Winsor Debaters Deliver World-Class Performance at International Speaking Competition
October 20–23. Winsor debate students Raina Sohur ’23, Emily Zhang ’25, and Caroline Bae ’24 each made it to the final round in the annual 2022 International Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition at Deerfield Academy on Thursday, October 20, through Sunday, October 23.
The three students qualified for Internationals through auditions and spent the summer preparing for competition with long-time Debate Coach Jean Berg.
“Winsor debaters have participated for a number of years in International and World debating and speaking competitions in Argentina, Botswana, Lithuania, the U.K., Canada, South Africa, Cyprus, et al.,” remarked Coach Berg. The girls compete against top students from all over the world in a variety of events, including Persuasive Speaking, Cross Examination and Parliamentary Debate, Interpretive Reading, After-Dinner Speaking, Radio Newscast, Impromptu Speaking, and Extemporaneous Speaking.
“Raina, Emily, and Caroline competed this year in a challenging world-class competition,” shared Coach Berg. “They proved they know how to speak, and win doing it. Raina, Emily, and Caroline join a long line of Winsor women who have made me proud of their performance in debate and public speaking.”
Each student competed in two rounds on each of their entries in the categories of persuasive speech, interpretive speech, impromptu speaking, and extemporaneous speaking.
Raina Sohur ’23 ranked in the top 20 percent in the categories of persuasive speech, impromptu speaking, and interpretive reading. For impromptu speaking, each speaker draws upon three topics, and has two minutes to choose which topic to speak on and prepare comments.
Emily Zhang ’25 ranked in fourth place in the finals for the extemporaneous speaking category, one of the toughest categories. Debaters receive a topic and cannot prepare in advance. They have 30 minutes to prepare a speech, which they must deliver without the aid of notes.
Caroline Bae ’24 was ranked the top U.S. Speaker, first place in the persuasive speaking category in the finals, the second highest speaker at the entire event, and qualified to compete in the World Finals, which will be held next March in Durban, South Africa.
A special shout out goes to Emily Zhang’s mother, Winsor parent Hongmei Wang, P ’25, who chaperoned the team at Deerfield. She provided incalculable support, as well as direction, cheerleading and snacking for the three competitors at this challenging and exciting event. Thank you, Mrs. Wang!
We are so proud of the terrific achievements from our Winsor debate students—congratulations Raina, Emily, and Caroline!
