Saturday 6 February 2010 was a day unlike any others. It was the day of the Winning Speech Forum, organized by Division W. What transpired? Four great speeches, panel evaluations and an emotional acceptance speech.

Through the use of modern technology (DVD), we travelled through space and time to witness up-close and personal, 4 world-class, award-winning speeches:

Here and Now by Kyle Hall
The future is not what it used to be. The ability to craft the future is important. But when we try to live for the future, we sacrifice the opportunities of the moment, opportunities to appreciate the beauty of now, opportunities to connect with someone. Give yourself the gift of the present, the gift of being here and now.

Evaluation
A witty and humorous speech about Kyle's marriage proposal. It scored well for speech development and effectiveness. For delivery, Dominic felt this speech did not stir his emotions. He recommended that Kyle's shirt to be of a brighter colour instead of blending in with the dark backdrop.

It's Possible by Otis Williams Jr. (1993)
Do you know where is the richest place on Earth? It's the graveyard. Full of people who never acted on their dreams, of books never written, of songs never sung, of ideas never shared. We are designed for achievement, engineered for success, destined for greatness. The time for action is NOW. It's possible, to live your dreams. It ended with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt,

"I choose not to be a common man ..."

Evaluation
Otis has a masterful usage of language and animated facial expressions. LeAnn thought that his presentation was too rehearsed. The conclusion with the Theodore Roosevelt's quote lasted 51 seconds, which was too lengthy in Geoff's opinion.

Ouch! by Darren LaCroix (2001)
Darren started the speech by falling flat on the ground and stayed down for 30 seconds. A dramatic start to his speech. He ended with

"Think of failure as valuable negative information. It is the next step after the Ouch that is important. What's your next step? When will you take it? Go ahead and fall. Fall forward!"

Evaluation

Geoff thought the opening was attention-grabbing but Darren stayed down for too long. LeAnn noted that Darren used the Ouch word 13 times, fall forward 9 times. Darren has a colloquial style of speaking which was appropriate for his message. Dr. Arul who witnessed this speech first-hand, shared that Darren practised countless times to fall without affecting the microphone.