Mickael Naouri at the IPSC 2024 grand final
An Impassioned Address: 2024 ESU International Public Speaking Competition winner Mickael Naouri speaks at the House of Lords
I want to start off by sharing a little story. It’s a story about a quiet French town (I am French after all). It started small. One day, one person — just one — transformed into a rhinoceros. Now, the people were confused – just like you might be right now. But they moved on. After all, it was just one man. But then it happened again. And again. And again. One by one, the whole town became rhinos. Not because they were forced to – but because they chose to follow the crowd. Not just their bodies — but their minds. They stopped thinking. They stopped listening. They stopped speaking. Everyone started to look the same, sound the same, think the same. The rhinos called it strength. They called it unity. But what it really was was surrender. It was the death of dialogue. The burning desire to follow the crowd had killed their confidence to speak to the crowd.
This story is from a compatriot of mine, author Eugene Ionesco, in his play Rhinoceros. It’s not a story about animals. It’s a story about crowds. About the seduction of sameness. About how, in a world of roaring conformity, the most radical act is to stay yourself. To speak to the crowd. Because dialogue is what keeps us human.
A year ago today, I had the honour of representing France at the ESU’s International Public Speaking Competition, here in London. After months of regional and national rounds – here I was, on the highest stage in a contest in which over one million students from 50 countries had taken part. I’ll be honest, I was scared. But the moment I stepped foot in Dartmouth House, in the Churchill Room, I immediately knew that I was home. It wasn’t a zero-sum game. We all won together. In fact on the morning of the grand final, for over an hour before the final announcement, I was singing and dancing with all of my friends. Because we didn’t care about ‘winning’. We’d already won. The experience, the friendships — that was the true victory.
Now, on that stage at the Royal Institution, I had the honour of winning the IPSC. And I was immediately submerged in a surreal dream. It wasn’t reality — it couldn’t be. But it was. But at that time all I was thinking about was one thing: if only I had one more day that I could spend with this incredible group of people, at this age, in this environment.
When I returned home, I was homesick. I didn’t miss Paris — I missed the IPSC week in London. But thankfully, that was just the start of my journey. Just last week, I organised a great conference with my ESU friend from Mexico. A month from now, my great friends from Chile and Poland are visiting me in Paris for a week, because these friendships last a lifetime.
As a kid, I used to watch butterflies with my grandfather. And he’d always tell me: ‘They show us that change starts with a simple action. Something as small as a butterfly’s wings can do great things.’ My butterfly effect was a simple internet search in August 2023. I searched the words ‘public speaking competition’ and found out about the IPSC. And now here I am today. A different person. A better person. The ESU has changed my life and for that, I’m eternally grateful.
When I look around at my generation, I see young people who are yearning for connection, not conflict. For identity, not conformism. We’re yearning for dialogue, not division. That’s the beauty of the ESU. The ESU builds connections. It’s about ‘And,’ not ‘Or.’ Public speaking is simple. It’s about connecting with people. But it’s also about building your relationship with the crowd. Not being intimidated by the crowd, not chasing its approval — but learning to face the crowd, and to speak with your true voice. And as I look into this wonderful crowd today, there’s one choice you and I all have to make. In this world of conformity, in this world rampant with rhinos — will you follow the crowd, or will you speak out for who you are? When the whole world runs on four legs — will you stand up on two?
