On the sidelines of the final of the international eloquence competition at the Sorbonne, organized on Tuesday evening, around forty high school students took part in workshops to help them master speaking techniques and for some, to overcome their shyness.
In this amphitheater of the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, around forty high school students train in eloquence. “Is History an eternal beginning again?” Gabriel only has a few minutes to prepare his presentation on this topic. It was then necessary to launch, to show a lot of courage, to express itself in front of its public. “I was scared, I was very, very scared… Speaking in front of everyone is hard. I was traumatized by that in middle school, but hey, it wasn’t too bad,” welcomes the teenager.
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Like his comrades, he is well aware of the usefulness of knowing how to speak in public. “Already, for the baccalaureate, because there is the big oral, for work, smiled, relieved, Gabriel. It can also be useful when you want to talk with friends, when you want to clash with them, when you want to annoy your little sister and she has nothing to answer, it’s useful…”
Guillaume Boulay-Laurent, law student who supervises these workshops, confirms that eloquence is useful on a daily basis, “to feel legitimate, quite simply”, he throws.
“Eloquence requires an attitude, speaking out. It’s not reserved for professional circles, it’s something in everyday life.”
Guillaume Boulay Laurentfranceinfo
Guillaume Boulay-Laurent wishes to open this type of eloquence workshop “to the greatest number” with an idea:Make young people aware that they are already speakers. In a group of friends, we will tend to fade away more when we don’t trust what we say.
It is also this spirit that Naélyse Narayanan, English teacher, in Nogent-sur-Marne, brought her class here, “so that they can realize their real skills and abilities”she pleads. “By valuing the work, pushing them and showing them that we are confident in their skills, we see what they can give”specifies the teacher, who sees students “very shy at first, take it easy”.
In this 2023 edition of the Sorbonne eloquence competition, a hundred candidates have competed for two months. The final was organized on Tuesday 23 May.