The Guinness World Records has officially crowned the School of Eloquence, Lagos, Nigeria as the new holder of the world’s longest speech marathon.
The Nigerian team set a new world record of an incredible 480 hours, beating the old record, Senior Adjudicators of Guinness World Records, Lena Khulmann, writes Daily Independent.
The world record for the longest speech marathon by a team before the latest was 127 hours, 31 minutes and 43 seconds. The previous record was held in New Zealand and was set in April 2018.
Guinness World Records announced at the live telecast held at the Ikoyi headquarters of School of Eloquence today that the accomplishment was achieved by Nigeria after a deliberate and an astonishing 20 days that showed perseverance, collaboration, consistency and excellent synchronisation.
She stated the School of Eloquence was officially proven to have delivered a staggering 480 hours of nonstop speech presentations after a thorough verification procedure that included video footage, livestream archives, operational logs, witness accounts and continuity checks.
The effort was one of the most ambitious and hard record attempts ever examined, Lena Khulmann said.
‘Over the past weeks I have carefully reviewed one of the most ambitious and demanding record attempts I have seen an attempt that required not only endurance, but extraordinary organisation, consistency, teamwork and commitment over an incredible 20 days,’ the adjudicator said in announcing the result.
The adjudicator applauded the speakers, the behind-the-scenes personnel and the entire team whose collaboration made the marathon a success.
“What stood out to me was the consistency and seriousness with which the whole thing was done, and the collective spirit that carried it through the review process from start to finish,” the official said.
The adjudicator presented the award to the team digitally, calling the institution “officially amazing” and congratulating the team on the determination and discipline shown during the assignment.
“It is my pleasure on behalf of Guinness World Records to present this certificate to the School of Eloquence. You are now official Guinness World Records holders,” the adjudicator amidst a loud cheers from Mr Ubong Essien, Dean, School, speakers and staff.
In an interview, Ubong Essien, a Certified Speaking Professional and Dean School of Eloquence stated the acknowledgement of the school for 480-Hour Public Speaking Marathon was a double joy to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the institution.
He said the feat has brought about a sense of pride and fulfilment to not just himself but the entire institution and put Nigeria in the positive light in the global space.
He stressed the school’s resolve to leave a lasting legacy and demonstrate Nigeria’s capacity to communicate well and speak in public.
On the importance of public speaking, Essien said: “public speaking is very important for the progress of the society, ideas must be expressed well to make a difference and no public officer should have problem speaking publicly”.
He knew there would be problems with sporadic power and internet, so he made plans and backup plans to keep the business running.
“We’ve trained all of our speakers to speak for at least 20 minutes,” he stated. This mic wasn’t supposed to be turned off for longer than 30 seconds.
And then you needed to have your audience. There has to be an audience around the clock 24-7, always. So that led into the logistics of planning.
“As you all know power is a challenge. And we had to make sure that we have the means in terms of the electricity.
We had a diesel generator. Solar inverters took care of that. There was, in fact, a day things came apart, on day 12 or day 13. Around 2 a.m. the generator stopped running or there was no power. “We were on inverter power,” he said.
About the Author
