1.

Competition structure
The competition is open to Year 7 to 9 students, who will give two speeches (prepared/impromptu) at
one of various regional centres.
Accredited adjudicators will sign up for nights online in the same way as for Schools Comp & JSP.
Speaking nights will take place from 4 6 pm.
On each occasion the aims are to have all speakers speak twice and be seen by more than one
adjudicator. The structure will be as follows:

Students will be placed into groups of five (these will be publicised beforehand the order will
be randomised).

Each group of five will be allocated to a room for the first hour, and will give their speeches in
front of an adjudicator and the other students (as well as any audience). Speeches go for 5
minutes, so there will be a natural break at the end of the first hour.

Adjudicator will ring a warning bell (or make some other signal) once at 4 minutes and
twice at 5 minutes. Continuous ring at 5:30.

After all speeches are finished, there will be feedback given to the group by the
adjudicator. It will be up to the adjudicator how much this touches on individual
speeches.

In the second hour, each group of five will give their impromptu speeches in front of
a second adjudicator. Students will be given their topics five minutes before their speech
begins and will prepare on their own with no help from others. Speeches go for 2-3 minutes.
o

Adjudicator will ring a warning bell (or make some other signal) once at 2 minutes and
twice at 3 minutes. Continuous ring at 3:30.

There will be group feedback as in the previous hour.

Each student will receive a different topic for their speech, to be randomly selected by
the adjudicator from a list provided by the office.

After the second hour, the adjudicators will collate scores for both speeches, and finalise their
written feedback. Scoresheets will be collected by an allocated adjudicator on the night,
carbon copies distributed to schools, and originals returned to the office ASAP.

The allocated adjudicator will also announce the winner(s) of the regional night. Note that
students must compete in both rounds of the competition to be eligible for finanls.

Please note that:

If theres only one group of five in a region, the speakers will be watched by two adjudicators,
who will average their scores for each speech.

Regional winners will qualify for the semi-finals. We will also select a number of wild-card
speeches (based on scores) who will qualify for the semi-finals despite not being the regional
winner.

Adjudicators will need to return scoresheets to the DAV. We will nominate one adjudicator per
region to have this responsibility. If regions are sufficiently big we will have a DAV member act
as regional coordinator.

2. Outline of marking and criteria

Our marking guidelines will be as follows:

50 points for matter (range of 25-45, average of 35)

50 points for manner (range of 25-45, average of 35)

o

Total of 100 points

Average score 70

Total score should range approximately from 50-90 (below 50 is a speech

which is fundamentally ineffective and insubstantial, above 90 will have to be
really incredibly good)

Overall summary of aims:

There are 4 key components to a successful speech.

The subject matter should be persuasive in some way;

o

it is not compulsory for the impromptu speech to be persuasive in nature

The subject matter should be well constructed;

The delivery must be convincing and engaging;

The words of the speech must be in Plain English.

Plain English as per PESA means:

Plain English is using language that makes your message easy to understand. It involves being
concise, being precise and avoiding inflated words.
1. Concision
2. Precision
3. Inflated words
Our sub-criteria are matter and manner.

Matter involves:

Subject matter of the speech

o

Does it aim to be persuasive? (that is, is it not merely descriptive?)

Who are the speeches aimed at?

Is it well-reasoned? (does it make a clear argument, does it make sense, is there

sufficient evidence where necessary)

Is it engaging? (is the topic too obscure, is the context explained clearly? Has the
speaker kept the audience in mind?)

Is there a clear sense of message in the speech? (does it have a clear introduction
and conclusion, is the point of the speech made clear, is the speakers opinion
explained well enough?)

Structure of the speech, inasmuch as it refers to logical development of the speech

o

Does the speech make its purpose clear at the start?

Does the speech have a clear structure? (not necessarily 3 points like a debate, but
not just rambling, and transitions from one section to another made clear)

Does the speech develop its ideas logically? (eg, does the conclusion of the speech
set out to answer the questions that the introduction set out? Does it jump from
subject to subject, or spend far too much time on an irrelevant issue?)

Manner involves:
o

Style of speaking:

Fundamental tools of persuasiveness:

clear speech and eye contact

Voice

Body language

Does the speaker tailor his/her speaking style to their content? (That is, do they
gesture to emphasise a point (or just because theyre nervous)? Is humour or pathos
in the speech well targeted? Do they seem happy or awkward when speaking?)

Is the speech varied enough to hold the audiences attention?

Cues: notes are allowed, but shouldnt interfere

Props are not allowed

Microphones and lecterns are not allowed

Plain English means an unaffected style, not overdramatic

DAV doesnt have to obey Plain English, but we should consider whether the
presentation is genuinely persuasive (are we made more likely to believe the speaker,
or is it just a purely dramatic performance?)