Manual for
Effective Speaking
Contest
Concours Oratoire
Lions Clubs International
Multiple District “A”
EFFECTIVE SPEAKING CONTEST MANUAL
INDEX
ItemPage
1.Purpose of the Contest3
2.Contest3
3.School Contest3
4.Eligible Contestants3
5.Prepared Speech 3
6.Impromptu Speech4
7.Delivery4
8.Judging Requirements4
9.Tellers Requirements4-5
10.Duties for the Multiple District “A” Finals - Various Chairs5
11.Briefing Procedures for Chair at Multiple District “A” Contest5-8
- Registration- Door Security
- Preliminary Room- Escorts
- Impromptu Room- Holding Room
- Tellers- Judges
- Timers- Briefing Contestants
12Duties of the Evening Contest Chair9-10
- Duties
- Evening Program Format
13.Responsibilities of Host Club10-11
- Reception Committee- Contest Centre
- Publicity Committee- Hospitality
- Banquet Committee- Reservations & Billets
- Judges Committee- Host Club Finances
14.Addendum – Administrative Duties and Responsibilities12-15
Appendix A 16
- Officers- Multiple District “A” Final Contest
- Committee Members- Financing
- Multiple District “A” Meetings - Awards & Certificates
- Club Contestants (Lions/Lioness)- Multiple District “A” Contest Responsibilities
- Zone, Region, District Contests
DATE OF ISSUE -JULY, 2008
1
LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL - MULTIPLE DISTRICT “A”
ONTARIO and QUEBEC
EFFECTIVE SPEAKING CONTEST MANUAL
1. PURPOSE OF THE CONTEST
The contest is to provide an opportunity for competitive effective speaking and to stimulate self-expression and independent thinking among students.
The Lions Clubs of Multiple District “A”, by participating in this contest, afford students in their area a chance to participate in Canada's largest Effective Speaking Contest, held in both the English and French languages.
2. CONTEST
The Contest consists of three grade divisions within each of the English and French categories:
JuniorGrades 6, 7, 8
Intermediate Grades 9, 10
Senior Grades 11, 12
3. SCHOOL CONTEST
Lions Clubs and Lioness Clubs may organize a Speaking Contest in the elementary school system and secondary school system, based on the rules outlined. The winners in these categories are eligible to compete at the District Contest.
4. ELIGIBLE CONTESTANTS
(a)The Contest is open to students in the Public or Private Schools, or their equivalent within Multiple District “A”.
(b)No first place winner of a previous Multiple District “A” Contest will be allowed to compete in future Contests in the same classification.
(c)A Lions Club may sponsor a student in each grade division within each language category who in turn may compete in a Zone, Regional or District competition, even though the area school serves several communities, each having a Lions Club.
(d)Students in areas where there is no Lions Club, and who wish to compete, could be sponsored by the nearest Lions Club.
(e)No Contestant may compete in more than one division or category in any one year.
5.PREPARED SPEECH
(a)The contestant selects his or her own subject, partisan politics and sectarian religion alone excepted. The prepared speech must be the original work of the speaker.
(b) JUNIOR: The speech should be at least three (3) minutes in length, but should not exceed five (5) minutes.
(c) INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR: The speech should be at least five (5) minutes in length but should not exceed seven minutes.
(d)A penalty of one point for every fifteen (15) seconds or portion thereof, under or over the time limitation will be imposed and will be made on the aggregate total of the judges' points for that contestant.
6.IMPROMPTU SPEECH
(a)Each contestant in the Intermediate and Senior divisions shall be required to give an impromptu speech, at least two minutes in length, but not exceeding three minutes, on a pre-selected subject. Note: The Junior division shall not be required to give an Impromptu speech.
(b) Each speaker shall draw a topic from a group of pre-selected subjects on which to prepare their Impromptu Speech. If they wish to refuse their first choice, they may draw a second time, which will be final and they must speak on this subject.
(c)All Contestants shall choose from the same group of pre-selected topics.
(d)After selecting the subject, the Contestant will be allowed 15 minutes for preparation for their speech. At the 12 minute point and the 14 minute point, warnings will be given.
(e)At the end of the 15 minute period, the pencils will be taken away and a further 5 minutes will be allowed for a study period.
(f)The Contestant’s notes will be taken and placed and sealed in an envelope, to be returned to the speaker at the time of the impromptu speech.
(g)No reference materials will be accessible to the Contestants in the Impromptu Preparation Room. (e.g. French-English Dictionaries).
7.DELIVERY OF SPEECHES
(a)Brief notes may be referred to without deduction of points, but too frequent references to notes shall count against the speaker.
(b)Use of microphone and/or speaker's stand is optional.
(c)A contestant must not use any editorial for a topic, but may use extracts from it, provided they are treated as quotations.
(d)Props or aids (e.g. uniforms, equipment, signs, etc.) shall not be used. The use of "mime" or pauses exceeding 10 seconds during the presentations shall cause the contestant to receive a lower score.
(e)For any infraction of the rules, no disqualification shall take place; however, the Judges will score the Contestant low on points so as not to allow them to win.
