Simon Gibson launched World Speech Day in 2015.  As founder, he says of the origin of the organization, “I am a writer and speech writer and the idea for World Speech Day came from my work in setting up a database for speeches. Reading and listening to speeches every day, it just became clear to me that speeches change the world. So how can we use that as a force for good? How can we get more people involved, share more ideas, create more connections? When I started to talk to others in other nations, they got the idea, and it was relatively simple to build momentum.”  We are delighted to join with the world and celebrate Simon and World Speech Day 2021.  

Nick:  Thank you, Simon, for your work!  Tell us about World Speech Day and the story behind it. 

Simon:  World Speech Day is a day to celebrate speeches and speech making through live public speaking events around the world. Launched in 2015, we now have some 100 countries participating annually. I’ve achieved this growth without sponsorships, but organically, entirely by word of mouth.

We believe speeches are still the best way to share ideas. Moreover, as WSD has grown and developed, it’s become clear that speeches can play a valuable role in bringing people together, bringing communities closer. By being able to contribute to a public speaking event people can feel more valued.  

World Speech Day is extremely diverse. Anyone can hold an event, and anyone can speak.  We believe that good ideas are not the sole province of the educated or influential: everyone can have ideas worth sharing. We believe that progress is never linear, that the discoveries and ideas that will shape tomorrow will not come from the usual intellectual or social elite, but from unexpected voices.

We are hugely proud to reach out to unexpected voices everywhere, to give people perhaps their first ever chance to make a speech and feel more confident, personally and socially, as a result.

World Speech Day has grown largely through local, live events in schools, universities, village halls, public meeting spaces etc. This year, for obvious reasons, we are focusing more online and we have put together a remarkable global virtual speech festival, with speakers taking part from around 100 countries. We have individuals contributing as well as schools, universities, speaking clubs, NGOs – in fact a huge array of participants. Our theme is “Humanity at a Crossroads” The broadcast will start in New Zealand and run across every time zone through 15th March. Of particular note this year, we have speakers from schools from across China taking part, as well as in Mexico and across South America, we have our first ever participants from Venezuela and we are also featuring a debate between Estonia and Pakistan young debaters on our theme “Humanity at a Crossroads”

Nick:  Do you have any particular achievements you are most proud of?

Simon:  I think that being able to grow relatively quickly, just through word of mouth, is something of note. I am also always keen to point out that there are no hard and fast rules about WSD, no brand guidelines, no enforced use of logo. It has grown because people want to get involved. It has developed and spread because it is an idea, not an organisation.

Nick:  What is your biggest hope for World Speech Day moving forward?

Simon:  I hope that WSD simply continues to grow and develop and becomes a real fixture in the global events calendar alongside, for example, International Women’s Day or World Youth Day. I hope that more activities develop outside of the day itself. For example, we already organise exchange programmes between schools in different nation (e.g. Italy and Argentina) in which students exchange ideas and speeches and of course cultural understanding, and I would like to see these activities grow. Not just through schools, but through organisations of every type, from speaking clubs to NGOs and even companies.

Nick:  Count us as enthusiastic supporters!  Do you have any particular programs/content you would like to promote?  Please provide links. 

Simon:  I would like to promote our global broadcast on 15th March which will be live across the world. Tune in to the wisdom of people across the world on a single day. Our broadcast features speakers from every time zone. Over 1000 contributors going live. Our theme is: “Humanity at a Crossroads.” 

Nick:  Thank you Simon and good luck with all the events around the world and World Speech Day!  

Here are the links:  Live for 24 hours on 15th March at World Speech Day

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldspeechday

WSD YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Worldspeechdaylive

On Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Worldspeechday

And on the web at http://worldspeechday.live

As well as on the WSD main website www.worldspeechday.com