At the National Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships at Parklands College, Michael Langston, Damien Butt and Jake Savage were in the Interpretive Reading Final.

Damien was the Finalist Runner-up. Michael (ranked 9th overall) and Damien (ranked 13th overall) have been selected to represent South Africa at the World Championships at Clifton in April 2023. Jake Savage (ranked 17th overall) was selected as a reserve for the SA Team.

Clifton will be hosting the 35th World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) from 26 March to 2 April 2023.

WIDPSC, not held live since 2019, is an annual international English language debating and public speaking tournament for individual high school-level students representing different countries.

The Championship is represented by a diverse mix of high schools from countries as far-reaching as Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, the United States, England, South Africa, Lithuania, Pakistan, Cyprus, Argentina, Botswana, Israel, India, South Korea, Zimbabwe, and Germany.

The Championship is an innovative oratory event which requires students to interact and collaborate with like-minded peers from diverse and different schools, cultural backgrounds, and countries.

Each participant must compete in four different events:

• Debate
• Impromptu Speaking
• Persuasive or After Dinner Speaking
• Interpretive Reading

The Championship is aligned with the ideals of excellence, identity, and the art of expression, ie the ability to communicate and gain recognition and respect for ones ideas and opinions. It targets tomorrow’s leaders – students in a global market who must learn to interact and collaborate with peers.