In November 2018, Alexandre Meddane, a second-year engineering student at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Lille and a passionate public speaker, decided to create, with his classmates, a public speaking association under the auspices of the French Federation of Debate and Eloquence.
The club offers workshops on rhetoric and public speaking. " Our goal is to prepare engineering students to speak in public," explains Alexandre Meddane.
A first competition on the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Lille
On Thursday, May 23, the club organized its first competition on the theme: " Should voting be made compulsory?" In the form of a friendly team debate, first- and second-year engineering students were divided into two distinct groups: "For" or "Against" compulsory voting. The purpose of this public speaking contest was to develop the engineering students' oratory skills and to discuss concrete topics. A jury of experts, composed of campus administrators and humanities professors, was on hand to determine the speaker of the year and the most convincing team.
New perspectives
His role within the association enabled him to bring together teams of students and develop new skills in communication and project management (researching topics, communication, planning and organizing workshops, etc.). With a genuine desire to create a club that will stand the test of time, the first-year students will take over and organize a second edition of this debate, "with the aim of organizing inter-club and inter-school events and participating in the French Cup and, why not, other international competitions," adds Alexandre Meddane.
