TALENTED speaker Shivani Ananth has been competing in public speaking events and competitions since she was 14.

Now, with St Helen’s School team mates Kate Fallowfield and Maya Raichoora, she has established herself as part of an engaging and lively team in public competitions.

In March, the team were runners-up in the London regional final of the English Speaking Union, and the experience was capped when Shivani was named best speaker as well as outstanding personality in an audience vote.

On Saturday 4 October, The Churchill War Rooms were the backdrop for the English Speaking Union’s inaugural Winston Churchill Cup for Public Speaking on Saturday.

Representing London, Shivani spoke in response to Churchill’s 1953 quote, on the occasion of his award of the Nobel Prize for Literature: "The power of Man has grown in every sphere, except over himself”.

She delivered an excellent speech and dealt with audience questions with wit and aplomb. Each speaker received an award presented by ESU chairman Sir Peter Jennings.

Dr Mary Short, headmistress of St Helen’s School, Northwood, said: ‘'Shivani spoke with great warmth and clarity, bringing the audience with her as she discussed the quotation from Churchill's speech.”