For many people, the idea of public speaking is something from their nightmares. Although public speaking is a very common fear, some students from CN150 went on to compete in the Annual Nall Speak Off.
On Wednesday, Nov. 8. Students signed up to enter the competition with the top prize of a $500 scholarship.
The Nall Speak Off has been going on every semester for over 20 years thanks to the Robert Nall family that graciously donates $1,400 each competition in scholarship prizes for the winners. On top of the scholarships given to the top six students, there was an extra $100 scholarship for the top high school student that was added on top of their winnings.
Anyone currently taking CN150 is eligible to compete for the scholarships, with minor exceptions. Students that already participate in debate or mock trials at Washburn are discouraged from participating, but the students that are participating are welcome to join the debate and mock trial teams.
The speeches ranged in topic from the mental health effects of owning a pet to bricks. Topeka West High School student Ziona Jackson gave a four to six minute informative speech on bricks and placed second overall.
The night started off with an introduction to some heartfelt thank yous to the Nall family, the Washburn communication studies department and the judges. The celebrity judging panel was made of two Washburn staff members and a graduate student. On the judging panel was Heather Center, the interim director of student accommodations, Kathy Pflaum, director of purchasing, and Jenna Gorton, a Washburn alumna.
“I was a debate person when I was in high school, so I thought it’d be fun. I have to tell you though, it was really hard to rank people and write things that were very constructive and very positive,” Pflaum said.
The competition began with a speech covering the history of 4th of July traditions given by Maddie Herken, a freshman radiologic technology major. The following speech was by Daniel Alamilla, a freshman marketing major, about the effects that pets have on the owner’s mental health. These speeches placed sixth and fifth respectively.
After that, Ziona Jackson, the only high school student to make it to the final six competitors, performed. Her speech was about bricks and was anything but boring as it had the audience laughing along. She took second overall and received a $400 scholarship as well as the extra $100 for being the top placing high school student, bringing her total scholarship win to $500.
Mason Fair, a freshman finance major, was the next student on the docket. Fair is on Washburn’s men’s tennis team and covered the importance of a good tennis bag. Fair was the first student to use props during his speech as he brought and emptied his entire tennis bag to show the types of things that it can hold as well as the benefits those things provide him during a match. He walked away with first place and a $500 scholarship.
The decision for third and fourth place winners came down to the fine details. Adisyn Stofer, a freshman physical therapist assistant major, placed third with her speech about scar tissue.
Fourth place was taken by Mohammad Asfaque, a sophomore mathematics major. He used video examples that he had created to support his points about TikTok’s impact on users’ daily life.
The range of topics was extremely diverse.
“It was just completely eye opening that I get to learn about all these wonderful things the students are presenting about, and they’re so passionate about it,” Center said.
Kevin O’Leary, communications studies professor and debate coach, mentioned his hopes for the future of the event.
“I’d just like to continue the bounce back that I think we’re already seeing from the pandemic. This event had to go online for a while during the pandemic,” O’Leary said. “So, obviously, attendance really suffered post pandemic. I think we get it, we’re starting to see energy and excitement come back. So, I’d just like to see maybe a steady rise.”
Congratulations to the top six winners of this semester’s Nall Speak Off as well as all other participants. Ichabods can look forward to the event happening again next semester in the spring of 2024.
Edited by Sydney Peterson and Jayme Thompson
