Optimist International

For Jaylon Muchison, speech has paid off in a big way. The Belleville West High School graduate recently netted $22,500 from Optimist International’s 2020 Oratorical World Championship — winning his regional and state rounds before claiming the international title.That money will make a huge difference as the 18-year-old heads to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall. He plans to pursue a double major in acting and communications.

More than two millennia after the ancient orator Demosthenes refined his speaking style by talking with pebbles in his mouth, great speeches continue to…