An elementary student from Greater Sudbury has won top honours for public speaking at a provincial competition.
Austin Kurtis, 8, is no stranger to telling people about his giant, record-setting Nanaimo bar.
After advancing through the ranks locally, he took the provincial title in the Royal Canadian Legion public speaking competition earlier this month.
“I learned to win you need to be loud enough and clear enough but you also got to have a lot of personality,” Austin said.
Mom Chantelle Gorham said the skills will help him in the future.
“Anytime you are able to excel at public speaking, I think it’s a great asset to have as an adult,” said Gorham.
The competition saw hundreds of participants from across Ontario. Legion officials said Austin’s talent showed early on.
“He won it at the branch level easily, then it goes to zone then district, then area,” said Martha Cunningham-Closs, youth education chair for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 503.
“We could see that even though the competition kept getting stronger and stronger, Austin was still the frontrunner.”
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Austin has some advice for anyone looking at taking on the challenge next year.
“Each level was more nerve-wracking and more nerve-wracking, but the first one is the most, because you don’t know if you’re going to win or not,” he said.
Cunningham-Closs also had some advice: “They have to do the same speech at every level -- you can’t change over. So start writing in December (and in) January, start practising.”
Cunningham-Closs said they get a great response from elementary-age participants and hope to see more secondary students take on the challenge.
