On 08 April 2014, the Nuclear Institute North West Branch and YGN held the Young Persons Speaking Competition regional final, with the winner delivering an extremely polished performance.
The annual competition, organised and run by the YGN, gives the young members of the nuclear industry a chance to practice their public speaking skills and compete for the 1st prize of £300 in cash and a place in the UK National Final.
Claire Marshall (nucleargraduates) presented the winning speech with her talk on a complex topic entitled, “Is the EU carbon trading market failing and how can policy makers influence a private energy industry?”
All finalists made the event an excellent night with their different speeches. Third place was awarded to Jess Revill (University of Liverpool) who presented the results of a self directed research project in “Public Opinion of Nuclear Power”. The final speaker of the night and second place winner was Lisa Booth (Amec) who delivered an energetic discussion on “2050 Pathways: Following the Yellow Brick Road?”
To enter the event, budding speakers submitted a 200 word synopsis proposing a talk topic around the subject matter of “any nuclear, energy or environmental topic, whether technical, social or personal”.
The finalist selection committee had the challenge of choosing just six from the high number of entries to progress to the North West regional final, which was held at The Centre at Birchwood Park, near Warrington.
The three other finalists were Anna Bradley (Sellafield), who was the first speaker up and delivered her interesting talk entitled “Are Workers in the Sewer Network Receiving Significant Radiation Doses from Permitted Radioactive Discharges?”. Just before the break Stewart Robinson (Amec) presented his talk entitled “What’s the fuss about fusion? Inertial confinement vs. Magnetic Confinement”. Then following refreshments, Tim Jones (DBD Limited) delivered an enthusiastic performance in his talk entitled “Presentation on Learning from Experience (LfE)”.
This year’s judges were Chris Williams (Chair of the Nuclear Institute North West Branch), Alys Gardner (YGN Vice Chair) and Chris Holland (YGN Committee Member).
Following the final speaker the judges broke off to confer and pick their top three. In the meantime, the £100 synopsis draw was conducted, with the prize going to Charlotte Davis. After thanking the speakers and audience, Chris Williams announced the winners.
Claire Marshall will now go forward to represent the North West in the YGN speaking competition national final in August. This year’s final is generating a lot of interest and will make for an exciting event. The exact event date is to be announced soon!
Other regional finals will be taking place across the UK in the following months. Visit the YGN Events page for more information.
The YGN and the NI would like to thank Tom Eastup for his organisation and hosting of the event, all the synopsis entrants, the finalists, the judges and of course the audience.