The Long Awaited 2021 JBH Speech Competition

“I love the JBH Speech Competition because it epitomises the free-thinking spirit of a Leighton Park student.” enthuses audience member, Head of Teaching and Learning, Jenny Powlesland, moments before proceedings begin for the long awaited 2021 event.

The fondly known ‘JBH’; a debating competition like no other, established in 1914, challenges students to not only prepare speeches on contentious subjects but handle heckling from the floor. Success is awarded to the contestant who can best deliver their argument and navigate the ‘fierce bear pit’, as described by judge and former Head of Drama, Geraint Thomas.

This year, a particularly strong pool of candidates in the preliminary round, left Jonathan Porter-Hughes, English Teacher and competition frontman, no choice but to put forward six, rather than the traditional five speakers. “I was faced with the most difficult choice I’ve had since my time in the competition!” he declared.

Taking to the stage, students are given three minutes, uninterrupted, to introduce their topic and set out the terms of their argument, a bell then rings, starting a period in which the audience is able to heckle and ask questions, before a second chime when speakers must conclude their speech.

Angelika proposed ‘Men are the weaker sex’, Luey spoke about ‘Why we should judge historical figures by today’s standards’, Grace contended ‘Designer babies should be free on the NHS’, Will argued ‘Why Britain should have national service’ and Tisa debated ‘Commit to only teaching Black History; the time to decolonise our syllabus is now’.

The decision to postpone the event until some form of audience could gather in Main Hall, proved to be the right one; as Sixth Formers and staff participated live, many people joined the broadcast from the comfort of their own homes. Following the speeches, Jonathan remarked “It’s good to see that 18 months without the JBH has made the audience all the hungrier.”

Such was the calibre of the competitors, it was a tough decision to select the winner for the judges, Old Leightonians, Naomi Bonthrone, former English Teacher, Geraint Thomas, former Head of Drama and Theatre Studies, and Adam Stokes, former student. However, after much of their own debating, the panel awarded Grace as conqueror of the night.

Naomi applauded “I really enjoyed Grace’s speech, she immediately got us onside with the Larkin quote. I was like ‘ok I’m confident, she’s got control, she’s got me onside, I completely understand what she’s arguing’, that calm and control continued all the way through.” With her controversial subject matter, Grace even faced heckling from Head, Matthew, who questioned “shouldn’t we celebrate diversity?!”

“I thought at first that the JBH would be quite nerve-wracking, but once I started speaking I began to enjoy it. I found the heckling in particular to be my favourites part as it felt like a proper debate. I chose my topic because it is quite a new idea, that hasn’t yet been covered too much as a debate topic. There are strong ethical and scientific arguments, and I knew it would be controversial, which made it a great title for the JBH where disagreement and heckling is encouraged.” commented Grace.

She continued “There was certainly an onslaught of opinions, but it gave me a chance to strengthen my argument and try to disprove other opinions or ideas. It was an opportunity to show arguing skills and really engage with the audience – I loved it! I learnt a lot about speech writing and how to engage with an audience. I would love to do something similar again, although next year I will definitely be heckling instead!”

Harry in Lower Sixth, an avid heckler of the evening, commented “The JBH Competition is one of my favourite events held at LP. Despite this year’s reduced audience size, the speakers matched or even exceeded the performance of previous years! This year’s competition included speeches on little talked about, but fascinating subjects, for example Grace’s speech on Designer Children. This speech proved particularly thought provoking and was certainly a worthy winner! The heckling aspect of the competition really allows the audience to engage and challenge the speaker and empowers them to share their impressive expertise on their subject. I cannot wait for next year’s competition!”

Geraint concluded “I’m absolutely delighted that the tradition of the JBH Speech Competition is being kept alive… Nowhere else does this go on. It’s a combination of public speaking, of spontaneity, of keeping cool in crisis time and then getting back to your argument. It is a huge ask! This is a bear pit… it’s not like speaking in Collect or House Music. I want to congratulate all six speakers who handled that magnificently… I can see that the values and the things that we hold dear are still here.”