Michael Imeson took first place at the World Debate Championships.

Michael Imeson stands at the podium, and his voice takes on a commanding lilt.

He leans towards the crowd and in a stentorian crescendo announces, “I do not have note cards with me. I do not have a sophisticated accent. All I have is a conviction that lies in my heart, and a topic that has been arbitrarily issued to me.”

The room erupts with laughter and Imeson, without pause, continues on with his speech, which would win him the 2007 World University Debating Championships.

“In public speaking, you take your topic, draw it into a well-structured speech, and make it either entertaining or profound,” said Imeson, 22 and a Bainbridge native. “I try to make it entertaining.”

The weeklong WUDC, which conclued Jan. 3 at the University of British Columbia, hosted more than 1,000 participants from 150 universities across the globe.

The championships are primarily a British parliamentary debate tournament, but feature public speaking, Imeson’s category, as a side-event.

The public speaking competition focuses on a speaker’s improvisational abilities. Each competitor is given a quote or topic and, without time to prepare, must give a 4-minute speech that is judged for style and content.

Imeson, who is in his junior year at Seattle University, bested over 100 American and international competitors over the course of three rounds of speeches to become the 2007 public speaking champion.

Ironically, Imeson was not aware that the championships had a public speaking category until he arrived in Vancouver.

“I went to the tournament for parliamentary debate. I didn’t know the public speaking event existed at the time,” he said. “A friend told me I should volunteer for it, and I said sure. I figured at worst I would just make a fool of myself, but it worked out pretty well.”

Although he did not fare as well in the parliamentary debate competition, finishing in the middle of the pack, Imeson said he was pleased with the results considering it was his first time at the WUDC.

“Winning the public speaking competition at the world championship was a real honor,” he said. “But everyone is there for the British parliamentary debate; that is the primary competition.”

Imeson was introduced to debate at Bainbridge High School by one of his favorite teachers, Robert Goldsworthy, who passed away in 2005.

The teacher was known for his passionate instruction and guidance of the BHS debate team.

“He was really influential to me, and acted as a gateway to debate, which is one of the few things I have excelled at,” Imeson said. “Mr. Goldsworthy emphasized meticulous research and strong structure. It took me about six years to catch on to that.”

At the age of 16, Imeson dropped out of Bainbridge High School, working as a busboy at Winslow Way Cafe before joining the U.S. Army. After being released for medical reasons, he decided to continue his education, and enrolled at Seattle Central Community College.

Imeson felt fortunate that by age 21 he was able to get his academic life fully back on track and attend Seattle University.

“I am only able to go to school right now because my community gave me a lot of second chances,” he said. “I really want to be able to give something back to it. It doesn’t seem fair to just do something selfish and profit off of that.”

He hoped that his recent success, in combination with the success of another BHS ex-debater, Thomas Ball – who made it to the finals in public speaking at WUDC for Durham University – would help garner support for programs like debate at BHS.

“I hope that our success will be some sort of an indicator that it is a good idea to fund these types of programs,” Imeson said.

He contends that extracurricular programs like debate enrich a student’s education in ways traditional classes cannot.

“Debate gives you these intense, intellectual experiences you will remember for the rest of your life,” he said. “I have been more challenged by debate than any class or test.”