Lawyer talks her way into final

A Shropshire lawyer has talked her way into the finals of a national public speaking competition after taking top spot in the regional stages.

Sophie Burgoyne, of Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors in Ludlow, aced the Shropshire and West Midlands rounds of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs event for the second consecutive year and now hopes to improve on her fourth-placed finish in last year’s National Finals.

The competition, called ‘Situations Vacant’, is one of a number of public speaking competitions held by YFC every year and involves preparing a covering letter and application form for a job vacancy in advance of the competition day.

On the day, competitors take part in an interview with two expert judges, who are often former winners, and are awarded points on both their application and interview technique.

“I am delighted to win the regional rounds again this year and am really looking forward to the national final in July at Staffordshire Showground,” said Sophie. “It has been another amazing experience and hopefully I can improve on last year. 

“I was competing against some tough opposition at the regionals but I was well prepared and now feel that I am growing in confidence all the time. I am aware of the standard of competition going into the national final and will in no way be underestimating the size of the challenge.

“Prior to last year’s competition I had not done much public speaking, but the number of engagements has grown significantly since then and these opportunities are extremely helpful to me in my role as a solicitor.   

“During the last year, I have done a lot of public speaking, including another large event for the Herefordshire NFU. I hope this experience will help me at the competition in July and I am really excited to get another opportunity to compete at the national level.

“Public speaking can be a daunting prospect for so many people but the more you do, the more comfortable you get with it and the more confident and self-assured you become. I’m now looking forward to getting involved in even more events in the future.”