Competitive Speaking
Adjudication & scoring for competitive speaking
Analysis of each speaker’s performance is based on scoring of two broad areas of their speech to judge the speech as a whole:
- 50% for impact on the intellect, and
- 50% for impact on the emotions.
Scoring Matrix
In a competition all competitors are ranked by each individual competitor’s aggregate of both these scores.
For instance, the highest mark is scored as 1, the next speaker as 2 and so on. As all speakers are ranked this means that speakers cannot be given an equal ranking.
The rankings of each adjudicator are then totalled and will produce a score of the winner being the speaker with the lowest total score.
Impact on intellect
Judge the ability of the speaker to achieve a perceived purpose with logical and sequential theme development, based on consideration of:
- Material – Scope, accuracy, clarity, relevance, logic and adequacy.
- Arrangement – Introduction, body, conclusion and general construction.
- Progression – Cohesion, timing, logic, development, evidence of research and preparation. Language – Words, sentences, phrases, grammar, word pictures and figures of speech.
- Appeal – Imagination, originality, wit, illustrations and highlights.
Impact on emotions
Judge the ability of the speaker to affect the audience with the presentation of the material, based on consideration of:
- Visual impact – Appearance, stance, gesture, notes, use of eyes, visual aids.
- Vocal impact – Quality, clarity, variety, volume, pitch, pause, pace and pronunciation.
- Empathy – Contact, understanding, acceptance and audience involvement.
- Mood – Feeling, emphasis, enthusiasm, sincerity and speaker involvement.
- Appeal – Credible, entertaining, memorable, motivating and convincing.
Model for competition speeches
Click here to download or view a PDF of a table by Joanne Turbett setting out the three elements of a framework preparing, composing & presenting a competitive speech.
Click here to download or view a PDF of Rostrum WA’s Competitive adjudication scoring sheet.