The future of every nation rests upon building up its successors. Now more than ever, elevating our youth with the proper resources has become crucial to advancing in the globalised world. Communication and enterprise are essential to this passage. MIC-Make It Count 2022 was created to promote these very fundamentals.
This year, Bangladesh University of Professionals hosted a Nation-Wide Public Speaking Competition for undergraduate-level students. ‘MIC-Make It Count 2022’ is amongst the most anticipated public speaking competitions of the year. The competition was organised from August 20 to 28 by BUP Career Club as the third edition of their signature event. MIC was first launched by the club in 2017 to provide students with a platform for inspiring meaningful change. The club has been using educational workshops and creative challenges to bring out the best from participating speakers of the event. The evolution of Make It Count from an intra-university event to an online inter-university competition in step with the Covid-19 restrictions of 2020 allowed for the hybrid setting of the show this year.
Utilising both online and offline platforms, MIC-Make It Count 2022 commenced with over 350 participants from 25 universities. The competition brought on compelling oratory challenges across a total of four rounds. The first two rounds were held online through video submissions of the participants' speeches on assigned topics. Following the Round 1 judgement, the club arranged live online workshops on public speaking known as ‘Talk-Masters’ from their Facebook event page. The first session on August 22 featured Solaiman Shukhon, one of the most renowned public speakers of Bangladesh, to teach viewers how to captivate their audience and elevate their eloquence. The second seminar addressed the importance of skill development with featured speaker Md Ataul Goni Osmani, country director of CodersTrust Bangladesh. These interactive, insightful sessions equipped the participants for the proceeding challenges of MIC. Round 2 presented students with a story-telling task to put their innovative and narrative skills to the test, ending the online rounds with the emergence of the semi-finalists.
The last two rounds of ‘MIC-Make It Count 2022’ were held at Bijoy Auditorium of Bangladesh University of Professionals. After the intense round of extempore speeches on August 26, the fifteen finalists of Round 3 were invited to the grand finale on August 27. The judge panel of the finale included Ghulam Sumdany Don- chief inspirational officer of Don Sumdany Facilitation & Consultancy, Mohammad Abdul Akher- head of sales in Citi Bangladesh, Md Saeeduzzaman- head of marketing of Sailor, and Saqlain Morshed- the brand and communications lead at Shikho. The passionate deliveries of the participants on the topics ‘A cause you care about’ and ‘A change you wish to see in the world’ were thoroughly assessed by the judges. The professionals of the panel provided intensive evaluations for the young speakers at the end of the ceremony, ushering at the end of the contest.
MIC-Make It Count 2022 ended with the five leading orators crowned as the winners on August 28 at Bangladesh University of Professionals. The fifth and fourth place holders, Sadat Al Abrar and Sadekin Haider Mozumder were given Honourable Mentions with an award of Tk 10,000 each. Marjuka Ahmed Chowdhury received a reward of Tk 20,000 as the second runner-up. Shahriar Zahid Mormo, the first runner-up, won the cash prize of Tk 30,000. Ayman Sabit of Bangladesh University of Professionals was crowned the Champion of MIC-Make It Count 2022 and rewarded Tk 50,000.
When asked to describe his feeling on his victory, Ayman Sabit stated, "I believe platforms like MIC make participants aware of their full potential and give them a platform to speak for themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed the battle with more than 350 orators across Bangladesh and the final two rounds really got me on my toes. It always feels great to fight with the best of the best. If you win it is glory and even if you don't, it's great learning."
A platform for our rising youth to speak out on their purpose, passions and stances on prevalent issues is vital for shaping a better tomorrow. ‘MIC-Make It Count 2022’ served this very cause as a channel for powerful, young voices leading us to that future.
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