General News
28 May, 2025
Voice of Youth
STAWELL’s Grace Monaghan has impressed judges and peers alike, advancing to the finals of the Rostrum Voice of Youth Public Speaking Competition following a standout performance in Ballarat recently.
Grace, who is studying Year 9 and Marian College in Ararat, competed against students from Ballarat, Bendigo, and Stawell with her speech exploring the impact of social media addiction on young people.
“I took part in the Legacy Public Speaking last year and I really enjoyed that, and I saw on our school announcements that there was a Rostrum speaking competition and it's just something I really enjoy and it pushes me outside my comfort zone,” Grace said.
Participants were able to choose from a list of topics, with Grace selecting “Breaking the Cycle.”
“My prepared speech was on addiction to social media and that cycle and how to break it, what’s caused kids to be caught up and addicted to social media. How it's affecting kids' mental health and the attention spans in school, and how you can break that cycle, getting out and exercising and stuff like that. I think it's a big problem for teenagers now there's a lot more use of technology,” she said.
In addition to her prepared speech, Grace was also required to deliver a short-notice speech on the topic “How I Learn Best.”
Her thoughtful and engaging delivery once again impressed the judges, earning her the top spot in the semi-final.
“It’s scary at first but that environment is really good because everyone just wants to see you do well and try your best,” she said.
Stephanie Mansell, Culture and Languages Hub Leader at Marian College, praised Grace’s performance and commitment.
“I was really proud of Grace. We’d met in the lead-up for a few lunchtimes and I think on the day she was a bit inspired as well to push herself a bit further. She spoke exceptionally well, eloquently, and she presented herself in an engaging manner.
“You could really sense her personal interest in this topic and passion for that,” Ms Mansell said.
Grace went so far as to include statistics and studies as part of her speech which didn’t go unnoticed by Ms Mansell or the judges.
“She took a very mature and reflective approach which enabled her to provide her audience with interesting insights.”
With the success at the semi-finals, Grace will now represent Marian College at the Rostrum Voice of Youth State Final in Melbourne in June.