8.JUDGING REQUIREMENTS
(a)In each of the Club, Zone, Region or District Contests, at least three (3); and in the Multiple District “A” Final Contest, at least five (5) qualified and impartial judges shall decide the winners for each grade division within each language category, according to the marking scheme on the score sheet.
(b)It is recommended that no judge shall be a member of a sponsoring Lions or Lioness Club or a member of any school faculty having a contestant entered in that particular contest.
9.TELLERS REQUIREMENTS
(a)A minimum of three tellers will tally the totals and designate the places earned by the speakers on each of the judges’ score sheets. The Teller will then total the place points and the speaker who has earned the majority of points shall be declared the winner. If there is not a majority first place point winner, the next level of scoring will have to be used to determine the winner.
(b)Multiple District “A” Finals should have the minimum of four (4) tellers. This will help to speed up the final tally.
(c)In the event there may be a tie with the same number of place points, it shall be settled by adding the points of the tied speakers and the one with the highest total shall be declared the winner of the Contest.
(d)The Judges’ scoring will be final and beyond question.
10. DUTIES FOR THE MULTIPLE DISTRICT “A” FINALS
The following duties are to be performed at the Multiple District “A” Contest, preferably by the District Chairs and other Lions, who may be in attendance. It is suggested that the Multiple District “A” Coordinator, who will act as the Evening Contest Chair, and/or the Co-Coordinator , brief the following on their assigned duties.
(a)Timers- one for each division within each category
(b)Tellers- Chair and 4 helpers
(c)Room Chair- One for each Category:
for the
PreliminaryEnglish Junior - English Intermediate - English Senior
ContestFrench Junior - French Intermediate - French Senior
(d)Impromptu - Chairman and 3 helpers
Room Chair
(e)Judges - 15 Judges for English Category
- 15 Judges for French Category
(f)Escort(s) for Speakers,
for both the Preliminary - 3 or 4 will be required
and Final Competitions
(g)Door Security- Minimum of 6 required
(h)Holding Room Chairs- 2 before Impromptu Speech Preparation
- 2 after Impromptu Speech Preparation
11.BRIEFING PROCEDURES FOR CHAIRS AT THE MULTIPLE DISTRICT “A” CONTEST
The Multiple District “A” Coordinator and/or Co-Coordinator will brief the various chairs in their duties and responsibilities. For more specific details see Appendix A, pages 007.1 - 007.7.
a)Registration Chair
1.Register and greet all Contestants and guests as they arrive and advise them of where the Competition will be taking place and provide them with other pertinent information about the Contest.
b)Preliminary Room Chair
1.Start on time and maintain order in the room.
2.Introduce yourself and welcome speakers, judges, timers and guests.
3.Ensure Judges and Timers have the proper sheets and are ready to begin.
4.Briefly outline the Contest, the order of speakers, and explain that the contestants will be identified by number only.
5.Ensure the Judges and Timer are positioned at the back of the room separate and apart, allowing no communication between them and make the Contestants aware of their locations.
6.Refer to each speaker by number only, and introduce them by their number.
(i.e. Speaker # 1, Speaker # 2, Speaker # 3 etc.);make no reference to or remarks about any speaker or the material used.
7.Ask the judges to raise their arm when they have finished scoring and are ready to proceed to the next speaker. Everyone must sit quietly until the judges are finished.
8.After speaker # __ has delivered their prepared speech, allow the first speakers to leave the room to prepare for their Impromptu Speech.
9.For the Impromptu Speeches: read the Contestant's Number and the Speech Topic chosen, open the envelope and hand the contents to the Speaker.
10.Allow guests to leave the room only between speakers.
c)Impromptu Room Chair Duties
- Obtain from the Multiple District “A” Coordinator a list of topics and other pertinent material required to operate the Impromptu Preparation Room.
2.Allow each speaker to draw a topic from the group of pre-selected subjects on which to prepare their Impromptu Speech. If they wish to refuse their first choice, they may draw
a second time, which will be final and they must speak on this subject.
3.After selecting the subject, the Contestant will be allowed 15 minutes for preparation for their Speech. At the 12 minute point and the 14 minute point, give warning.
4.At the end of the 15 minute period, take the pencils away from the contestants and allow a further 5 minute study period; after which the Contestant’s notes will be placed in a sealed envelope. The envelope will be given to the Escort when the Contestant leaves the Impromptu Room.
5.Provide pencils and blank paper for the Contestants to write their Speech.
6.Allow no reference materials or aids in the Preparation Room. (e.g. French/English Dictionaries, Thesaurus, etc.)
d)Teller’s Duties
1.Illustrate various methods of determining winners and the order in which they are to be used: - place points - individual points, etc.
2.Check the judges’ totals for each speaker and deduct the time penalties on the score if any for each contestant.
3.Record the Contestants’ Scores on the Tellers Record Sheet and designate the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place Winners.
e)Timer’s Duties
1.Emphasize that the Timer must stand and sit down at the correct time intervals.
Senior and Intermediate
2.Prepared Speeches; the Timer shall stand at the end of 5 minutes and once recognized by the speaker, sit down. At the end of 7 minutes, stand and remain standing until the speaker has finished.
