The competition is held at Lions clubs across Australia and is designed to foster leadership and increase confidence in school students.
Cobram Lions membership chairman Janet Austin said it was a practice run for a job and a trial run for the future.
“As they go through the program, you can see the growth in public speaking and their confidence just talking to people,” she said.
To be involved in the competition, students had to submit an application form, similar to a resume, showcasing their hobbies, interests and what they had achieved.
Once they filled in the application form, they had an interview and were asked questions about themselves.
“There are three judges to sit in front of an interview panel, and they're asked about themselves and three general knowledge questions are asked ... 70 per cent of their scoring comes from that interview,” Ms Austin said.
“We ask two impromptu questions, same questions to each contestant, and they have a two-minute response time, and they could be something local, national, international, something they should know about.
“With the public speaking, they get to speak on a topic of their choice for five minutes, the floor is theirs.
“All three girls interviewed very well, gave brilliant speeches and answered each of the impromptu questions.”
Matilda Waser from Cobram Anglican Grammar School won the public speaking section and was the overall winner of the competition.
Ms Austin said it was close across the board, with Olivia Burge from Cobram Secondary College and Tirirai Victoria Kakono from St Mary of the Angels secondary college delivering excellent speeches as well.
“They were impressive, really impressive,” Ms Austin said.
Matilda will go on to represent the Cobram Lions and Cobram Anglican Grammar School at the next level of the competition in March 2026.
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