In conversation with Vijay Narayanan
- bey0ndM@gz!ne
- November 6, 2021
- People-Perspective
- 0 Comments
In a proud moment for Island School, their year eight student Vijay Narayanan, won second place in the HKFYG English Public Speaking Competition – one of the biggest public speaking contests in Hong Kong.
Narayanan, who surpassed over 1,000 participants from 170 schools, accepted his award with humility and grace. In an interview with Beyond The Boundaries Magazine, he said, “I definitely feel very happy, but I obviously feel like the experience was more valuable than the award. I’ve learnt a lot from this contest, and it isn’t only about public speaking. From overcoming my small failures to coping with deadlines, HKFYG has taught me a lot
about combating day to day problems.” When asked what were the most important things he learned from this contest, Narayanan elaborated that the three lessons he valued the most were improvement in his public speaking skills, gaining a sense of competition in Hong Kong, and learning new topics as a result of the competition.
“Joining this competition really improved my public speaking skills. I have gained more confidence and have become more enthusiastic in 
the way that I carry myself not only during speeches but also in my Youtube videos,” said Narayanan. He further spoke about how seeing others compete and put in the immense amount of effort pushed him to step up his game. “This inspired me to increase my level of practice and step up my speeches,” he said.
The HKFYG English Public Speaking Competition is an annual event. The competition is divided into four rounds:
- District Preliminary Round
- District Semi Finals
- District Finals
- Grand Finals
“Over 800 people joined in for the preliminary round in the Junior Division,” said Narayanan. To enter, participants had to submit a video of them giving a speech on any topic via a Google form.
Of these, 100 participants were chosen to advance to the District Semi Finals. In this round they were required to give a live speech via Zoom on the same topic they submitted during the preliminary round.
Fifty people were chosen from the 100 to proceed to the District Finals. This was an impromptu round conducted over Zoom. The participants had 20 minutes to prepare a 3-minute speech on an unseen topic.
Eventually, 5 participants, representing five districts were chosen for the Grand Finals. “This took place at the HKFYG headquarters and all participants in the Junior Division were required to give a speech on the topic of resilience. They were asked two questions, one related to their speech and one unrelated,” said Narayanan who had also recently participated in the WIDPSC Contest. “That was another great experience. I placed second in the persuasive speaking round and 8th overall. But that’s a story for another day,” Narayan Concluded.
We wish Vijay Narayanan the best in his future endeavours.
