The ability to speak in public to an unfamiliar audience is an extremely useful skill in many situations. This competition enables you and two partners to gain an invaluable experience and the opportunity to pit yourselves against colleagues and those from other schools and groups.
Rotary clubs all over the country have been running this competition for over twenty years and nearby teams from Roundwood Park School and Hitchin Boys School have been successful in the national finals in the last couple of years.
The first round of the competition, the local heats are coming up next month on 18th Nov with entries due by 11th. Please give serious thought to entering - it is an excellent opportunity, difficult to get in any other way.
The details of the competition and an entry form are below. The entry form should be copied and emailed as an attachment to midhertsrotary@ymail.com
John Walton
Chairman, Mid Herts Rotary
WELWYN HATFIELD ROTARY YOUTH SPEAKS 2014 ENTRY FORM
Please read the
rules and guidelines before completing IN CAPITALS – Including e-mail addresses
- and sending this form to midhertsrotary@ymail.com
INTERMEDIATE SENIOR COMPETITION (Please delete as appropriate.)
Name and address of school, college, youth
group, other organisation:
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…………………………………...………………..…………………………………………….………………
Name of teacher/adult responsible for the
team, home & mobile numbers and e-mail
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………..………………...………………..…………………………………………….………………………..
Subject chosen:
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……………………………………………………………..……………….…………………………………..
Team
members Date
of birth
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Chairperson: ...……………………………………………………….................................................……
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Speaker: ...…………………………………………………………….................................................……
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Proposer: ………………………………………………………………................................................…..
The
parents, guardians or carers of the team members have given permission for the
team members to take part in the competition and for photographic records to be
taken and used for RIBI publicity purposes.
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Name
(capitals if handwritten):
Teacher or other
adult responsible for the team………………………………..……………………………
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Rotary
International in Great Britain and Ireland has adopted a Policy in respect of
its work with children, the elderly, the vulnerable and those with a disability.
Signed:
………………………………………….. Date: ……………………………………………..
(if not submitted electronically)
Please add brief
details (100 words) of the school, college, youth group or other organisation
for use in press releases, published information and competition programmes:
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RIBI Youth Speaks 2014
A Public
Speaking Competition
Mid
Herts Rotary Heats
Closing
date for entries: Monday 11th November
Competition
date: Monday 18th November
6.00pm
for 6.15pm start
Entries
to: midhertsrotary@ymail.com
Potters
Bar/Brookmans Park Competition
Organised
by Potters Bar Rotary Club
Organiser: Rtn Mike Thorpe
115 Park
Avenue, Potters Bar EN6 5EW
Tel: 01707
652682
Welwyn
Hatfield Competition
Organised
by Welwyn Garden City Rotary Club
Organiser: Rtn John Walton
18 Sheepcote,
Welwyn Garden City AL7 4QD
Tel: 01707
890790
The competitions may
be amalgamated if there are insufficient entries.
INTRODUCTION
TO 2014 COMPETITION
Rotary International in Great Britain
and Ireland (RIBI) has, for many years, run public speaking competitions for
young people. Public speaking is an
important life skill and is one that Rotarians value. Rotarians are always delighted to support and
celebrate the expertise of young people.
Each year, thousands of young people
take part in events that culminate in the regional and RIBI finals to which
participants travel from throughout the British Isles to take part. It is a
wonderful demonstration of the achievement of those taking part and a great
experience of their speaking talent..
We are inviting teams to take the
first step on that journey by entering the Welwyn Hatfield heat of the
competition, the winners of which will go on to the District semi-final in
February and hopefully to the further levels.
The Intermediate competition is open
to students aged 11 to 13 years at 31st August 2013 and the Senior competition
to those aged 14 to 17 on the same date.
Teams consist of three young people. The
Chairperson has two minutes to welcome the audience, to introduce the Speaker
and to inform the audience of the relevance or expertise of the Speaker to the
subject of his/her speech. The Speaker
has six minutes for the address and a maximum of two minutes to consider and
answer a question that will be posed by a Questioner. The third member of the team proposes a vote
of thanks and comments on the content of the speech and the answer to the
question.
