• ENTRIES.
As many as THREE students from COMBINED grade levles 7 and 8 may be
entered in the MODERN ORATORY District Contest from each school.
Designated adults representing each school will select contestants to
represent the campus at the District Meet based on their abilities and
interest in public speaking, as well as other factors,
which are decided upon by each school.
• NATURE OF THE CONTEST. The
Modern Oratory contest provides opportunities for students to explore
the use of the voice and body in speaking situations; to organize
ideas; to prepare and deliver a researched speech; and to develop
self-confidence.
In Modern Oratory, the contestant will select one of the topics listed
for the current year, determine the critical issues in the topic, and
determine and acknowledge both pro and con points, citing support
discovered in the research. Students will decide which side they will
defend and support that side with additional evidence.
The maximum time limit for each speech is six
minutes. There is no minimum time limit. Students who exceed the
allotted six minutes shall be disqualified. Better speeches are at
least three minutes in length, however.
The format of the speech should include an introduction, statement of
the question, development of both pro and con points accompanied by
documentation, statement of the position the writer will defend,
defense of that position with documentation, and a summary and
conclusion with a final statement. After writing and editing the
paper, the oration in its final form should be delivered from memory.
Along with the skills of analysis, research, note-taking,
documentation, evaluation and decision making come those of delivery
and the skill of memorization. Because so few situations create a
format for the development of the skill of memorization, this contest
might provide just that incentive.
Appropriate Gestures: The
Impromptu Speaking contest rules include the following
instructions: Responsive use of the body (i.e., spontaneous
changes in posture, gesture, and place-to-place movement) are
permissible. However, this active use of the body should:
(A) be appropriate to the demands of the selection;
(B) be a natural outgrowth from the literature to
be performed;
(C) not call attention to itself; and
(D) be limited in scope.
The judge’s opinion in this matter is final.
2004-2004
MODERN ORATORY TOPICS
Contestants must select one of the following topics for developing the
oration. 1.
Is alcohol a bigger problem than other drugs in
America? 2.
Should NASA continue manned space flights? 3.
Should public and private schools receive
equal funding from the state? 4.
Is America adequately caring for its elderly? 5.
Are Affirmative Action programs still needed?
• WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CONTEST.
1) The contest director will announce the time and place that
contestants and one adult should report for evaluation pick-up and/or
awards presentation. (Alternates taking the place of absent registered
contestants should be sure to let the contest director know as they
enter the room to save time in roll call.) 2) The contest director will
call speaker number 1 into the room, either from the hall or a holding
room. 3) The contestant will present his/her speech before an audience,
and either one or three judges. (All speech events are judged by an odd
number of judges.) When only 30 seconds are left in the allotted time
for a speaker, the contest director, who also serves as the timekeeper,
will hold up a “30 seconds left” card in order to assist the contestant
in stopping the speech prior to the end of the time limit. After
completing the speech, the contestant will exit room to the holding
area.
• ADVANCING TO THE FINAL ROUND.
If there are more than 9 students in the competition, two sections of
the contest (preliminary round) will be held. The top 3 ranked
students will advance to the final round from each of the two “prelim”
sections. A different set of topics will be used in the final
round, but all rules are the same for both rounds.
• POSTING THE PRELIMINARY ROUND.
After judges have made their decisions in the preliminary rounds,
contestants pick up their evaluations at the time and place designated
on the schedule. At this time the names of the contestants
advancing to the final round will be announced in random order and
posted on a designated bulletin board in a random speaking order for
the final round.
• PREPARATION FOR CONTEST.
Read and follow all instructions provided in the “Information
Pertaining to All Contests” section of the PSIA Academic
Handbook. Observe and practice with students all rules and
procedures delineated in the “Instructions to the Contestant” and in
the “Checklist for Contest Directors” and the”“Checklist for
JUDGES.” Preparation for the MODERN ORATORY Contest should
include instruction in organizational speech delivery.
There are no study materials to order.
Teachers/Coaches will find that Modern Oratory provides participants
with an opportunity to:
1) formulate ideas;
2) define problems;
3) research the issues;
4) express ideas effectively;
5) recognize the rights of others to have differing
viewpoints;
6) formulate opinions based on solid documentation;
7) write multiple-paragraph compositions
incorporating outside information with documentation;
8) write persuasive discourse of a variety of types;
9) revise written work for content, organization,
topic development, appropriate transition, clarity of language,
appropriate word and sentence choice, according to the purpose and
audience for which a piece is written.
Teachers and parents may assist the student in Modern Oratory but
should not write the speech for the student. Middle school
students have amazing talent, but it takes good teachers to help it all
come together.
• PERSONNEL NEEDED FOR CONTEST.
1. Contest Director/Timekeeper. May be a knowledgeable coach of
contestants in the contest.
2. Judge(s). One or three judges may judge a section of 9
or fewer contestants. Judges should be experienced in speech or
language arts studies, and each should have had experience judging at
least three speech contests (in the classroom is minimal) prior to
being selected to judge at a district or state tournament.
• EVALUATION AND JUDGES BALLOT.
Coaches and teachers should use the Modern Oratory Evaluation Sheet and
the Judge’s Ballot included in the PSIA
Academic Handbook to assist in preparing contestants for
competition. A preliminary round posting form is included in the PSIA Academic Handbook on page 35,
and the “Ranking Procedure for Speech Contests” follows the Impromptu
Speaking section in the handbook (pages 25-27).
