• 88,961 students trained to date in public speaking and effective communication. 430,404 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

Running a "Speak Out" Assembly



Running a "Speak Out" Assembly! is a great way to showcase the skills of your students below is information on the best way to do this.


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Running a School Assembly "Speak Out" to Pick a Winner

Thank you for all your help in organising Jack Petchey`s "Speak Out" Challenge! workshops at your school. Your students will have learnt new skills and techniques to become better speakers and listeners.

If you had two separate workshops in your Year 10, then you will have several winners, all hoping to "Speak Out" for the school at the Regional Final. Below are some suggestions about how you could run a "Speak Out" Assembly to decide who is to represent your school at the regional final. (You can obviously mix and match depending on the time available.)

This will have these KEY BENEFITS

  • The whole year group will have an opportunity to see and experience the skills of their fellow students
  • It gives you an new and unusual theme for an assembly
  • The speakers will have a further chance to practise speaking in front of a large group
  • It helps to embed speaking and listening in your year and school

On the day

1.) Give the speakers notice that they will be speaking out at the assembly

2.) You will need:

  • Judges (you could include teachers/previous Challenge champions/school prefects etc)
  • Time keeper (Speakers can speak for minimum 1 _ minutes and maximum 3 _ minutes) ,

3.) Brief the judges, and give them a photocopy of the judging form. They can sit together in one panel, X Factor like, or they can sit in random seats.

4.) The speakers now deliver their "Speak Out" Challenge! speech.

5.) The judging panel confer and then announce the Winner. The Runner-Up will be a Reserve Speaker on the day of the Regional Final. (5 mins).

6.) Announce where and when the Regional Final will be held, and that students may attend as supporters (There is a prize for best supported student).

7.) Tell all the students that they can visit www.speakoutchallenge.com to take part in lots of Speaking and Listening challenges and win dozens of iPods.

8.) Please notify your SpeakersBank trainer to confirm the names of the Winner and the Reserve.

Other ideas for the assembly (time permitting):

  • Show the Challenge DVD at the beginning
  • Ask a student who has completed the workshop to give a short presentation about the day
  • Ask the Head of Year 10 teacher or School Head to introduce the assembly and MC the event
  • Ask last years Regional Winner to talk about their experiences or MC the event