The Speaker is free to choose any
subject approved by the organisers, with the exception of subjects directly
concerning party politics, race or religion. Considerable discretion is urged
in the choice of subjects which might be sensitive to members of the
audience.
Entries should be sent to midhertsrotary@ymail.com or to the
relevant organiser (contact details on front page) using the form attached by Monday
11th November.
The Rules and Organisational Guidelines for Competitions leading
to the RIBI Finals
THE
RULES
1.
Objectives
The competition
aims to offer young people:
¨ An
experience of speaking on a public platform as members of a team.
¨ An
incentive to formulate ideas on significant subjects.
¨ The
discipline in dealing with a topic in a limited time.
¨ The
opportunity of learning and practising high standards of expression,
presentation and appearance.
¨ The
impartial criticism and assessment of performance by experienced adjudicators.
2.
Competitors
The
competition is open to teams of young people entered by Rotary Clubs from
schools, colleges, youth training schemes or youth groups within the geographic
area covered by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI).
There are two categories: Senior and
Intermediate.
Intermediate:
Aged 11 – 13
years (DOB 01/09/1999 – 31/08/2002)
Senior: Aged 14 – 17 years. (DOB 01/09/1995 – 31/08/1999)
Consequently,
in the Intermediate Competition some entrants may be aged 14 years and in the
Senior Competition some entrants may be 18 years of age.
No entrant may be a member of more
than one team.
No
team may participate more than once in any qualifying round. Team membership
will normally be unchanged for each stage of the competition. In case of
illness or other reason why a member of the team cannot participate, then the
organisers must be contacted for approval to make a substitute.
3. Teams
Each team shall comprise three members: the chairperson,
the speaker and the proposer of the vote of thanks.
4.
Format
The Chairperson has TWO minutes to welcome the audience, to introduce the Speaker and
to inform the audience of the relevance or expertise of the Speaker to the
subject of his/her speech.
The Speaker has SIX minutes for the address and a maximum of TWO minutes to consider and answer a question that will be posed by
the Questioner. The Speaker is free to
choose any subject approved by the organisers, with the exception of subjects
directly concerning party politics, race or religion.
Considerable
discretion is urged in the choice of subjects which might be sensitive to
members of the audience. The subject
selected may however change from round to round.
When
the Speaker has finished, the Chairperson will invite the Questioner,
who shall NOT be an adjudicator, to put one question only to the Speaker.
The
Speaker shall answer the
question. Clarification of the question
via the Chairperson is permitted, however,
the Speaker, who is the subject
matter expert, may not consult with other team members. After this the Chairperson will briefly introduce the Proposer of the vote of thanks.
The Proposer of the vote of thanks has TWO minutes in which to
propose the vote of thanks, remarking on both the content of the address and
the response to the question asked by the questioner. The audience should then be invited to show
its appreciation of the Speaker.
After
the vote of thanks and applause, the Chairperson
will close the proceedings.
The overall time for each team’s presentation will
be approximately 15 minutes,
including the question.
5. Procedure
Before
each competition takes place, a draw will be held to determine the order in
which teams will make their presentations.
This order will be notified to the teams on the day of the competition.
A
system of lights will be provided: green
to begin, yellow as a warning that
the time is coming to an end and red
to signal the end of the speaker’s time.
There will be a back-up system of coloured cards in the event of an
equipment failure.
At
the beginning of each event, a Master of Ceremonies (MC), usually a Rotarian,
will welcome the participants and guests, introduce the adjudicators and the
questioner and outline the procedure. The MC will then invite each team, in
order of the draw, to come onto the stage to make its presentation.
The
team should be ushered onto the stage by the Chairperson, who should sit down
with the Speaker on their right and the Proposer of the vote of thanks on their
left. When the team are ready the
Chairperson will stand and the green light will show. Once the green light has been given, the timing
will begin and the Chairperson is in control until the Vote of thanks is complete
and the proceedings are closed.
Chairperson,
adjudicators, questioner and audience will be aware of the passage of time by a
system of lights used as follows: -
Chairperson: Green
light to start
Yellow
after 1.5 minutes
Red
after 2 minutes.
