Speech about flight

Tyrolean wins youth speech competition

(Bild: Land Tirol/Die Fotografen)

A pupil from the polytechnic school won first place in the national youth speech competition in Tyrol with a lot of courage and skill! Her speech is moving, her skills impressive.

Talk is silver, silence is golden? Not if you have something to say - and Lana Aleid clearly does! With a powerful, clear voice, she won first place in the 71st National Youth Speech Competition in Tyrol. And this despite the fact that German is not her mother tongue - what an achievement! The PTS Telfs pupil shone in the "Classical Speech - Polytechnic Course" category with her speech "Warteschleife Österreich". In it, the 15-year-old talks about her flight from Syria to Tyrol in 2016/2017, a drastic and brutal experience in her childhood.

Speech about fleeing as a child leads 15-year-old to victory
Lana was "completely nervous" before the competition, she says in the "Tiroler Krone" interview, but with the help of her friends she found the courage: "Many people don't have the opportunity to talk about their escape because they don't speak the language. That's why I just do it."

Freely spoken, no aids allowed
From May 27 to 29, she had to compete with young people between the ages of 14 and 19 from all federal states and South Tyrol. The jury judged the speeches on content, originality, presentation and rhetorical skills. The speaking time had to be strictly adhered to, otherwise points would be deducted. The classic speech had to last between six and eight minutes and be freely spoken; no other aids were permitted apart from a concept. She was praised above all for her pronunciation, her rhetoric, her way of expressing herself and her extraordinarily good command of the German language.

Plakolm: "People come together through talking"
"It's great how girls and boys here deal with topics, form an opinion and put this opinion into words. As the saying goes, 'Talking brings people together', and I think that's hugely important in times like these, when hatred and extremism are on the rise," said State Secretary for Youth Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP), congratulating the young winners - and Lana Aleid in particular.