Photo by Chris Ruple
The School of Business Administration at the University of Mississippi annually sponsors a Speaker’s Edge course during the Winter Intersession, taught by JoAnn Edwards.
The two-week course challenges students to express ideas and information in a clear and effective manner. It is a prestigious competition for many students attaining their master’s in accountancy and an MBA.
Margaux Jurgensen, a senior in the Integrated Marketing Communications program, represented the Meek School of Journalism and New Media and earned high marks through two rounds of speaking competitions. She was the only undergraduate student to participate and placed second in the “Ethical Dilemmas” category, along with being the fourth quarter finalist for the “Informative Speeches” category. She had 30 minutes to prepare a speech for the “Ethical Dilemmas” portion.
“I want to go into speaking one day as a career,” Jurgensen noted, “This was the best possible thing I could do to improve my skills and get that real-world type of feel with the competition and the coaches and judges. No matter who you are, what your background is, and what kind of career you want to go into, I would definitely suggest doing Speaker’s Edge.”
Professor Chris Canty Sparks, an assistant professor in the Integrated Marketing Communications program, served as one of the judges. Sparks noted how impressed she was by Jurgensen.
“Margaux demonstrated great poise and persuasiveness during the competition,” Sparks said. “It is a positive reflection on the caliber of students we have in the IMC program. I am pleased to congratulate Margaux on her achievement.”
Speaker’s Edge allows participants to work with world-class communication coaches to compete against one another in a two-day competition. Every competitor must participate in three different categories: “Marketplace Pitch,” “Informative Communication” and “Ethical Dilemmas.”
A Speaker’s Edge Champion is named for students performing the best in each of the three events.
