Introduction to Toastmasters Contests

Introduction to Toastmasters Contests

Each year two main contest types are held within Toastmasters. These include:

The Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest
(begins in September at the club level)
The International Speech and Table Topics Contest
(begins in January at the club level)

Actually there are other contests such as a newsletter contest, Toastmaster of the year, and the written speech contest, but the focus here includes those mentioned above for now.

The Evaluation and Humorous Speech Contest

To qualify to participate in either the Evaluation or Humorous speech contest, a member must be a member in good standing and belong to a chartered club in good standing. This means the members dues have been paid to the club and the club has forwarded its members' dues to Toastmasters International. Yes, if you just joined your club yesterday, you qualify to participate in these contests.

Evaluation Contest
This portion requires what we call a Test Speaker, or someone to perform a speech on any topic. The test speaker prepare a speech that is 5-7 minutes in length, but the Test Speaker is typically not timed during the presentation.

Then, each evaluator contestant is escorted out of the room. Each is brought back into the room individually to conduct a 2-3 minute evaluation. Whomever is voted to have the best evaluation wins the contest.

Note: The Test Speaker should be recruited from another club for a club contest, from another area for an Area contest and from another division for a Division contest. This tradition helps to eliminate bias and provide an equal platform for each contestant.

Humorous Speech Contest
Each speech is 5-7 minutes in length and can be about any subject as long as it is your original material. Of course, the whole idea is for your speech to be funny. But, the speeches that win have some type of message too. Stand-up comedy routines usually lose at contests whereas humorous anecdotes consistently help to win.

Here's another way to say this: At lower levels of competition, the people who generally win are those who get the most laughs. At higher levels, every speech "gets laughs" so speech content and value plays an important role. I once counted 72 laughs by the crowd for a winning humorous speech given at our District conference.

The Table Topics and International Speech Contest

To qualify to participate in either the Table Topics or International Speech contest, a member must be a member in good standing and belong to a chartered club in good standing. For the Table Topics section, that is the only requirement. For the speech contest, however, you must also have 6 speeches completed from the C&L manual. It is NOT permitted to allow a contestant to perform his or her 6th speech as the contest speech.

Table Topics Contest
This portion requires all contestants to be escorted out of the contest room. They are individually brought back in to respond to the same topic as their competitors for 1-2 minutes. The contestant voted to have the best response wins the contest.

International Speech Contest
Speeches are 5-7 minutes and can focus on any subject as long as it is original. This means you can't recite Martin Luther King's speech. Formerly known as the "Serious Speech" contest, this event has evolved to allow for any subject or approach. Long-time Toastmasters or wrongly informed contestants often make the mistake of preparing a 100% "serious" speech because that used to be the main objective of this contest. The winners at Division and District levels of today almost always have at least some humor, LOTS of energy and some type of inspiring call to action.

Rising Through the Levels

No matter which contest is being held, the process of how someone rises from the Club, to the Area, to the Division, to the District is the same up until the District.

The first-place finisher at the club advances to the Area level which usually consists of the winners from 3 to 6 other clubs. (Note that Areas with 4 clubs or less can allow the second place finisher to advance to the Area contest along with the 1st place winners. Check with your Area Governor to know how many can advance for your club)

The first place finishers of the Area contest advance to the Division to compete against those who advanced from 4-8 different Areas. The 1st place finisher at the Division advances to the District conference.

If, at any level, that person cannot attend the next level of competition, the second place finisher is offered the opportunity to compete.

At this time, the only contestant for any contest that advances beyond the District level is the winner of the International Speech Contest. This fortunate person will need to create a new speech and present it at the Regional. If he or she wins the Regional, a new speech must once again be created and delivered at the Finals!

If he or she wins the Final, then that person may not compete in Toastmasters contests from that point on. In the year 2000, Ed Tate (a District 26 member) went all the way and won the final. Imagine how THAT must look on a resume!!

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