Speakers Trust
999. Sue Warner
Sue Warner, from London, is on a mission to ensure state school students have the confidence and skills that come with public speaking.
She is the founder of ‘Speakers Trust’, the charity that has trained just under 370,000 people including over 191,000 secondary school students. After years of avoiding situations where she would have to speak in public, Sue attended a life changing workshop which equipped her with simple techniques to overcome her fear. Determined to ensure others never felt they couldn’t share their opinions, she launched ‘Speakers Trust’ and designed the ‘Speak Up Speak Out’ training programme. The charity runs the world’s biggest youth public speaking competition, the ‘Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Challenge’, for year 10 pupils across London and Essex with a focus on building self-confidence, communication skills and active citizenship of participants.
In a personal letter to Sue, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“Your work is giving young people the skills to express themselves with confidence. The impact of the training you provide with Speakers Trust is transforming lives.”
Sue said:
“I am enormously honoured and grateful to have been chosen for this extremely prestigious award in recognition of the work of ‘Speakers Trust’.
“The results are thanks to many many people. Yes I had the idea, and have stuck with it over the years to make it a reality, but many others have been involved in order to achieve this success.
“This award and recognition will inspire us all to keep doing what we do to give young people a voice throughout the UK.”