A talent to persuade

Felicia Binkis, of West Hempstead, a sophomore at the all-girls Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead and a newly minted member of the school’s speech and debate team, has spent years honing her public speaking, a declarative art form that she said stands out from any other performance art.

“I think it’s different from performing on a stage or in a play, because you get to be yourself and do whatever you want to speak about rather than something someone’s telling you to speak about,” said Binkis, who recently qualified for a statewide debate championship in Albany in March, hosted by the National Catholic Forensic League, an organization that facilitates public speaking activities for parochial-school students. The league’s Grand National Tournament will take place in May.

Binkis, 15, nabbed first place at debate tournaments at Chaminade High School and Molloy College last November. Competing in the declamation category against nearly 30 students from Chaminade, Syosset High School, St. John’s Preparatory School and Forest Hills High School, Binkis had to memorize a well-known speech and develop a quick summary of it, both delivered in a 10-minute presentation. She chose to recite Severn Suzuki’s 1992 Earth Summit address to the United Nations, mainly because of its focus on environmental sustainability, a global issue that she said she strongly believes in.

Binkis, who started competing in oratorical contests when she was a sixth-grader at St. Thomas the Apostle School, said she was drawn to public speaking because it provides an energizing and empowering outlet for her to express ideas before a large group of people.

“I think it’s a trait that you’re going to need for the rest of your life,” she added. “You have to use a lot of different characteristics — you have to be professional, you have to be entertaining, you have to be personable — but with my speech, it still has to be strong too. I like to bring all those elements together.”