Peking University, Apr. 20, 2013: Seven-minute free-form speeches, eight speakers with diverse professional backgrounds, three veteran judges from the Department of English — the first contest of the "So You Think You Can Talk" public speech series was held at PKU on April 13.
Organized by the English Cultural Communication Association (ECCA) of PKU, the contest was a TEDx event patterned upon the TED Talk model and open to all PKU students.
The poster of the first "So You Think You Can Talk" contest
"Our club intends to provide a free-form platform for schoolmates to share their thoughts by speech," said Wangya Tianzhuo, president of ECCA, "There is no shortage of independent and deep-minded thinkers among us PKUers. Aimed at offering everyone the chance to be a public speaker and providing a platform for different ideas to meet and spark, this activity, we believe, can benefit both the speakers and the audience."
During the contest, participants put forward their original thoughts on various topics, including the "Chinese dream", the influence of social networks, differences between Chinese and US educational patterns, and hot issues on Weiming BBS.
Yan Yuzhen awarded the Best Speaker
Yan Yuzhen, a senior from the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, was voted Best Speaker of the first "So You Think You Can Talk" contest by judges and the audience. As the photographer of a popular photo series highlighting PKU campus scenes called "Yanyuan: Time-lapse Photography", Yan jokingly called himself a "shutterbug" without professional training.
He shared his knowledge and experience of photography with the audience. "Time-lapse photography is a whole new perspective that allows us to leave out all the hustle and bustle and keep the most awe-inspiring feature of our universe," said Yan in his speech.
The meaning of this contest is acknowledged by professors and students alike. English Professor Huang Bikang, instructor of ECCA and one of the contest's judges, believes the ability to address an audience through public speech is becoming an increasingly important skill in social communication. "College students need an overall development to meet the need of today's society. This contest, as a great start, will call to students' attention the need to further improve their speechcraft,” he added.
Lu Guangyu, a postgraduate speaker from Guanghua School of Management shared his feelings after the contest. "This is a valuable opportunity for me to practice speaking English and share my thoughts in front of others," he said. "I hope this program will continue to develop in the future and attract more students to join us!"
In Wangya Tianzhuo’s words, this contest offers "absolute freedom" for students to express themselves, "without any forbidden zones. On this platform, you can find insightful speakers and open-minded audience."
There will be two more "So You Think You Can Talk" contests this semester. Further notices about the speech contest will be posted on BBS ECCA, and ECCA Renren Zone.
Background Info:
TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a global set of conferences owned by The Sapling Foundation, a private non-profit organization in the US. Founded in 1984 under the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading", TED events are held throughout the US, Europe and Asia, and are available online through live streaming and archived footage. Speakers address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture in a maximum time allocation of 18 minutes.
In 2009, TED started granting licenses to third parties to organize independent TED-like events internationally, called TEDx. ECCA has obtained a license recently. In addition to the "So You Think You Can Talk" contest, the association is also planning to hold a series of celebrity speeches.
Written by: Li Wenrui
Edited by: Xu Xinyi, Alexandria Liu
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
