The search to find Britain’s best young speaker reaches its grand finale tonight. Together, the three finalists have seen off thousands of other contenders. They’ve undertaken months of challenges and speeches with expert guidance from their mentors, Kate Silverton, Deborah Meaden, Alastair Campbell and Earl Spencer, and faced the scrutiny of the series’ judges, Jo Brand, John Amaechi and Jeremy Stockwell. In last night’s semi-final they addressed the nation to win their place in final. Now, they face a life-changing trip to Malawi with Unicef to research and prepare their speeches for the final showdown.

Read more & comment »

I didn’t see the first episode of The Speaker, and having seen the second, I’m very glad I didn’t – it would’ve been another hour of my life that I’d never get back…

From what I can gather, it’s something along the lines of the ‘Idol’ series of shows but this one focuses on the oratory abilities of 14 to 18 year olds which, according to Aunty Beeb’s blurb, “sees tough-talking teens, class jokers and shy, sensitive types go head to head as they learn to talk publicly and passionately about the things that matter to them.”

Why?? What for? What’s the point?

The premise of The Speaker is that 160 youngsters have been chosen from thousands of applicants and are “put through their paces in front of judges Jo, Jeremy and John” in four regional auditions. Only 20 will make it through to the next stage where they’ll face a series of “communication challenges” set by a team of mentors… Read more & comment »