?The aim of public speaking is to teach, to delight and to move?. Inspired by the words of the philosopher Marcus Cicero, the Toastmasters Club and the English Speaking Union (ESU), two local organisations, are actively promoting oral skills in English.

Members of the Toastmasters Club learn to overcome their fear of speaking in public by practising various forms of delivery and working with others in a supportive environment. They met lately to celebrate National Day. A session which took place in a relaxed atmosphere and which ended up with a Mauritian buffet.

Members Bernard Gouerec and Padmini Lareine performed an improptu comic sketch where they had to pretend they were a married couple having a fight over their wedding anniversary! Neela Gungapersad and Wilson Li Youn Hing each delivered a speech. Assigned evaluators criticised their performance and the grammarian, Margaret Li Yin, pointed out the mistakes each of them had made during the session.

Last week the ESU organised a Public Speaking Competition, where eight finalists had to speak on various topics from the main theme A borderless world. The Master of ceremonies, Sanjit Teelock, declared that he was ?impressed by the good level of language? and the judging panel, composed of David Snoxell, Marjorie Harrison and Prem Burton, probably had a difficult time deciding on the winner. In the end, Meenakshi Gukhool was judged the best for her speech on the global economy. This student from Queen Elizabeth College will participate in the international competition in the UK.

For more information about these organisations, visit the websites www.toastmasters.org and www.esu.org.