Schools Public Speaking Rulebook



Tournament Format

  • This tournament will adopt a Modified World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship (WIDPSC)
  • Each competitor must compete in all three public speaking categories. Categories to the event are as follows
    • Impromptu Speaking
    • Interpretative Reading
    • Persuasive Speaking

Selection of Topics

  • Competitors will be assigned three random topics in the Impromptu Speaking Category. They may choose one topic out of such and prepare a 4-5 minute speech on the same. Competitors may not request for a re-draw.
  • Competitors have the liberty to choose what literary piece to recite in the Interpretative Reading Category as long as the piece is fictional in nature and not of the competitor’s own writing. The piece must not also come from a play or a monologue.
  • Competitors have the liberty to choose what problem to present and solve in the Persuasive Speaking Category. The problem chosen must be real and not imagined.

Preparation

  • Competitors will be given 5 minutes to prepare a 4-5 minute speech for the Impromptu Speaking Category.
  • No preparation time will be given in the Interpretative Reading and Persuasive Speaking Category.

Penalties

  • A penalty of 2 points will be given for every 30 seconds under and over time limit.
    • Competitors must deliver 4-5 minute speeches in the Impromptu Speaking Category
    • Competitors must read deliver their chosen piece in 5-8 minutes of length in the Interpretative Reading Category
    • Competitors must deliver their problem/solution speech, 6-8 minutes in length, in the Persuasive Speaking Category

Speaker Scores

  • A speaker score range of 0 - 100 will be used during the tournament.

Preliminary Rounds

  • The tournament will have two (2) preliminary rounds

Break Categories

  • The Top 10 Speakers for each category will advance to the elimination round of the tournament. After the elimination round, the Top 3 speakers will advance to the grand-finals

Ranking

  • Categorical rankings are determined solely by the elimination and grand-finals round
  • Overall rankings are determined solely by the combined results of the preliminary rounds

Eligibility Criteria

  • A participant must be 13-17 years old in order to be eligible to compete in the tournament. The participant must not cross their 18th birthday on the day of the tournament.
  • For a speaker to be eligible to receive a 16-and-Under category award, they must be 16 years old or under. They must not cross their 17th birthday on the day of the tournament.
  • For a speaker to be eligible to receive a 14-and-Under category award, they must be 14 years old or under. They must not cross their 15th birthday on the day of the tournament.
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