Speaker: Green
following introduction by the Chairperson
Yellow
after 5 minutes
Red
after 6 minutes
Proposer - vote of thanks: Green after introduction
by the Chairperson
Yellow after 1.5 minutes
Red
after 2 minutes
6. Question to the Speaker
Note: For those who have
entered the competition before, we will be having a question to the main
speaker in the Welwyn Hatfield heat this year.
The
Questioner, who will have been
briefed in advance, will ask a single question. This
will be short, sensible and clearly relate to the main theme of the
address. The age of the Speaker will be
taken into account when framing the question.
The
Questioner should choose each question carefully as it could be significant to
the success of the team.
7. Adjudication
There
will be three qualified adjudicators. The Chairperson of the Adjudicators will
be a person with experience of adjudicating speaking activities for young
people. Adjudicators may be drawn from adults
with relevant experience of public speaking or oral presentations. The team of adjudicatorswill, if possible,
display a balance of gender.
It
is important that, at every stage, the adjudication is seen to be impartial and
fair. Conflicts of interest will be avoided.
Criteria:
The Chairperson’s management of the meeting (25 points)
The Speaker’s ability to present and develop
an argument
and to answer the question (50
points)
The quality and courtesy of the Vote of
thanks (25
points)
Included within the marking will be the
importance of teamwork.
Over-running
and under-running of the allotted times will be penalised: one point for every
complete 15 seconds of over-run and one point for each complete thirty seconds
of under-run for each speaker. The
time-keeper will notify the adjudicators.
A
marking sheet will be provided for the use of the adjudicators.
After
all the teams have presented and the performances judged, the adjudicators will
comment on the performance of each team and the result will be announced. The adjudicators will not discuss marks or
how they have been allotted. The
decision of the adjudicators is final. No correspondence or discussion will be
entered into following the event.
We
will ensure that the adjudicators are completely familiar with these rules and the
expectations of each member of the competing teams with regard to their role
within the team.
8. Guidance
for participants and adjudicators.
In
assessing the presentations, Adjudicators will pay attention to the following:-
All team members
·
Effective use of voice, clear
enunciation, easy manner, natural gestures.
·
Whether the personality of the
individual comes over to the audience.
·
Humour, in the right context, will be
appreciated.
Notes
can be used, but they should not be too obvious; simply reading written content
will be penalised. Audio-visual aids (excluding microphones and amplification
in venues that require this) and props of any description are NOT allowed. Use of such items will lead to disqualification.
Chairperson
·
A business-like, yet courteous,
handling of the meeting.
·
Attention to the duties specified
above.
·
The creation of a friendly and
receptive atmosphere.
Speaker
·
The construction of the address that
should include an introduction, the main subject matter and a conclusion.
·
The content of the speeches and the
logic and weight of the arguments developed will be given great
importance. A weak argument, however
good the presentation, will not produce top marks.
·
The impact created on the audience.
·
The answers to the question should be
courteous, to the point, full but not unduly wordy.
Proposer of the vote of thanks
·
The duty of the Proposer is to express
to the Speaker the appreciation of the audience.
·
Reference should be made to the
content of the address and the answer to the question.
·
Finally,
the Proposer should invite the audience to express their appreciation of the
Speaker.
9. Stages
in the Competition
There
will be four stages in the RIBI Youth Speaks Competition:
·
Club
Competitions, which are run by local Rotary Clubs,
individually or jointly. Two or more
clubs may run a combined event if either has insufficient entries for a single
event.
·
District
Competitions, in which winning teams from the Club
competitions take part.
Where a high participation rate is experienced, Districts may decide to
hold Area rounds of the competitions or Semi-finals leading up to the District
Final. Events should be limited to a sensible number of teams that make it
manageable.
·
Regional Finals.
·
National Final
10. Awards
All
participants will receive a certificate at each stage.
In
the Welwyn Hatfield competition the members of the winning team at each level
will each receive a
£20 book token prize.
At
the Regional Final level, there may be an award for the winning teams.
At
the RIBI Final, every participant will receive a commemorative gift and a
certificate.
The
winning teams will receive the RIBI Challenge Trophy, which is to be held for
one year.
Each
member of the winning, second and third teams will receive an individual award.
The
2014 RIBI Final will be held on Saturday 10th May 2014 at Maidstone.
