WSC Public Speaking Competition
Each team may choose one of the following topics for their competition speech.
1. Lloyd George said of WSC in 1916 ‘Men of his ardent temperament and powerful
mentality need exceptionally good brakes’. Do you think this is a policy or view that
should be applied in school?
2. WSC to the 11th Duke of Marlborough ‘Never confuse leadership with popularity’.
Does this mean that to be an effective leader a person cannot be popular?
3. WSC ‘The farther backward you can look the farther forward you are likely to see.’
Does this prove that History should be the most important subject taught in our
schools?
4. WSC once said ‘It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be
right.’ What advice would you give to a student who was ambitious to lead?
5. WSC said’ Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities …. because it is
the quality that guarantees all others.’ Was he right?
6. WSC ‘The price of greatness is responsibility.’ Do you agree?
7. WSC ‘…it is… the duty of every citizen in times of trouble to do or say or even to
think nothing that can weaken or discourage the energies of the state.’ Would you
agree if the last word ‘state’ should be changed to school?
8. WSC 1906 ‘Harsh laws are at times better than no laws at all.’ Would you agree that
this view should be applied to all schools?
9. WSC said in 1949 ‘In the English language… there are great riches and treasures… We
must see that it is not damaged by modern slang, adaptations, or intrusions.’ Was he
right? Should such developments as ‘text speak’ be banned or is that just part of the
way our language evolves?
10. WSC said ‘Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of
oratory.’ Do you agree? WSC himself had many talents. Was oratory his most
important skill?
11. WSC said ‘If you want me to speak for an hour – give me a moment’s notice; if you
want me to speak for half an hour, give me a day’s notice; if you want me to speak
for five minutes – give me a week.’ What made WSC a good speaker?
12. WSC said ‘In stormy weather one must trust to the man at the helm.’ Was he right
and what made WSC the right man for the job in 1940?
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13. WSC said ‘In the English language and in its great writers there are great riches and
treasures, of which, of course, the Bible and Shakespeare stand alone on the highest
platform. English literature is one of our greatest sources of inspiration and
strength.’ Was WSC a literary genius – why was he given the Noble Prize for
literature?
14. WSC said ‘Personally I am always willing to learn although I do not always like being
taught.’ Was WSC hindered or advanced by his education?
15. “Prenez garde! Je vais parler francais!” – WSC when addressing the National
Assembly in Strasbourg 1949 – or the Liberation of Paris?
Given that English is spoken in many nations as a second language, how important is
it for the English Speaking Peoples to learn a language other than their own?
16. “We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast
or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium” Dec 1931
article ‘Fifty Years Hence’ in the Strand magazine.
Is genetically modified food the only way that we will be able to feed an ever
increasing population?
17. “Wireless telephones and television, following naturally upon their present path of
development, would enable their owner to connect up with any room similarly
installed, and hear and take part in the conversation as well as if he put his head in
through the window. The congregation of men in cities would become superfluous.”
Dec 1931 article ‘Fifty Years Hence’ Strand Magazine – Thoughts 199
Do the social networks and electronic means of communication with which we are
so familiar today render face to face meetings redundant and if so, is society the
poorer for it?
18. I have derived continued benefit from criticism at all periods of my life and I do not
remember any time when I was short of it. 27 November 1947.
At a time when everyone is a winner and competition is frowned upon, is it better to
praise or to give fair and honest criticism?
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