The Gabblers Club Final 2023 was an evening of conversation, laughter, intrigue, and toasting… so much toasting. After twenty ‘gabblers’ spent seven months being tutored in the art of public speaking, 24 April marked the final of the after-diner speaking competition. Lower Sixth student Liz represented BGS, with fellow pupils Hannah, Yago, Sophie and Nat, plus Mr McKenzie, Mr Forster, and Liz’s family in attendance as Liz’s guests to provide support. The ‘gabblers’ gave three speeches prior to the final, with their final speech at The Bristol Hotel, in front of an audience of 237, accounting for half their score.
Besides speeches, the ‘gabblers’ had other duties: these included grade, the royal toast, the coffee time story, the thoughts of the evening, and the highlights of the evening. Before the final, each ‘gabbler’ was randomly assigned a topic for their final speech and then allocated four minutes to deliver their speech. Liz was given the title ‘Small Talk’ (a fitting topic for such an event), and her speech certainly provided a new lens through which we might view small talk – discussing the significance of all speech, no matter how seemingly small it might be. Through a deeply funny personal anecdote and her insightful societal commentary, Liz held the audience in the palm of her hand, captivating us at every moment by lacing such a thought-provoking talk with perfectly delivered humour. The audience were on their feet cheering and applauding before she could even finish. And, to our delight, Liz won the title of ‘Gabbler of the Year’. It was a pleasure to attend and I could not conceive of a more worthy winner.
Nat T