Bailey Oratorical 2021
2021 is the first year I actually watched the whole Bailey Oratorical Speech. Although we all had to watch it online due to covid, I feel like being in person would have been a better experience. I have taken ‘Art of Public Speaking’ before so I understand how hard it is to write a speech, prepare it and present it. I can tell each member that was in the Bailey Oratorical Competition practiced hard preparing their speech and watching the speech, everyone did a good job. I am not surprised because the topic for this year’s Bailey Oratorical Speech was something I was looking forward to because the year 2020 was an eventful year.
The speech that stood out to me the most will be Molly Harris. Although Molly didn’t win any awards, I still think that she did a good job with her speech. It is the most relatable to me and from her body language and tone of her voice, I can tell that her residual message is important to her. Her grandmother passed away and it took a toll on her life. She wanted to send the message of how grieving is okay and that everything doesn’t have to be what it is. That part kinda touched me on a personal level because, in past months, I have been saying the term “it is what it is” when that wasn’t always the case. In Molly’s speech, she talked about how you must experience the bad before you experience the good and to keep fighting. I find it really relatable as 2020 did knock everyone down. Molly’s speech talked about the damage 2020 did to us and what to do about it. Her 3 points were to surrender to the grief, pick yours up and find the positive. I find her speech really motivational. Although I have never met Molly before, I can see her passion behind her words.
Everyone’s speech was somewhat relatable but the speech that I related to most was why I really enjoy Molly’s speech. Something that my dad says a lot is to ‘take one thing at a time’ when I am struggling with something, stress, and overwhelm. Her message touched me because it reminded me of my dad. Molly calling her grandmother even though she couldn’t speak. I can tell that her grandmother means a lot to her and that she learned a lot from her grandmother. When Molly found out her grandmother passed away, you can tell from her tone of voice that it really hurt her. In a way, Molly’s speech kinda reminded me of a commemorative speech as she gave her message of her grandmother and focused on her grandmother. I have never met Molly's grandmother but I can tell the type of person she is and I know I would have like her. Although it sounds like a commemorative speech, Molly did a good job putting in the Bailey Oratorical topic in it. Personally, I really enjoy Molly’s speech and thought she should have been at least one of the top winners.
