The International Public Speaking Competition

The ESU Loire Valley has been taking part in the ESU International Public Speaking Competition (IPSC) every year since 2012. This competition is the highlight of the ESU international calendar. It is the largest public speaking competition in the world and currently involves over half a million students in more than 50 countries.

It takes place in London in May each year and represents one of the clearest manifestations of the goals of the ESU: to encourage cultural exchange and help young people to become confident communicators.

For 2022, the competition will take place from Monday 9 May to Friday 13 May.  Sadly, it will not be possible for the team at our head office, Dartmouth House, to welcome young people from countries around the world and the competition will, once again, take place via Zoom.  However, the organisers are working hard to ensure that the candidates experience activities that will help develop their speaking skills and enable cultural exchange and friendships to develop, albeit remotely

A real winner

This photograph was taken 24 April 2022, in London, four years after the three young ladies first met when Laure Chabenat, from Fontevraud, represented France, Mariana Levashov-Tumanishvili represented Georgia, and Nicole Camila Kohan represented Argentina, at the International Public Speaking Competition 2018. 

To quote Laure, on the left of the photo:

“Even 4 years later it’s like nothing has changed. You can see it in the picture, Argentina, Georgia and France are still getting along as well as ever.

I wish to thank you for the incredible opportunity that was the IPSC. All the training before being selected and then the week in London. It has all been a marvellous journey that truly changed me, and I will forever be grateful.”

To select a candidate to represent France at the IPSC, a National Public Speaking Competition (NPSC) is held in Angers every year in March, organized jointly by the ESU Loire Valley, the Bibliothèque Anglophone in Angers, and the Maison de l’Europe Angers et Maine et Loire. 

The ESU National Public Speaking Competition in English took place in the Salons de la Présidence at the Préfecture, Place Michel Debré, Angers, during the afternoon of 26 March 2022, when 12 candidates presented their speeches on the theme “We expect too much from our heroes”.  

For 2022, just 7 lycées were involved:

  • Saint Benoît Site Université, Joachim du Bellay and Sacré Coeur La Salle from Angers
  • Lycée Dom Sortais from Beaupréau-en-Mauges
  • Jules Guesde from Montpellier
  • Saint Louis from Saumur
  • Lycée Jacques Prévert from Taverny

The winner was Constance Madrid-Caillaud, representing the Lycée Dom Sortais, who delivered a speech on the assigned theme, entitled “Not Spiderman or Hulk, but our Parents”.

As part of her prize, Constance, pictured in the centre here, joins candidates from around the world to represent France at ESU International Public Speaking Competition 9 – 13 May 2022.  The theme for the IPSC 2022 heats is “Our real choices are made without us realising it”. 

We would welcome more competitors, more teachers, more lycées and universities to join us in this project. If you would like extra details, please contact president@esu-loire-valley.fr

We would be delighted to welcome you on board this most rewarding project.