Rostrum Voice of Youth is a national public speaking competition for school students in Year 7 -12 which provides an excellent opportunity for entrants to gain experience and confidence in expressing their views and communicating a message. The competition is celebrating 50 years in 2024.
800 students took part in the Junior and Senior divisions across Australia in 2021. Lily who is in Year 12 this year won National Champion in the Junior section. Read all about that here.
Please contact Mrs Rieger on [email protected] as soon as possible, if you are interested. Entries CLOSE 26 March 2024. No late entries will be accepted. You must notify Mrs Rieger NO later than 15 March 2024 of your desire to participate.
2024 COMPETITION DETAILS and TOPICS
At every stage of the competition contestants are required to present a Prepared speech
*6 minutes – JUNIORS (aged 11 years or over as at 1/1/24 and in years 7, 8 or 9)
**8 minutes – SENIORS (under 18 years of age as at 1/1/24 and in years 10, 11 or 12)
Short notice speech – 3 minutes – (Juniors & Seniors, preparation time of 15 minutes)
Heats: Saturday 11 May 2024 Immanuel College, Margaret Ames Centre.
Semi-Finals – all day (2 session times) Saturday 25 May 2024 Immanuel College, Margaret Ames Centre.
Speak with Mr Finch if you would like to join a debating team in 2024. He will let you know about the time commitment and the location of debates.
Great for:
Getting better at speaking in public and thinking on your feet
Getting better at arguing and convincing people how right you are
Bonding with friends over some intellectual chat about contemporary issues
Preparing yourself for all manner of future career options.
Speak with Mr Finch for details.
Find some very helpful debating resources here: Check out the Debating SA Youtube channel to see some debates in action. Click here for a brief introduction to debating. A speech structure sample. Here are some sample debate topics. Here is a very helpful list of Dos and Don'ts in debating compiled by Debating SA.
LEGACY JUNIOR PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION:
The Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition (Award) is a national competition conducted through secondary schools and colleges in most parts of Australia. It seeks to contribute to the personal development of 12-14 year olds by encouraging the best use of spoken English. Competitors need to be under 15 years of age on the 1st January in the year of the competition. The aim of the Award is to enhance students’ oral communication skills and to help people appreciate the ideals of Legacy which are – voluntary service, social justice, caring, personal sacrifice and/or mateship. Please note there is no registration fee.
This competition generally occurs in June. Please check this website to see details once they are released. If you are interested, please speak with Mrs Rieger.
GUIDELINES Junior Public Speaking Competition
Two students from the State final will be chosen to represent SA in the National Final to be held in November in South Australia. The prize will include airfares and accommodation costs (if the National Final is held interstate) for the Student and one parent.
The Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award (competition) is not debating, elocution or acting. The Award is concerned with the speaker’s use of language to convey a message or a point of view to an interested audience. Choice of words, intonation, articulation, pace and pausing are all-important in getting the message across. Anything which hinders the transmission of meaning should be avoided.
For example: 1. Unnecessary and inappropriate gestures 2. Affected pronunciation 3. Overuse of dramatics 4. Unnecessary movement around the stage 5. Irrelevant humour, and 6. Mannerisms which divert attention from the subject of the speech.
Each contestant will be required to deliver two speeches:
Prepared Speech Criteria The prepared speech should be of five (5) minutes duration on a topic of the contestant’s choosing,relating to at least one of the ideals of Legacy which are: • voluntary service • social justice • care & compassion • personal sacrifice and/or • mateship • the need for remembrance
The speech should have substance which, in the time available, should be developed logically to a convincing conclusion. Judges will be looking for knowledge of the subject matter, sincerity in the presentation of material, skilful development of the theme and the effective use of plain English. Originality is encouraged.
A warning bell will be given after four minutes, then at five minutes.
Impromptu Speech Criteria The impromptu speech is to be two (2) minutes duration with five (5) minutes preparation time allowed. The topic chosen will be broad in nature, capable of a variety of interpretations to suit the experience and background of 12 to 14 year olds. The same topic is given to each competitor. The speech is intended to reveal a competitor’s ability to develop a point of view on a general topic and to organise a presentation within limited preparation time. Judges will be looking for clarity of thought, logical organisation, sincerity and the effective use of plain English.
A warning bell is given after 1½ minutes, then at 2 minutes.
Read about Lily's success in 2023. https://www.concordia.sa.edu.au/latest/concordia-connect/issue/2023-term-2-week-8/legacy-junior-public-speaking-competition/
UN YOUTH This organisation runs a range of workshops and special events throughout the year. The events are generally promoted via social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. (See image to your right for examples)
Students who get involved in a range of events have the opportunity to gain 10 Stage 1 SACE credits. See here for more info.
Your first speech is a great way to speak about issues you are passionate about.
Australian students enrolled in years 10 to 12 are invited to enter the 'My First Speech' competition. Imagine yourself as a newly elected Member of the House of Representatives. Your task is to write a 90 second speech about issues you are passionate about then record yourself presenting the speech on video.
The video should be in MPG, MPEG, M4V, MPEG 4, AVI, WMV or MOV format with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels or above and no longer than 90 seconds in length. Opening titles or end credits are not required. A winner from each year, 10, 11 and 12, will be invited to Canberra to deliver their speeches live and undertake a program of meetings at Parliament House. To enter the competition, submit your video via email, along with a written transcript of your speech and completed competition forms. The scanned forms can be pdf or jpg format. If your video is too large to be emailed (over 30mb) send it via Dropbox, Google Drive or even a USB along with a transcript of your speech and completed competition forms. Information regarding the 2024 competition will be released later in the year. Keep checking back to this site. Get some inspiration here. See some entries from previous years at this link.
PLAIN ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETITION:
Check out the website. More details to come soon. See Mr Finch if interested.