On Tuesday 13th May the NI Cumbria Branch and YGN hosted the local stage of the 2014 YGN Speaking competition, supported this year by Studsvik.
The competition attracted a very high standard of speakers with a wide range of topics including some very original presentation styles.
The winner of this year’s competition was Beth Ripper from the Nuclear Decommissiong Authoirty (NDA) who gave a very innovative and interactive presentation entitled, “What can a jar of sweets, a wooden spoon and an apple tell you about radioactive waste?” Beth’s presentation showed a great deal of originality; opening up with a question to the audience of how many sweets were in a jar, prior to a secret reveal and moving on to seek audience volunteers for a short demonstration on some of the challenges facing the characterisation of various radioactive wastes.
The runner up and winner of the best synopsis prize was Jonathan Spencer who gave an impassioned speech on “Our energy legacy” and asked the questions of how the decisions made by our generation will affect the lives of his young daughter's generation.
Third place went to Anthony Burgess who gave an overview of a recent study he had completed into the technical challenges associated with the potential use of nuclear power as an energy source for commercial aviation.
Matt Aukett, NI Judge and Chair of the Judging Panel, commented: “This year’s group of speakers all gave excellent talks with some very innovative and original styles. As we’ve come to see over recent years, the standard of our speakers increases with every year and this group were, in our opinion, the best we’ve ever had. We’d like to thank all our participants and wish our winner Beth all the best for the national finals.”
NI Cumbria and YGN would like to thank other candidates Chetlai Patel, Reuben Holmes and David Ward for their participation in the event and to judges Phil Wilson from Cockermouth Speakers Club and David Rossiter from LLWR Ltd.
2013 Cumbria Branch YSC Winner Chris Gallagher presents 2014 Winner Beth Ripper with her certificate
See the results from the North West Branch regionals here