By ANNA USHER

In the Mosman Collective newsroom, stories are mostly found by trawling through Council papers and court lists, but last week one arrived from the floor of State Parliament – delivered not by a politician, but a local primary school student.

Charlotte Mitchell, a Year 6 pupil at Mosman Public, has won the 2026 Bear Pit Public Speaking competition with her powerful speech on the topic “One thing I wish everyone in the world knew is…”

The beautifully spoken 12-year-old left judges (including me!) visibly moved after delivering these words to a packed gallery of parents, students and teachers.

Congratulations to all finalists – who’ve done themselves – and their schools proud!

The winning speech in full:

What if I told you that the most powerful thing in the world is something you cannot see?

It’s not money.

It’s not fame.

It’s not technology.

It’s not even power.

The most powerful thing in the world is your impact on other people.  And that’s the one thing I wish everyone in the world knew.

Every single day, whether we realise it or not, we leave footprints in the lives of others. A kind word can stay with someone for years.  A cruel comment can too.  A smile can lift a person up.  Being ignored can bring them down. The amazing thing is that most of us never truly realize how much influence we actually have. We often think that changing the world requires doing something extraordinary. We imagine famous leaders, inventors, athletes, or celebrities.  But honestly, the truth is that some of the most important changes in the world begin with ordinary people making ordinary choices.

My first point is that small actions are never small. Many people think changing the world requires something huge. But the world is changed every day by people like you and me, doing things that we do every single day. Think about a teacher who encouraged you when you were struggling or the friend who sat beside you when you were alone.  None of these actions make headlines. Yet they matter.

Imagine a pond. When you throw a pebble into the water, ripples spread far beyond where it landed. Our actions are the same. One act of kindness can travel further than we’ll ever know. Small actions are not small. They are the foundation of something bigger.

My second point is that words have incredible power. Words can build people up. Words can break people down.  Most of us can still remember words that lifted us up, or knocked us down. That’s because words leave marks. Not on our skin, but on our minds and hearts.

The words we choose matter.  When we encourage, include, or stand up for others, we can potentially change the way they see themselves.  One sentence can change the direction of someone’s day.  Sometimes even their life.  The question isn’t whether our words have power.  The question is how we choose to use that power.

My third point is that everyone wants to matter.  No matter where someone comes from, what language they speak, or what they believe, there is one thing we all have in common.  We want to know that our lives mean something.  We want to know that we mattered and will be remembered.

And when people look back on their lives, they rarely think about the things the world and society have always told us are important.  Instead, they remember moments.  Like the people who loved them and made them feel valued.  Because deep down, we all know that a meaningful life is not measured by what we collect.  It is measured by what we give.

So if there is one thing I wish everyone in the world knew, it is this:

You have more impact than you think.

And one day, I don’t think we’ll be asking ourselves how much money we earned or how popular we were.

I think we’ll ask something much simpler.

Did I love well?

Did I help people?

Did I leave the world better than I found it?

Because when the final chapters of our lives are written, nobody will be counting our trophies, our marks, or the money we earned.  Instead, they will remember the kindness we showed, the lives we touched, and the differences we made.

Because long after achievements are forgotten, people remember how we made them feel.

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