World Individual Debating & Public Speaking Championships
The next World Individual Championships will be held from April 14-20, 2024, at Canberra Girls Grammar School in Canberra, Australia. For more information please contact WIDPSC24@cggs.act.edu.au
The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) was founded in 1988 by Reading Blue Coat School from the UK, St. John's-Ravenscourt School from Canada, and the Debating Association of New England Schools. It is designed to bring together the top high school public speakers and debaters from around the world. They compete on an individual basis rather than as a team from their school.
The WIDPSC requires students to compete in 4 events: Debating, Impromptu Speaking, Interpretive Reading, and a Prepared speech (either Persuasive Speaking or After-Dinner Speaking). The reason for this combination of events is because they are the four major skills in Public Speaking so the World Champion should be able to excel as a debater, deliver an excellent prepared speech (Persuasive Speaking or After-Dinner Speaking), speak without preparation (Impromptu Speaking), and bring a text to life (Interpretive Reading). There are winners in each category and an overall champion based on the results in all four categories.