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Mahatir Pasha joins the Grand Final

27 Nov 2020

We are so pleased to announce, in no particular order, our Grand Final 2020 VIP judges who will be joining the event live via Zoom on December 1st. We’ll be sharing who they are one by one so that you can get to know them and learn what they will be looking for in our Grand Finalists’ speeches.

Mahatir Pasha is a successful journalist in his role as Deputy News Editor for ITV News. He is also alumni of Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge! and former Grand Finalist.

We asked Mahatir, why is empowering young people important to you?

“The world as we know it is faced with various difficulties. Big issues like climate change, poverty, spread of misinformation regularly dominate the headlines but are very rarely met with solutions. These issues are just some of the pressing issues human beings face today and they have the potential to overcome us, but they don’t stand a chance if our young people are empowered and ready for a fight! The next generation have the responsibility of finding solutions. If young people are not empowered, we risk paving the way for apathy to flourish.”

What does communication mean to you?

“Communication is very wide ranging in definition. It is more than just talking to someone or giving a speech. If you are to become a good communicator, you must master listening, observing, emotional control, body language, cultural understanding and empathy to name a few. Everything from the way we think, behave and feel is contingent on our ability to communicate. Think about it this way, if you felt angry, but the word for angry or anything similar didn’t exist, can we truly say we feel angry?”

And finally, thinking about our young speakers, how can they provoke the change they want to see in the world?

“Be tenacious, be bold and follow your instincts. Sometimes addressing change is difficult and you may feel like you’re all alone. However, if you lead by example and stay true to your cause, people will follow and change will come.”

Join us at the Grand Final, we will be live streaming the event from 6pm on Tuesday 1st December. Register to attend using the link below.

grandfinal.online