PESA
The ACT Plain English Speaking Award
Every year, ACT students from years 9-12 have an opportunity to compete in this prestigious public speaking award, with the winner representing the territory at the national final.
As convenors of the Plain English Speaking Award (PESA) in the ACT, the Consensus Education Foundation has helped revitalise the competition since 2022. Through running public speaking workshops, followed by very successful local finals, we support schools in engaging with senior high school public speaking. The competition is now an ongoing opportunity for ACT students to develop their speaking skills and interact with other enthusiastic students.
2024 Registrations Open
You can now register your students to compete in ACT PESA 2024, as well as register your interest for upcoming PESA training workshops.
The 2023 ACT Plain English Speaking Award Contestants
Nine speakers from seven schools took part in the 2023 final for PESA: Kenneth Le, Princess Kisakye, Sebastian Singh, Emily Ezaki Swain, Debika Dasgupta, Charles Marpaung, Elizabeth Barker, Helena Fon, Anusha Bajracharya.
Elizabeth Barker from Hawker College was the well-deserved winner. The speeches of Charles Marpaung (Canberra College) and Kenneth Le (Daramalan College) were highly commended.
PESA Guidlines
The ACT Plain English Speaking Award speaking requirements include a prepared and an impromptu section for all contestants.
The prepared section of the competition of the competition involves the delivery of an 8-minute speech on the topic of the contestants’ choosing, and the impromptu section involves a 3-minute speech after 3 minutes of preparation with the stimulus to be provided by the adjudicators. The speeches are judged with a 50:50 weighting. The competition includes a small entry fee which may vary year to year.
What to know more? We’ve made some useful resources to inform interested schools and students about PESA. Download our Introduction to PESA and our PESA Learning Guide below.