3. For Impromptu Speeches; the Timer shall stand at the end of 2 minutes and once recognized by the speaker, sit down. At the end of 3 minutes, stand and remain standing until the speaker has finished.
4.Juniors
Prepared Speeches; the Timer shall stand at the end of 3 minutes and once recognized by the speaker, sit down. At the end of 5 minutes, stand and remain standing until the speaker has finished.
f)Door Security
1.The doors to the Speaking Room shall be monitored at all times to prevent attending guests from moving in and out of the room while speeches are in progress.
2.Open the door at the end of a Contestant's speech, to allow guests to come and go, and close it again when the next speaker is ready to begin.
g) Escorts
1.Accompany each Contestant from the Speaking Room to the Impromptu and/or Holding Rooms and back to the Speaking Room.
2.Ensure that the Contestants have no communication with guests, friends, family or other Contestants while in the Escort's control.
h)Holding Room Chair Duties
1. Before and after the Contestants have prepared their Impromptu Speech, they
will be taken to a Holding Room where they will wait until they are called to write
their speech or deliver their speech.
2. Ensure that the Contestants have no communication with each other regarding their chosen topics.
3. Retain the sealed envelope containing the Impromptu speech, and hand the envelope to the Escort when the Contestant leaves the Holding Room.
i)Judges
1.Preliminary Contest: Ensure that the following requirements are met:
5Judges for the French Junior Speakers
5Judges for the English Junior Speakers
5Judges for the French Intermediate Speakers
5Judges for the English Intermediate Speakers
5Judges for the French Senior Speakers
5Judges for the English Senior Speakers
- Evening Contest: Instruct the judges that they will switch divisions from that judged in the Preliminary Contest. (i.e. if judging Intermediate Speakers in the Preliminary, change to Senior Speakers for the Evening Contest).
3. Instruct the Judges in the use of the scoring sheets and the Judges Standards of Evaluation.
- Point out that there are six (6) separate contests and make sure they are marking their sheets accordingly judging: English Junior, French Junior, English Intermediate, French Intermediate, English Senior or French Senior. Do not sign the sheet. You will be known as Judge A, Judge B,
Judge C, etc. only.
5.Each Contestant will be known by number only and will be introduced at the conclusion of the Contest.
6.Intermediate and Senior Speakers will be required to give a prepared speech from 5 to 7 minutes in length, followed by an Impromptu Speech 2 to 3 minutes in length. Juniors prepared speeches are 3 to 5 minutes (Juniors do not have to give an Impromptu Speech).
7. Point out to the Judges, that they should not communicate or act as Adjudicator at the end of the Contest.
8. Ask the Judges to disqualify themselves if they know any of the competitors.
9.Point out that the Judges are responsible for determining if the material and methods used in the speeches meets the acceptable standards of the Contests Rules.
10.Point out that for any infraction of the Rules, no disqualification shall take place, however, the Contestant shall be given a low score so as not to allow them to win.
11.Before the competition begins, ensure that the Judges have a ready supply of pencils with erasers and notepads.
j)Briefing the Contestants
1.Brief the Contestants on the Contest Rules and Regulations; emphasizing the non-use of props, aids, reference materials, etc. Ask that all cell phones be shut down during the competitions.
2.Outline the procedures for the Day's competitions.
3.Advise the Contestants that they will draw numbers for speaking position and will be known only by that number until the conclusion of the Contest.
4.Emphasize that their numbers will be the only form of identification used during the Contest and must be worn at all times.
5.Advise that new numbers will be drawn for the finalists in the Evening Competition.
6.Junior Speakers will be required to give a three (3) minute speech in length and not to exceed five (5) minutes. No impromptu is required for Juniors. Intermediate and Senior Speakers will be required to give a Prepared speech from 5 to 7 minutes in length, and an Impromptu Speech 2 to 3 minutes in length.
7. Each speaker will draw a topic from a group of pre-selected subjects on which to prepare their Impromptu Speech. If they wish to refuse their first choice, they may draw a second time, which will be final and they must speak on this subject.
8.After selecting the subject, the Contestant will be allowed fifteen (15) minutes to prepare their speech. They will be given a warning at the twelve (12) minute and fourteen (14) minute mark.
9.At the end of the fifteen (15) minute period, pencils will be removed and a further five (5) minute study period will be given, after which their notes will be placed in a sealed envelope.
10.The Timer will caution the speakers of the amount of time elapsed:
Prepared Speech: Junior Speakers Timer shall stand at the end of 3 minutes until recognized, then sit down. At the end of 5 minutes, Timer will stand and remain standing until the speaker has finished. Intermediate and Senior Speakers, Timer stands at the end of 5 minutes until recognized then sit down. At the end of 7 minutes, Timer will stand and remain standing until the speaker has finished.
Impromptu Speech: Timer shall stand at the end of 2 minutes until recognized then sit down. At the end of 3 minutes, timer will stand and remain standing until the speaker has finished.
11.In presenting both speeches, Contestants may use their notes, a Speakers Stand, Lectern or microphone, with no penalty; however, they may not use any props, aids or mime.