"Triumphant Failure" takes first place in The Citadel's Corps-Wide Speaking Contest

The Annual Henry Dale Smith Corps-Wide Speaking Competition delights and inspires its audience each year, as cadets take the stage to deliver their messages and earn prizes. But it is the communications skills the participants gain, the ability to evoke emotion and influence an audience, that may be the biggest prizes.

"This competition asks cadets to speak to an audience about their passions, values, and the stories that brought them to The Citadel," said Sean Fourney, Ph.D., director of the Patricia McCarver Public Speaking Lab which orchestrates the contest. "While each speech is unique, it is the meaning that comes from it that the audience identifies with and craves. The most successful speakers learn how to beguile their audiences."

The contest, in its 11th year, consists of three rounds with the speakers eventually narrowed down to a group of finalists for the last event. It is open to all cadets. The winner receives the Henry Dale Smith Public Speaking Award, the title of Best Public Speaker in the Corps, and a $500 prize.

1st Place, $500

"Basically I was asking everyone else why they were failing me when I should have been asking why am I failing myself."

Cadet Adam Walker, winner of the 2021 Henry Dale Smith Corps-wide Speaking Contest

Watch Walker's speech at this link: https://mediasite.citadel.edu/Mediasite/Play/500a53d464074635984496ccc5ebfe681d?catalog=0dfd21aa99e54ab6891a37c9b809828221