Five types of contest
To provide the opportunity for competitive speaking, and showcase the best, Toastmasters Clubs hold speech contests. There are five types of contest but each District cannot hold more than four of these. Each contest starts at Club level and works its way up through Area then Division then District and then, in some cases, to the Region. The International Speech Contest also goes on to worldwide level to determine the 'World Champion of Public Speaking'.
The five types are:
*International Speech Contest - 5 to 7 minutes.
The speech can be any subject at all, serious or humorous, so long as it's original.
In August each District winner goes to the International Convention where they compete in the Regional heat then, if successful, the World Final. Competitors in the Word Final must deliver a different speech, as determined by a majority of five Qualifying Judges who are separate from the normal judges.
(The procedure described above will operate from the 2010/2011 Toastmasters year onward. The 2009/2010 year is the last which will operate the old system whereby District winners must deliver a different speech for both the Regional/DNAR heat and the World Final. 2009/2010 is also the last year for having Regional heats at Regional Conferences.)
* Table Topics Contest - 1 to 2 minutes.
Impromptu speaking. All contestants are taken out of the room and brought back in one by one to speak on the same topic. Thereby a contestant does not hear any other constestant's speech before delivering their own. The topic should be general in nature and not require specialised knowledge.
Goes as far as District level in most Districts.
* Evaluation Contest - 2 to 3 minutes.
A target speaker gives a speech which all the evaluation contestants are to evaluate. The contestants are taken from the room and given five minutes to prepare their speeches and make notes. Then, their notes are taken away and they are brought back into the room one by one (at which time each contestant gets his/her notes back) to deliver the oral evaluation of the target speech. Thereby a contestant does not hear any other constestant's evaluation before delivering their own.
Goes as far as District or Regional level.
* Humorous Speech Contest - 5 to 7 minutes.
An original speech with a lot of humour value, but ALSO displaying good speechmaking abilities.
Goes as far as District or Regional level.
* Tall Tales Contest - 3 to 5 minutes.
A tall tale, which must be original.
Goes as far as District level in most Districts.
How do you pick the winners?
Each contest has a set of rules which mandate originality and lay down the procedures. If you go over your time limit by thirty seconds, you're eliminated. If you go UNDER your time limit by thirty seconds, you're eliminated - except for Table Topics, where you must speak at least one minute. In the audience are judges with a points form that they use to rate you against criteria and how you stack up against the others. There's a different form for each contest, since each contest involves different skills
Who gets to compete?
District and International officers cannot compete. Any other member in good standing (i.e. you've paid your dues) can compete when the contests come around - except for the International Speech Contest, where you must have given at least six manual speeches towards your CC.
When do the contests take place?
It varies from District to District. Toastmasters International simply requires District-level Evaluation, Humorous and International Speech contests to be held by June. In District 71 we hold the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests in Autumn, and the International Speech and Evaluation contests in Spring.
What do I get if I win a contest?
At the Club level, sometimes all you get is a handshake and some applause. By the time you've reached Division and District levels, you can get some fairly impressive trophies.
Contest rules are at:
http://www.toastmasters.org/NonNavigableDocs/Rules_1_2.aspx
Click here
