Over 70 finalists from throughout Northern Ireland took part in the final of the contest which has been supported for a number of years by the NFU Mutual Insurance Society.
With perfected speeches and tactical presentation skills, competitors provided the judges with an extremely varied and highly entertaining.
Members had the opportunity to compete in two different categories: prepared and impromptu. In the prepared section, competitors delivered a pre-prepared speech, chosen from a specified list of topics. Speeches ranged from 'Travel', 'Reality TV' to 'Alternative Farming' and 'The Biggest Day of My Life'. It was up to competitors to decide how to interpret their chosen topic.
In the Impromptu competition members were given unseen topics on the night on which they had a limited amount of time to structure their speeches and deliver these to the judges.
After an intense contest, attendees gathered for the presentation of the Public Speaking Cups. YFCU President Adrian Cooper welcomed guest speaker Mrs. Pauline Rooney, Acting Head of Customer Services Unit in DARD's Service Delivery Group, to the proceedings.
Mrs. Rooney congratulated the competitors on the high standard of their speeches and told the competitors that she was very impressed with the speeches that she saw. She added that taking part in the Public Speaking provides members with new skills and bodes well for the future of YFCU.
At the close of the evening Rebecca McConnell, Vice Chairman of YFCU's Development Committee, delivered a note of thanks to guest speaker Mrs. Rooney; Mr. Martin Malone from sponsor NFU Mutual Insurance Society for their support of the competition; to all the chairpersons and stewards whose help was indispensable in ensuring the smooth running of the evening; to the judges whose input and expertise identified the winners; to Banbridge High School for providing the venue and to all the competitors who took part in the contest.
The results of the competition were as follows:
Class A: 12-14 Years Prepared: 1st Charlotte Collins, Garvagh; 2nd Alan Thompson, Annaclone & Magherally; 3rd Emma Christie, Kilraughts
Class B: 14-16 Years Prepared: 1st Joanne Smyth, Coleraine; 2nd Rebecca Crowe, Coleraine; Joint 3rd Philip Donaldson, Donaghadee, and Glenda Hawkes, Clanabogan
Class C: 16-18 Years Prepared: 1st Joanne O'Malley, Lisbellaw; 2nd Kathryn Smyth, Coleraine; 3rd Laura McKinley, Trillick
Class D: 16-18 Years Impromptu: 1st Zita Blair, Moneymore; 2nd Rachel Johnston, Donaghadee; 3rd Peter Boyd, Straid
Class E: 18-21 Years Prepared: 1st Nelson Shanks, Annaclone & Magherally; 2nd Kathryn Taylor, Coleraine; 3rd Victoria Herron, Rathfriland
Class F: 18-21 Years Impromptu: 1st Kathryn Taylor, Coleraine; 2nd Megan Hamill, Donaghadee; 3rd Leanne Wilson, Lisnaskea
Class G: 21-25 Years Prepared: 1st Rebecca McConnell, Rathfriland; 2nd Barbara McFetridge, Garvagh; 3rd Elaine Sproule, Strabane
Class H: 21-25 Years Impromptu: 1st Barbara McFetridge, Garvagh; 2nd Elaine Sproule, Strabane; 3rd Frances George, Moneyrea