At 18, Zeinabou Niaré triumphs in the national eloquence competition of HEC and Eloquentia

At only 18 years old, Zeinabou Niaré has just won the final of the prestigious national eloquence competition Eloquentia@HEC, organized on October 6 at the Bataclan, in Paris. A remarkable success for this young first-year medical student at the Sorbonne, who, a few years earlier, barely dared to speak in front of her classmates.

Faced with five other finalists, Zeinabou Niaré was able to convince the jury thanks to a personal and moving speech around a universal question: “Should we hurry up and grow up? » Drawing on her experience within a large family, she spoke with sensitivity of the joys of childhood, the freedom of the youngest, but also the responsibilities that accompany the transition to adulthood.

However, nothing predestined this young woman to shine on such a prestigious stage. A schoolgirl in Jouy-le-Moutier, in Val-d’Oise, she was particularly reserved. It was a French teacher who first encouraged him to take part in an eloquence competition. A difficult experience, but one that gave rise to a real passion for words in her. A few years later, when she was in her final year at Hautil high school, a friend encouraged her to repeat the experience. This time, Zeinabou won the competition organized in his establishment, thus opening the doors to the Eloquentia@HEC program.

On the HEC Paris campus, she joined 78 other young people for an intensive week devoted to oral expression, writing and public speaking. At the end of the selections, she won her place among the six finalists. On October 6, on the Bataclan stage, his authenticity and his mastery of words made the difference. When her victory was announced, the young student, who simply hoped to be among the top three, struggled to achieve her feat.

Beyond the trophy, Zeinabou Niaré’s journey illustrates the strength of perseverance, self-confidence and the determining role of teachers in revealing talents. A great success for this young student who is now continuing her health studies at the Sorbonne, with one certainty: her voice, once so discreet, can now carry far.