Speeches / Speech Competition = Hidden Wonders of The Bahamas [2]

Hey Guys. I'm Leslie from the Bahamas. I'm a tenth grade student, and I've been in public speaking in the Bahamas since 4th grade. I'm a Key Club member and this year's district speech competition's topic is, hidden Wonders of the Bahamas. While I don't expect you guys to know much about the country I'd like feedback to make my essay more interesting to hear. It has been hard to select a tone as i am informed that the audience will consist of both young and old individuals and so will the judging panel. So it's really hard to plan a speech for such a generalized hearing group. The following is a quickly typed up speech shell i made up. I wanted to do 2 copies (one on a physical treasure and then one on a hidden or dwindling ideal such as Bahamian Nationalism and pride or something's of that effect) it's just a shell so feel free to add your input. Keep in mind the speech must not exceed 6 minutes 20 seconds. ( need notes on vocab , delivery and interest level too )

To the Honorable chair-person, members of the judging panel, and my audience, I say good evening.
The Islands of the Bahamas are a cluster of island-gems reclining in brilliant relief upon the face of the mighty Atlantic Ocean. Each of our islands gives rise to new alluring sights, veiled wonders and new encounters to embark on. The Bahamas can truly boast of many priceless yet little-heard-of pieces of our, landscape such as our blue holes and the mysteries they hold within ; or our wild life such as Abaco's Wild horses which are under the serious threat of extinction. These beautiful wonders could only be preserved when we the Guardians of these priceless treasures would take the time to discover them.

Through Webster's Ninth Edition of their New Collegiate dictionary we learn that blue holes are vertical, underwater sink-holes that form an expansive system of sea-caves. But to the average Bahamian we would just recognize a blue hole as some deep hole, on the family islands that probably isn't safe to swim in. Unfortunately this perspective could have come about because , according to the Department of Statistics only about 11 percent of Bahamians have ever seen a blue-hole. Bahamian blue holes are especially precious because they are the deepest in the world; in-fact in April of 2010 William Trubridge broke a world-free-diving record by going to a depth of 356 feet beneath the surface of Deans Blue Hole in Long Island. But yet even more hidden than the actual blue hole itself, is the new-world contained in the depths of the topaz-colored waters. New species of fish that are only found in Bahamian blue holes have been discovered and new species are being discovered every-time scientists delve deeper into the gullet of these beautiful blue blessings. Bahamian Blue Holes are a true wonder to discover!

Apart from those at petting zoos, horses are a rare sight in the Bahamas. But I can bet you didn't know , that the Bahamas has its own breed of wild horses. These wild horses are inhabitants of The Abacos and are called 'barb-horses'. These horses once roamed free through the wide-open pine-forests of Abaco. These horses represented the majestic beauty of the Island of Abaco. Unfortunately the population of the 'barb-horses' has drastically plummeted. This is because of the constant deforestation of the Abaco pine-forests. Because of this the current population of wild horses, is exactly 5. Yes 5 horses left in existence. Yes 5 Bahamian treasure-pieces yet to see. These horses have therefore been placed on the critically endangered list of the World Animal Extinction Organization. It is a shame that we have let a once plentiful Bahamian Treasure dwindle down to next to nothing.

It is important that we as Bahamians recognize the beauty we have all around us; some of it going unrecognized right under our feet. It is those unrecognized facets of our culture, surroundings and our wildlife that, un-seen to most of the country's inhabitants, enrich The Nation. To those who dare to be adventurous and dare to explore there will always be more wonders to find; and I remain confident that there are many more hidden treasures under our sand, or hidden in beneath our surf for us all to uncover so that they can be shared with the next generation of Bahamians before they dwindle away from us and become a fading memory.

Writing Feedback / A man / woman will never know what they can do until they first try . [4]

G'day guys. I'm leslie from Nassau the Bahamas . I'm a student at a local school here and our teacher gave us two essay topics for a competition here . The first one is about the above topic and the prize is 7 thousand dollars and an I-pad 2 Here is what i have written. It was graded and i got an 85.I'm trying to do a persuasive essay but i intend on doing exposition pieces in it.

Not knowing ones own strength is a terrible self underestimation and is a common misconception among many people in the world at large today . One can reach the stars if they only try hard . Just ask any astronaut and they will tell you.It needs to only start with a dream ; a challenge set before you . It may seem impossible at first but if one never makes an attempt one will never know they can do it. One mustn't conclude they are incapable until they try . If one never tried the world would be a stagnant pond of crushed dreams and lost hope. In attempting the assurance of success is as present as one's belief that they will fail if they don't . Their axiom of failure is not grounded in reality . Though it may sound cliché self confidence and determination even when no one else has confidence in you will make the difference between weather your try and succeed or try and fail . But whether one fails miserably or wins it big a person must have a crack at it before they conclude they will fail

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" was once asked by Famous painter Vincent Van-Gogh . If every one adopted the view that they would not good at something before they attempted the world would be a useless dormant spot in the universe. One where stale air teems with unfulfilled dreams and goals that were never reached. Imagine yourself sitting because you never attempted to ? it would be a world where light-bulbs were never invented and gravity was never theorized because persons adopted the notion they just could with out trying. What a silly world that would be . Don't you think ?

There are very few successful people that don't fail before they succeed. Why is it that most people don't try because they think failing is the only component to their result of trying. If I am correct there is a statement " If at first you don't succeed try and try again !" . If one has an aspiration it needn't be hindered by the looming risk of failure but be driven by the safeguard of success which follows. One whom says that they will most definitely never succeed should examine the resumes of persons like Microsoft tycoon Bill gates who failed on his first try at the company . Or even the great thinker Albert Einstein . Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally unstable . Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and altering Physics as persons then knew it.

In the end whether one believes they can do it or not when they try what separates the losers from the winners is self confidence and aspirations. One could be as doubtful as they want about singing in church but could go up to a podium and attempt it to their best and come out singing like a professional. Others may not but if you want it bad enough , put effort into it and perfect one's craft one is no less than a hairs length away from success.

So the next time one has a new dream , is asked to try something new or different , never count yourself as one of the failures in the bunch until you tried and tried hard. One'll never know their true potential unless they try to search for it. God has bestowed countless talents . If people would take the time to try and find them they may finally stumble into success.