Submitted by Steve Oldfield, M.A., assistant professor, department of creative media

Public speaking students will talk about everything from battling Crohn’s Disease to the joy of playing rugby in this semester’s Tom Talks.  Professor Steve Oldfield created the mini-TED Talks program as a final assignment for Com 105-Public Speaking seven years ago. Since then, it has grown to a popular campus event attracting more than 150 people with awards and a panel of judges.

Every student in Oldfield’s three sections of the course, is required to present a Tom Talk, typically ranging from two-to-four minutes in length. A total of 64 students presented talks throughout the month of April on a wide variety of topics from overcoming depression to the failure of a German tank produced by Porsche in WWII. 

Nearly a third of the talks had something to do with sports, as a majority of the students in Oldfield’s classes are athletes. This semester’s 23 finalist topics include a look at the life lessons you can learn playing golf  by Saints golfer Natalie Lovell and why rugby player Dorian Gerve switched from football to rugby in high school.  

French tennis player Rafael Delente chose to talk about his prized bulldog in a light-hearted speech, while some other international students chose more intense topics. Tino Basera, a rugby player from Zimbabwe, speaks about his regrets disrespecting a teacher in high school. Cassia Adamowsky, a girl’s tennis player from Germany, will speak about a friend’s issues with self-harm.

Resilience is a strong theme again this semester, with student Kayla Frazier talking about coping with Krohn’s Disease and Shelby Carroll revealing how she was able to bounce back from bullying in high school. Another student reveals what it was like being on the other side, as a mean girl. Alyssa Friehofer tells how her faith inspired her to change. Football player Jayden Wright reveals how he overcame depression and multiple suicide attempts because of his own religious conversion. 

Angelo Centeno will be closing out the evening with an inspiring talk about “wounded healers.” He reveals that he spent time in a mental hospital after being sexually abused as a young child and has now devoted his life to helping others. He joined a religious order as a brother and has already performed missionary work in Kenya. Student Cameron Shaw delivers another inspiring story of a miracle here in Greater Cincinnati. The Latin School graduate will discuss her brother’s recovery from being clinically dead for more than a half-hour and coming back to life – without any damage to his health.

Audience members will vote on two winners and a panel of judges will select a third student to be honored. Two other students will receive the Gordon Award, named after former public speaking student Gordon Huston, a senior who overcame massive health issues and speech challenges to become a finalist in 2019. His family sponsors the award each semester.

The event will once again be hosted by South African student Rea Seele, a rugby player and RA who works with students throughout the semester on their speeches.

Tom Talks begins at 6:30 p.m., May 1, 2025, in the Ziegler Auditorium located in the new Academic Center. The event is free and features an intermission with homemade cookies and other snacks. Friends, family, and community members are welcome.