Speaker's Edge Showcases Ethical Leadership, Strategic Communication
Students work with world-class communication coaches during winter intercession course
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi graduate students demonstrated persuasion, ethical reasoning and leadership during the Speaker's Edge competition Jan. 15-16 at the Jackson Avenue Center.
The two-day event is the finale of an intensive winter intercession course where graduate students from the School of Business Administration, Patterson School of Accountancy and School of Law tackle real-world scenarios through team pitches, marketplace presentations and ethical dilemma cases.
Speaker's Edge challenges young professionals to discover public speaking strengths because these skills are a linchpin to a successful life, said Elizabeth Moore, program coordinator and director of the university's Speaking Center.
Jane Granberry, an MBA candidate from Hattiesburg, is the overall winner of the 2026 Speaker’s Edge competition. She also earned first place in the ethical dilemma category and second place in the marketplace pitch competition. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
"For graduate students studying business, law and accountancy, the knowledge is already there," she said. "This course teaches them how to communicate it clearly, confidently and under pressure. That is what makes the experience so transformative."
Judges voted Jane Granberry, an MBA candidate from Hattiesburg, as this year's overall winner. Katherine Anderson, a Trent Lott Leadership Institute board member, sponsored a $1,000 prize that Granberry received at the awards ceremony.
"I like to bring the fun to my pitches," Granberry said. "I was able to use these last two weeks to find middle ground because I realized that I don't have to be a carbon copy of other business leaders or entrepreneurs.
"I can be myself and bring my essence into any speech, and we all learned the effectiveness of how to do that, which come in handy."
Granberry also won first place in the ethical dilemma category. This segment challenges students to respond to complex leadership scenarios where legal compliance, financial pressure and reputational risk intersect.
During preliminary and final rounds, students addressed scenarios such as whether to disclose a costly product recall during the sale of a chemical manufacturing company, how to handle a potential conflict of interest involving vendor incentives and how to respond when a colleague publicly behaves inappropriately while representing a company brand.
Omobola Obasanjo, an MBA candidate from Greenwood, earned the Marketplace Pitch award at the 2026 Speaker’s Edge competition. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
Additional cases required students to weigh environmental impact against profitability when developing land near family farms, confront gender inequity in informal promotion practices and respond to internal billing practices that fell short of contractual obligations while charging full fees to clients.
During the Marketplace Pitch competition, MBA candidate Omobola Obasanjo, of Greenwood, stressed that college students nationwide are creating too much waste, most of which they leave behind as they move out of their dorms and apartments.
Obasanjo's "Grove Treasure Vaught" initiative won the Marketplace Pitch award. Focusing on the university's sustainability commitment, he proposed collecting and repurposing unwanted student furniture each year. The university can offer it for free to students the following semester.
The Team Pitch award recipients presented an innovative approach called Draft Queens, aimed at helping the popular Draft Kings service target and reach a largely female audience. Instead of betting on sports, the platform draws in new audiences by offering betting options on reality or awards shows, for example.
The team included five Ole Miss MBA candidates:
- Josh Cordeck, from Tacoma, Washington
- Hardy Greene, of Oxford
- Harry Howell, of Madison
- JoAna Macklow, from Odella, Florida
- Belle Mazzei, of Alexandria, Virginia.
"It is great that our hard work paid off because when we walked into our first coaching meeting and got Draft Kings, we honestly had no idea where to start," Cordeck said.
The Draft Queens team received the Team Pitch award at the 2026 Speaker’s Edge competition. The team members – Harry Howell (left), Belle Mazzei, Josh Cordeck, JoAna Macklow and Hardy Greene – presented a concept designed to engage new audiences for Draft Kings through entertainment-based betting platforms. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
"Our main strategy was just being confident and just getting the crowd into it."
A highlight of the event was the keynote address delivered by retired U.S. Army Col. Sheldon Morris, president and CEO of Blue Chip HCI. Morris has served as a longtime judge and challenged Speaker's Edge students to get comfortable with uncomfortable moments on their journey to success.
Students received coaching and evaluation from faculty across disciplines, including Roun McNeal, instructional assistant professor of legal studies and former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, who brought a legal and ethical lens to student performances.
Lee Ingram, an adjunct accountancy professor, coached the winning team.
"We were lucky because he couldn't have been more helpful," Greene said. "He gave us a lot of ideas but also helped us narrow our pitch down into a viable solution."
Top: Students deliver a team pitch during the 2026 Speaker’s Edge competition, presenting business concepts to judges and peers during the two-day event at the Jackson Avenue Center. For more than 20 years, the event has challenged graduate students to communicate complex ideas clearly and ethically across real-world business scenarios. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
By
Marvis Herring
Campus
Published
January 20, 2026