Viking Cars Inc. and Scandinavian Motors Corp. , distributors of Volvo cars in the Philippines, on November 27 launched the Voice of Leadership, which the companies described as “a quest for young, promising Filipino public speakers who embody the essence of true leadership.”
The Voice of Leadership program, a part of Volvo’s celebration of its 14th year in the Philippines, is an interschool public-speaking competition that’s open to graduating high-school students.
“After 14 successful years, we believe it is only right to usher Volvo Phils.’ 15th year with a corporate advocacy that honors one of our brand’s highest ideals; stewardship, a genuine care and responsibility for people,” said VCI President and CEO Albert Arcilla.
“Through the Voice of Leadership, we reaffirm our commitment to this ideal by cultivating leadership among the youth, especially among students who are poised to become the future leaders of our country,” he said.
Presented at the program’s launch at the Volvo Makati showroom were the 11 schools that are participating in the competition, which are Assumption College, Ateneo De Manila University, Colegio San Agustin, De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, La Salle Greenhills, Miriam College, Saint Jude Catholic School, Saint Paul University Quezon City, Saint Scholastica’s College, Xavier School and the University of the Philippines Integrated School.
Also introduced at the event was Voice of Leadership spokesman Chris Tiu, whom Volvo called “a model student and gifted athlete.” Tiu shared his insights on the essence of leadership for today’s generation at the program’s launch.
Volvo said only the best student can become the 2008 Voice of Leadership winner. It revealed that each participating school could field two to three candidates based on the criteria for student nomination. Eligible students must exhibit leadership in extracurricular activities in school organizations, socio-civic groups or religious communities.
They must show leadership in academics by being in the top 25 percent of their class. They must also be leaders by example, having no violations on their school record.
Finally, they must possess the voice of leadership by being able to prepare and deliver an eight-minute speech relevant to specified leadership topics within the scope of the competition.
To prepare them for the competition, Volvo said the chosen candidates would be sent to the Voice of Leadership Camp, an intensive two-day workshop hosted by Volvo. There, they will be taught speech-writing and elocution skills from speech trainers and leadership from invited speakers. After the camp, participating schools must select their official representative through an intraschool competition where the candidates will write and deliver their speeches on a given leadership topic. The winner will receive a medal and monetary award during their respective school’s commencement exercises, Volvo said.
Each winner would deliver a speech at the national competition at the Voice of Leadership Gala Night on February 11, 2009.
A contestant’s speech will be judged according to content (35 percent); presentation, which includes delivery, manner and body language (35 percent); mastery of language, which includes fairly accurate grammar, articulation and vocabulary (15 percent) and system or careful and methodical organization of ideas (15 percent).
The national winners would get trophies and cash prizes of P50,000 for the grand champion, P40,000 for the first runner-up and P30,000 for the second runner-up. Their respective schools will also receive the same amount in support of programs that will help propagate leadership among the faculty and the staff.
