local students show speaking skills

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Competition is heating up in the arena of the Lions Club’s annual student speaker zone level contest held last Friday at their club building in Garden Grove..

Competition is heating up in the arena of the Lions Club’s annual student speaker zone level contest held last Friday at their club building in Garden Grove..

Two well-prepared young men gave extremely well planned talks on the topic of, “How do we create and keep jobs in America.”

Competing were Phillip Jarrell, 17, of Cypress who attends the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana and was sponsored by the Stanton Lions Club, and William Hong, 17, of Los Alamitos who attends Los Alamitos High School and was sponsored by the Seal Beach Lions Club. Family members, friends, and Lions Club members listened intently to the two high school speakers.

Jarrell was chosen by a panel of three judges who are not allowed to be Lions members. He advanced to the regional level held on March 12 at the Brea Boy Scouts Center.

All speeches were required to be at least five minutes long, but no longer than 10 minutes. They are judged on delivery, thought content, and the effectiveness of the speech along with how well-rounded, logical and persuasive they were.

Competitions were open to all high school-aged students with the purpose of offering competitive public speaking among students on a subject of vital interest to the contestants and to the American people. It was also to stimulate self-expression and in-depth thinking presented to the public through the speaking program.

The contest took in problems surrounding the maintenance of the country as a free nation and sought to have the speakers consider the means at the country’s disposal of meeting present and future world problems.

“I am impressed with the level of expression and the concise way the speakers present their ideas,” said a Lion’s Club member. “These young people will be the leaders, the ones who have the great ideas.”