By Glen Pearce
This blog tells you all about Toastmasters Speech Contests. Other important resources are the Toastmasters International Website, Resources tab and the official rulebook.
Speech Contests are a fantastic opportunity to extend yourself in Speaking or Leadership with multiple roles available. I encourage you all to get involved in some capacity. There are plenty of people in the club that are
have this experience and will be happy to answer any questions you might have.
The 1st and the most important role is: CONTESTANT. Without Contestants there is no Contest and I encourage you think about this if extending yourself in a speaking role is something you want to do. Give it a go!
There are 4 Contests:
- Humorous Speech Contest – 5/6/7 Minute Speech – with Humour only a small part of the criteria.
- Table Topics Contest – Everyone gets the same topic. An impromptu 1/1.30/2 minute speech, where you speak to the topic when it’s your turn to enter the room.
- Evaluation Speech Contest – 2/2.30/3 Minute Speech, where you have five minutes to prepare your notes, then evaluate the same test speaker in the order you’ve drawn.
The Only requirement for the Humorous, Table Topics and Evaluation is to be a member of good standing in a club of good standing (put simply, you have paid your membership dues).
4. International Speech Contest – Requirement of completion of
Competent Communicator Award or Level 1/ 2 in Pathways. This is a 5/6/7 minute speech. The International Speech is the one that starts at Club Level and goes onto Area/Division/District/Region/ Toastmaster International Semi Final/Final. If you wish to enter International Speech Contest, let your VP Education know and he/she will be happy to schedule the speaking slots.
Another opportunity is being a test speaker at another club where you’ll gain valuable feedback from other Toastmasters. OFFICIALS.
As you know, every event has people behind the scenes to help make it run smoothly. Speech Contests are no different and there are multiple roles that need filling and provide learning opportunities!
The CONTEST CHAIR:
This is the person who runs the contest on the night. Their main responsibility is to get all contestants to sign eligibility forms, remind them of the rules and do the draw to determine in which order they
will speak i.e. 1st, 2nd ,3rd,4th ,5th. The Chair also reads a Contest Script (Which can be downloaded), plus welcome and lead applause for each contestant as they enter the stage for their turn to speak. Later the Chair presents Participation Certificates and conducts interviews with
all contestants.
TIMERS
The role is for 2 people to record the time of the speakers at the contest on an official form, and operate the lights as per usual. The main difference is that at the contest there is no notification if speaker goes
30 seconds over the allowed time. The Chief Judge will collect the Timers’ Report at the end of the Contest.
SERGEANT AT ARMS
This role is to ‘monitor the door’ at the start of the contest to stop people leaving the room. There is a 2nd Sergeant at Arms required to stay with the Contestants outside the room until it’s their time in the
draw to speak.
TALLY COUNTERS
This role requires 2 people to collect envelopes from Judges at the end of the Contest and leave the room with Chief Judge. The scores are tallied up and official paperwork with places is completed. Certificates are written up ready to the 1st, 2nd , 3rd placed Contestants.
CHIEF JUDGE
This role is organize Judges before the Contest and have the required paperwork needed for the Contest. Before the Contest brief all the official roles including Judges which is done in a separate briefing. The briefing for Judges is sign eligibility forms, go through speech criteria for contests and
ideally they should remain anonymous.
The Chief Judge may have to deal with any potential protests. After the Contests, the Chief Judge works with the Tally Counters to sort all paperwork and pass this onto next level organizer i.e. the Area Director.
JUDGES
Ideally Judges should be neutral at a Contest, and this is an opportunity to swap with other clubs in the Area and beyond. A fantastic chance to visit other clubs and meet Toastmasters.
To be a judge just requires a bit of training (that can be given) and is giving to feedback to speakers through using Judging Form Criteria.
I encourage everyone to think about taking up a role. Toastmasters is about learning and Contests are a fantastic opportunity
Ohariu Toastmasters 