Speaker’s Edge contestants prepare for the competition
What happens when you bring together industry professionals, working alumni, retirees, and students to participate in a speech event unlike any other? Graduate and undergraduate students compete at the highest levels to wow the judges, gaining the confidence and experience needed to enter into the global conversation.
This year’s Speaker’s Edge Competition featured 122 graduate and undergraduate students from the MBA program, Master’s of Accounting program, and the Journalism, and Engineering schools. For the first week and a half, these students met with world-class communication coaches who helped them develop their own personal speaking style and work on their strengths and weaknesses. After this coaching period, the students were ready to enter into the two-day competition where they presented three different speeches for a series of judges. The three different speeches, marketplace pitch, informative communication, and ethical dilemmas, simulated business situations giving students experience in communicating on such a level.
Not only was Speaker’s Edge a great experience for the students, it was also a great experience for the judges. Over 60 alumni and industry experts traveled to Oxford to attend this two day event. Speaker’s Edge connected judges with the participants, allowing them to become invested in the students’ success. All judges and participants were invited to a reception on the first night where they could get to know each other and network. Speaker’s Edge gave the alumni a chance to reengage in the learning experience at Ole Miss.
Coach Randy Harrington preps students prior to the competition.
Dean Ken Cyree awards Karan York, winner of the Market Place Pitch.
To view the Speaker’s Edge Competition finals for 2015 visit: http://www.olemissbusiness.com/mba/campusmba/speakersedge.html
If you would like to learn more about the Speaker’s Edge Competition or want to be involved in next year’s events you can visit speakersedge.olemiss.edu.