years those figures will continue to rise.

REGIONAL FINALS – The North and West London have been completed and our panel of experienced trainers have already selected the first 6 speakers (out of a total of 15) who will speak at the Grand Final in July and compete for the £5000 first prize. The top three videos from all the finals will be on the website (great resource material for both students and teachers.) All of the winners` videos are online at http://www.speakoutchallenge.com/pages/regionalfinals/regionalfinalresults/

’SPEAK OUT’ CHALLENGE! IN THE NATIONAL PRESS – The "Speak Out" Challenge! was the subject of an impressive eight-page spread in the most influential journal in education, The Times Educational Supplement, successfully gaining more extensive exposure to the programme and spreading the word of the Challenge. The local London press have also been busy reporting on the great work of the programme. You may not know it but we usually have reporters present at the regional finals and they love telling Londoners just how great the evening has been. For both national and local press articles, follow this link to read all about it: http://www.speakoutchallenge.com/pages/presscoverage

TOASTMASTERS CONFERENCE – On 6th May five of our regional/ Grand Finalists provided the after-dinner entertainment at the UK & Ireland International Toastmasters conference in Old Windsor. Reigning Champion Idris Sobande (from Islington), Roma Wells (Enfield), Inez Sarkodee-Adoo (Hackney), Micheal Omoniyi (Greenwich) and Tejas Rawal (Barnet) were outstanding and received a prolonged standing ovation from a distinguished Toastmaster audience which included International President Pat Johnson and 2003 World Champion Jim Key. Conference Organiser Iain Duthie said: "Astonishing. Everyone is completely knocked out. They will be talking about this for years to come!" The "Speak Out" Challenge! is now firmly on the Toastmasters map.

JACK PETCHEY FOUNDATION...LISTEN UP 2 SURVEY – Following on from the success of last year’s ’Listen Up’ survey of over 6,000 young people, the Jack Petchey Foundation are launching the ’Listen up 2’ survey! They want to know about the hopes and ambitions of young people in these changing times. If you are 11-25 years old, please complete their survey and have your voice heard. Click on the following link to take part http://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/?about_us/10-years-of-achievement/listen-up.html

QUOTES OF THE MONTH – Here are our favourite quotes from the last few months:

• Student quote: Bertram - "I thought the workshop was absolutely amazing and really good fun, it certainly opened my eyes to how important communication via speaking is in the world of work. I would also like to thank the Jack Petchey Foundation for providing such world class training for free to us."
• Teacher quote: Henry McKenna - : "Wonderfully inventive, enjoyable and of immense benefit to students."
• VIP quote: Komla Dumor, BBC World News Presenter - "It's wonderful to see young people so devoted to the art of speaking. I was impressed by their skill and elocution. They are the future of this community and this country."
• Famous quote: Christopher Reeve - "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."

Thanks for your time and remember, as we always say, "If you want to make a difference you have to "Speak Out".

Best wishes,

Julie Holness