Soapbox: The culture of Public Speaking at Our School

Soapbox is an annual public speaking competition at our school, which is now in its third consecutive year! The name of the competition comes from a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipments of soap, or other dry goods, from a manufacturer to a retail store.

Soapbox gives our students an informal opportunity to compete to provide the most compelling and persuasive argument, as they stand on stage and passionately orate their carefully considered and highly articulate arguments. The prize is the much sought after, prestigious, and highly desirable soapbox cup!

All this year’s speeches were on the theme of “the world is waking up.” From this starting point, our students wrote, practised, and delivered speeches on a wide range of topics as diverse as light pollution and income inequality. These were delivered with passion and confidence, with some of the students imaginatively enhancing their oration with physical theatre and props.

Soapbox was judged by Sarah Tielman (our Director), Sam Mulliner (Head of Performing Arts) and Steve Hodgkin (Geography and Liberal Arts teacher and Head of Counselling).

The event was spread over two days with the IG1, Y11 and Y12 students climbing up on their soapbox on Monday and the Y10s taking to the stage on Wednesday.

     Why is Public Speaking Important at our School?

Throughout life, our students will inevitably find themselves in situations where they will have to speak in front of a few or even several hundred people. Some of these situations may be planned and some may be unplanned. Public speaking skills are required on most university courses, where students are often required to present material to their peers.

After graduation, they may often be expected to speak to groups at work. Should they find themselves in a leadership position, they will need to speak in front of people on a regular basis to motivate and inspire them. They will need to give presentations during meetings.

ublic speaking skills are required to succeed in sales related jobs, to persuade clients to buy products. They are also indispensable when running for a political position, when public speaking skills can influence the outcome of elections. Putting it simply, public speaking is a skill that will open many doors for our students. It gives them a wider range of opportunities in life and improves their career prospects. Having good public speaking skills will also make them more confident.

One of the great benefits of Soapbox and the culture of public speaking that we have at our school is that it prepares our students for public speaking in the wider world. The hope is that they will never need to worry about public speaking if they are well prepared with practised public speaking skills.

     The Soapbox Winners!

Leanne explained that all the students had done an amazing job working so far outside of their comfort zones. Public speaking is a challenge at any age, let alone for teenagers and, for that reason, all of them were winners for having the courage to take part.

The judges, all deeply impressed and inspired by the skills on display across all the participating year groups in Soapbox, found it difficult to determine a winner. However, after much deliberation, it was decided that the winners for each year group were as follows:

• IG1: Lawrence Z
• Y12: Henry Q
• Y11: Felix T
• Y10: Calvin Q

However, the overall winner of Soapbox 2022 was Felix T from Year 11:

Soapbox was a thoroughly entertaining event from start to finish. However, none of this would have been possible without the dedication and work of Leanne Ireland (English Teacher) who coached and supported the Soapbox students through every step of the process and, was solely responsible for organizing the event. 

This is what Leanne had to say about this year's Soapbox:

“The key to building self-esteem in young people is giving them opportunities to take risks and empowering them to succeed. It has been such an honor to work with such dedicated and passionate young people. This year’s competition was particularly impressive as there were such a large number of Year Tens who had no experience in public speaking and yet were able to take the social and emotional risk of speaking in a public space. One of our Dulwich School Values is that of confidence: these young people exemplified that. I hope they have found the experience rewarding.”