Pratheesh Clinches Catenians Midlands Public Speaking Victory

Up against fifteen competitors from schools across the Midlands area, the competition took place at Newman University on Thursday 31 March. Pratheesh impressed judges with his presentation on the topic of ‘The biggest problem in the world today is?’ He will now join the regional winners from across the country at the Catenian Association’s National Public Speaking Final in September.

16-year-old Pratheesh, who is studying A-levels in Maths, History and English, commented, "We were presented with a choice of ten topics - all of them raised interesting questions, like ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ and ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. However, there was one which instantly stood out to me, ‘The biggest problem in the world today is...’ where you could finish that sentence with whatever you pleased. I knew that the Catenians valued originality, so I decided to choose something I have been studying and observing for a while, the Ego."

Competitors were marked by the judging panel on a variety of criteria from content, delivery, elocution and appearance and securing the Midlands victory was a fantastic achievement for Pratheesh who was up against strong competition.

Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs, commented, “All the competitors gave incredible performances on the day so Pratheesh’s victory is something that we are very proud of. It was fantastic to see so many schools competing. With such a broad range of topics covered, it really was a challenging and thought-provoking session.”

Princethorpe last won this leg of the competition in 2017 so it is wonderful to have the title return to Princethorpe College once again.