Our showcase is online again this semester. Thank you to all the students and faculty who worked together through the pandemic circumstances by following the guidelines for our in-person campus classes and online. Thank you to our incredible donors, Donald Sloan, J. LaVar Bateman, and Kevin Jones, who believe in our students and make this showcase possible with a cash scholarship for each participant. We invite you to listen to their incredible stories here:
- G. Kevin Jones is accomplished in law, has authored award-winning law review articles, is a popular adjunct professor of Constitutional History at Utah Valley University, and is active in community affairs. In 2016 he was given the YSpeak Showcase Community Award for his support of the Public Speaking students and faculty at Brigham Young University. In 2006 Kevin created a fund in his mother’s name to honor her, Marie Clegg Jones, the first woman debater at BYU, and to encourage excellence in public speaking at BYU. Here is Kevin speaking about his mother and the showcase.
- J. LaVar Bateman, a communication professor at BYU coached the debate team and taught speech classes. He believed in BYU students learning speech skills and wanted to see them succeed, so much so, that he created a term-life insurance policy to bless the speech program students. Here is LaVar’s son, Kim, speaking about his father’s accomplishments.
- Donald C. Sloan, was a courageous entrepreneur and philanthropist, who traveled the world speaking to some of the well know leaders of the time. He established some of the original funding for the speech showcase in 1969. Here is Mark Rogers speaking about his grandfather, Donald Sloan.
This semester’s showcase highlights the top finalist speakers chosen by our faculty judges from among all the public speaking sections. You can watch the entire playlist of our nine finalist speakers or choose individual speeches below:
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FINALISTS:
Belle Hyer is a junior, majoring in Pre-Business, from Alpine, UT: Be Kind Not Nice.
________________________________________________________
Mikayla Nance is a sophomore, majoring
in Music Performance, from
Gainesville, Florida: The Part We Play
________________________________________________________
Kaylee Hepburn is a junior, majoring in
Public Relations, from Laguna Niguel, California:
Break the Silence
________________________________________________________
MaKenna Hardy is a freshman, majoring in Biology,
from Denver Colorado: Strength in Sensitivity
________________________________________________________
Heidi Kay Austin is a senior, majoring in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation, from Provo, Utah: Celestial Power
________________________________________________________
Taylor Wright is a junior, majoring in Exercise and
Wellness, from Scottsdale, Arizona:
Drink Your Way to Better Health
________________________________________________________
Eliza Smith is a junior, majoring in Editing and Publishing, from Portland, Oregon: Make Friends and Influence People through Language
________________________________________________________
Abigail Bradshaw is a freshman, majoring in Pre-Dental Healthcare, from Kaysville, Utah: Why You Should Become a Morning Person
________________________________________________________
Ashley McPhie is a senior, majoring in Exercise and Wellness, from Blackfoot, Idaho: Utah Bottle Bill
________________________________________________________
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SEMIFINALISTS:
Scott Abbott is a sophomore, majoring in Economics from Draper Utah.
________________________________________________________
Jannon Cornwall is a sophomore, majoring in Family Life, from Palmdale, California.
________________________________________________________
Christian Johansen is a sophomore, majoring in Mechanical Engineering, from Parker, Colorado.
________________________________________________________
Kayla Sujeta is a sophomore, majoring in Exercise Science, from Orem, Utah.
________________________________________________________
Sueng Min Lee is a junior, majoring in Biology, from Seoul, South Korea.
________________________________________________________
Ally Arnold is a junior, majoring in Journalism, from Simi Valley, California.
BYUspeech 