Melinda Walker named winner of spring Auburn Speaks public speaking competition

Melinda Walker was named the winner of the Auburn Speaks public speaking competition on April 6.

Inspired by her curiosity for how people communicate in their day-to-day lives, her winning speech was titled, “To Cuss or Not to Cuss.”

The final round included six finalists who competed for the Philip Lutzenkirchen Excellence in Public Speaking Award. The finals were held at the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center and were judged by notable Auburn community members Jacob Harris, Kelli Hitchman-Craig and Shey Knight. Zoe Stewart placed second with her speech titled, “The Stonewall Rebellion,” and third place went to Natalie Ford with her speech, “Open Water Dive Scuba Certification.”

“It was the most amazing experience, and I recommend that every student takes a communication class," said Walker.

Auburn Speaks is held in memory of Auburn University graduate and former football player Philip Lutzenkirchen, who passed away in 2014. The COMM 1000 program in the School of Communication and Journalism hosts the competition each semester to honor the former Auburn communications student. This spring was the 11th semester of the semi-annual competition.

“One of the courses I taught Philip in was titled, ‘Speaking Before Audiences.’ When I started brainstorming ways to honor Philip in our school through some type of scholarship or award bearing his name, I eventually settled on a public speaking competition,” said Director of Public Speaking Jennifer Johnson. “I reached out to the Lutzenkirchen family with the idea, and once they were on board, we worked together to create the Philip Lutzenkirchen Excellence in Public Speaking Award.”

For more information about Walker and Auburn Speaks, follow the Auburn Communications and Journalism social media @au_cmjn or contact Jennifer Johnson.