IMPROMPTU SPEAKING

Last Updated: 08/10/03

• ENTRIES.     As many as THREE students from COMBINED grade levels 7 and 8 may be entered in the IMPROMPTU SPEAKING 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.     This contest provides opportunities for students in grades 7 and 8 to evaluate speeches given by others; to explore the use of the voice and body in speaking situations; to examine the different purposes for speaking; to organize ideas; to prepare and deliver various speeches; and to develop self-confidence.
Contestants will draw three topics and have three minutes to prepare a speech, which must be presented without any notes. The contest gives participants experience in thinking, organizing, formulating clear thoughts, and delivering those thoughts to an audience effectively.
The maximum time limit for each speech is five minutes. There is no minimum time limit.  Students who exceed the allotted five minutes shall be disqualified. Better speeches are at least three minutes in length, however.

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.  

Sample Impromptu Speaking Topics for Practice from 2003 PSIA Contests

    • My favorite buzz word. . .
    • The country I would most like to visit. . .
    • Talking on cell phones while driving. . .
    • Cloning should/should not be banned. . .
    • The most interesting marine animal. . .
    • My favorite t-shirt. . .
    • Working with the physically handicapped. . .
    • My most memorable haircut. . .
    • If I were invisible for a day. . .
    • We can preserve our natural resource by. . .
    • The most important things my grandmother/
       grandfather taught me. . .
    • The most successful person I know about. . .

• 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 to draw three topics from an envelope or other container. 3) Contestants draw three topics, 4) select one of the topics, and 5) speak on the topic after three minutes of preparation.  The two topics not chosen are placed back in the envelope or drawing container.  The topic that is selected is not returned to the envelope.  Because the PSIA events are meant to be educational, the contestants may remain in the contest room and audiences should be welcomed, but no one may enter the room once the contest has started. Contestants may use blank paper to organize ideas during preparation.  However, notes may NOT be used when giving the speech.  The contestant will speak before a single judge or a panel of 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.

• 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 Impromptu Speaking Contest should include instruction in organizational speech delivery.  Teachers may create as many practice impromptu topics as they need. The topics can be tailored to fit any learning situation.  Request suggestions from your participants.   There are no study materials to order.  Topics are provided by  PSIA for District and State Meet competition. 
• MATERIALS.   Additional practice topics are available in the PSIA Study Materials Packets (Study Materials Order Form).

• 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, PRELIMINARY ROUND POSTING FORM,  and RANKING PROCEDURES .   Coaches and teachers should use the Impromptu Speaking Evaluation Sheet and the Judge’s Ballot included in the PSIA Academic Handbook to assist in preparing contestants for competition.  The preliminary round posting form is located on page 35, and the “Ranking Procedure for Speech Contests” follows the Impromptu Speaking section in the PSIA Academic Handbook.
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Staff Support
Patricia Walters, Ed.D, Executive Director
Phone: (817) 416-9504
Fax: (817) 416-9576
E-mail: psia@flash.net