WAR OF WORDS
The art of debate,
Zaki Lakhani is an interviewer’s model subject. He’s thoughtful and articulate in his responses to each question, and makes his points with both confidence and humility.
Not bad for a kid in Grade 10. But the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School student has been honing his public speaking and debate skills since he was an elementary student.
The K-12 private school boasts a speech and debate program that’s more than a century old and dates back to the founding schools that would eventually merge to create Strathcona-Tweedsmuir.
Lakhani is one of many Strathcona students to enjoy speech and debate success at a regional, provincial and national level. He’ll take his skills to the international level, representing his school this April in South Africa at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships.
Lakhani says his experience with public speaking has benefited him far beyond the accolades he’s received for his success. Here are a few things he’s learned:
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
There are a variety of categories at a public speaking competition, including impromptu speaking, persuasive speaking, debate and interpretive reading. At the root of all of these various styles of speech is the ability to effectively communicate an idea to an audience.
“It’s all about conveying a message,” Lakhani says. “Everyone has something they want to convey.”
He says he’s a better communicator in general thanks to the speech and debate program.
“Through these school programs we’re allowing students to get comfortable with these levels of communication,” he says. “We’re building passionate, effective communication skills.”
CRITICAL THINKING
Public speaking has made him a better critical thinker; he’s able to form his own perspectives on an issue and then communicate those perspectives effectively.
“The ability to critically think, to express your ideas clearly, and to be able to express who you are, is a really important skill,” he says.
In addition to being able to express his own opinions, Lakhani says he’s also better able to perceive the opinions of others.
“I can engage in more meaningful dialogue with teachers and classmates…. I can consider multiple perspectives of issues and it’s made me a better learner and thinker.”
CREATIVITY
Lakhani’s favourite category of competition is interpretive reading.
“There’s so much depth to the pieces (you can choose from),” he explains. “From humorous to more sad, you can really play with the variety of pieces you can present. You get to build in different voices and put yourself in the shoes of different characters.”
BROADER CAREER OPTIONS
Like most students in Grade 10, Lakhani isn’t too sure yet what career he wants to pursue after graduation. But he says the speech and debate program has expanded the range of careers he’s considering.
Public speaking competitions require a lot of research; if you’re going to deliver a persuasive speech on Brexit, for example, you’ve got to brush up on your international relations knowledge.
“The more research I do (into a topic), the more it allows me to determine if it’s something that interests me,” he says. “Although I don’t know where I’m going to end up, my outlook has definitely been broadened.”
CONFIDENCE
Even veteran public speakers get nervous.
“Like most people, I was extremely apprehensive at first,” Lakhani admits. “I really don’t think there’s a secret or a key to the skill, per se.
“I feel that if people are able to be confident and passionate in the message that they’re trying to put across, if they’re aware of how these skills will benefit them later in life, the confidence will build from there.”
That’s part of why Lakhani believes so strongly in the benefits of the speech program at Strathcona.
“Fostering this type of communication and confidence in our youth early on, overall, we’re going to be able to shape better communicators and better thinkers,” he says.