Draft:Duncan Harrison

Duncan Harrison is a secondary school student from Horfield, Bristol, who came first place in the BBC's The Speaker competition, winning the title of Britain's best young speaker.

Duncan attends St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol , and is currently in year 10. Another speaker in the competition final, Irene Carter, attends the sixth form for the same school. Duncan is proactive in the community, often performing in drama activities and cultural celebrations. He is also a member of the lower school debating club, seen briefly in the seventh episode of the Speaker.

On his Speaker profile , Duncan describes himself as "a team player... so long as he's the leader!" During the early stages of the contest, Duncan was very active with his body language and particularly his hands, this being his main level of criticism from the judges. As the competition proceeded, Duncan became more reserved, until he managed to produce a more balanced speech on Children's right to Education in Malawi.

The Speaker

Main article: The Speaker

Duncan attended the regional auditions in Cardiff, and reached the top five with his speech on Global warming, titled 'Hot, fast and electrical life'. He then proceeded to the next round, where he had to speak about why he should win the competition at Wembley Arena. He succeeded there, as one of the few competitors who managed to speak straight off of the top of his head. This placed him in the top 10, and he later continued to the top 8, after impressing celebrity mentor Deborah Meaden at Speaker's corner, where he had to speak spontaneously about an alarm clock.

As the competition proceeded, Duncan's key flaw, his over-activity, become more evident, and this posed a serious problem when he had to speak as a tour guide at Althorp House for Mentor Earl Spencer. During the task, he confused vague facts, disappointing Lord Spencer, though he successfully managed to talk for two and a half minutes more than he had to. In the next episode, Duncan had to speak to camera, and gave one of his best performances in the competition to this point, as he asked a zookeeper some key questions about tarantulas and arachnophobia. This speech was far more reserved, and was acclaimed as such. Because of this, Duncan sailed in to the next round, and the top six.

Now, Duncan went to the town of Egham, where Alastair Campbell mentored him and the other contestants in the art of persuasion. Although when he performed to his fellow speakers, only one said that he had persuaded them, Duncan managed to persuade the town of Egham as a whole, on the matter of improving CCTV facilities, winning the vote, and instantly passing through in to the top five. As one of the bottom three, fellow competitor Jordan had to speak about Duncan to proceed to the semi-finals, saying that he "had the profound ability to implement his own personality in to what he speaks about".

In the semi-final round, the five remaining speakers had to address the nation, via key screens in major cities, on the topic of inspiration, and what inspired them. Duncan spoke about Christmas, and was bested by both Irene and Kaykay, meaning that he had to fight for his place in the final round. He felt that his topic had let him down. In the bottom three, for the first time in the contest, he had to perform another task. He had to talk about how the competition had inspired him, and performed a powerful speech, managing to secure his place in the final three of the contest.

The final round of the Speaker had the three finalists, Irene, Kaykay and Duncan, flown to Malawi, Africa, to research children's rights, then return home, and give a final speech about their experiences. When they arrived in Malawi, they were each given an aspect of children's rights to talk on. Duncan was given the Children's right to education, and when he returned, he spoke last out of the three competitors. His speech was incredibly emotive, yet he greatly reserved himself, showing a distinctive difference from when he first started the competition. The judges voted on which speech they thought was best, and Duncan won, getting the trophy, and the title of Britain's best young Speaker. The final moments of the programme were of Duncan and his family, his mother, father, and brother, Angus, as Duncan was awarded the trophy.

In his exit speech, Duncan said that the competition had shown him "not only about speaking, but about life."

Memorable Phrases

'Where do we slice the line of luxury? And who slices it?'

'It was fantastic. It was Fantastic!!!'

'Oh right that's absolutely fantastic'

'It's a fix!'

'I am shocked to the core'

'It's the funnest fun I've ever funned'

'Put the kettle on'

'I feel a bit of a connection going on'

'Quite enticing for the eight legged species'

'Same facial shape'

'Not the kind of he/she thing we've got going on in the middle there'

'Im going to let my voice do the talking'

'When I heard I was going to Africa, I was ecstatic. The holiday of a lifetime! Then I heard we were focusing on children’s rights. I was gutted.'

'Look Alistair you’re a nutter; put him through'

Links

• Website for BBC The Speaker